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loyds Banking Group has pledged to double the proportion of staff with disabilities in senior management jobs, in the first commitment of its kind from a UK bank.
The move is part of efforts from the UK’s biggest lender to be a more inclusive workplace.
Currently 6% of Lloyds’ employees at senior management level have reported having a disability – including musculoskeletal conditions, hearing loss and neurodiversity such as ADHD and autism, as well as mental health conditions – according to its internal diversity surveys.
But the banking group wants to double representation to 12% by 2025, Lloyds told the PA news agency.
If the goal is reached, it would mean the number of senior managers who identify as having a disability across the business increases from around 450 to 900.
If you can’t see yourself at a senior level of an organisation then you don’t know how you can get there
Building society Nationwide has publicly set its own disability target for senior staff of 8% by March 2028.
Lloyds says it is the first UK bank to make the more “ambitious” public commitment regarding disability representation.
The company plans to make its office spaces, technology, and recruitment process more accessible and inclusive to reach the target.
A disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial or long-term negative effect on a person’s ability to do normal daily activities, according to the Equality Act 2010.
Charlie Nunn, Lloyds Banking Group chief executive, said: “Today’s announcement to double the representation of colleagues with disabilities in senior management roles demonstrates our commitment to become more inclusive, and we will continue to challenge ourselves to be a more accessible, supportive and inclusive place to work.”
Fiona Cannon, Lloyds’s group sustainable business director, said the diversity targets are a way to help reduce some of the “myths and stigma” surrounding disability.
She told PA: “I think it is really important to demonstrate that having a disability is not a barrier to progression, either in our organisation or others, and there are lots of people living very successfully with a disability.
“If you can’t see yourself at a senior level of an organisation then you don’t know how you can get there.”
She added that it is important as a customer-facing business to reflect its customers, who are “incredibly diverse”.
Lloyds Bank was the first company in the FTSE 100 stock exchange to set a public target for female representation in 2014, and then for black, Asian and minority ethnic employees in 2018.
It wants half of senior roles at the bank to be held by women by 2025. At the end of 2022, 39.4% of positions were held by women.
Lloyds has also set a target for 13% of senior roles to be held by black, Asian and minority ethnic people by 2025.
The business uses internal data and a dedicated forum to determine how many employees have a disability, what disabilities they have, and consequently which policies to put in place.
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