As part of our continued commitment to ED&I, Yvonne Sanderson is actively engaged with the Senior Leaders’ Diversity Think Tank. One of the outcomes of this group is the Senior Leaders’ Diversity Pledge, which is a personal commitment made by individual leaders to furthering ED&I in their organisation. Yvonne Sanderson’s Senior Leaders’ Diversity Pledge can be found below.
- Providing visible and proactive leadership to improve D&I in my organisation, by:
- Being involved in, contributing to and promoting D&I projects and events
- Writing and publishing my commitment to the firm’s D&I strategy
- Being a representative for all colleagues as individuals and from all groups
- Taking D&I seriously at the highest level, by:
- Ensuring our HR strategy has D&I at its heart
- Having a Partner lead D&I focus group within the firm, made up of people from different roles within the firm
- Working collaboratively with senior leaders, managers and partners in other IP firms to highlight the importance D&I has in our profession
- Embedding and valuing D&I throughout the organisational culture, by:
- Reinforcing the D&I message from the top level of senior leaders and partners down
- Abiding by these core values and as evidenced in our behaviours and actions
- Having an open, honest and respectful culture
- Encouraging and allowing all staff time to contribute to D&I related projects and encouraging time spent on such projects to be captured so that it can be recognised appropriately
- Having processes and working practices that show that D&I is one of our core values for both staff and prospective employees
- Building trust and safe spaces throughout the organisation, by:
- Being available to listen, learn and understand in a mutually respectful and confidential way
- Maintaining our zero-tolerance policy on discrimination and harassment
- Encouraging all staff, at all levels, to bring their whole selves to work and speak openly about their identities
- Leading by example in sharing my own identity and experiences
- Expand our mentoring program to include mentorship for all staff, and particularly for underrepresented groups
- Educating myself and my colleagues about D&I issues, by:
- Introducing training throughout the firm on a range of D&I topics
- Working with IP Inclusive to encourage and promote D&I events in continuing to raise awareness
- Encouraging staff to arrange internal workshops designed to improve understanding about D&I and to facilitate involvement with raising awareness
- Sharing my privileges, by:
- Continuing to offer work experience and placements helping to improve access to the IP profession
- Wherever appropriate working with charities and community interest groups to provide opportunities that may not have otherwise been possible
- Encouraging engagement at all levels and enlist the help of staff
- Provide a platform for all staff that embraces discussion, debate and creativity
- Where feasible, adopting the IP Inclusive guidelines on recruiting for social mobility and on improving social mobility and access to the IP professions
- Ensuring that staff in the firm are aware of, and ideally involved with, IP Inclusive’s Careers in Ideas outreach initiative
- Insisting on equity, by:
- Establishing fair, diversity-enhancing recruitment and promotion procedures throughout the firm
- Ensuring that opportunities are visible and open to all in whatever form those opportunities are
- Regularly reviewing our policies, procedures and working practices to evaluate their impact on D&I levels in the organisation and if necessary, improve them
- Working closely with HR and management colleagues to achieve this, by:
- Involving HR personnel in board/partnership level decision making on D&I-impacting issues
- Encouraging involvement of board/partnership level colleagues in HR communications, conversations and projects
- Sharing experiences gained from external sources to improve our understanding of D&I and considering new initiatives and ways of working of D&I and considering new initiatives and ways of working
Yvonne Sanderson, HR Director
July 2021
