Withers is committed to providing a supportive and tolerant culture while strengthening its determination to be the best. To be the best in everything it does the firm recognises that it needs to draw upon a broad pool of talent so that we reflect the diverse spectrum of our clients and we continue to be forward thinking in delivering innovative solutions to our clients. We also recognise that respecting people's individuality and fostering a culture of inclusion are the foundation of any retention strategy.
In articulating what we mean by this we acknowledge that Diversity means the ways in which we differ from each other and that we all hold individual beliefs and values, and that we come from a range of backgrounds. Diversity includes visible differences such as age, gender, ethnicity and physical appearance, as well as less visible differences such as one's sexual orientation, religion, nationality or view points and education, which shape the way we are and our perception of others'.
Inclusion means creating a supportive workplace environment by removing barriers which might exclude people simply because they are different. It means supporting our employees and partners by giving them the opportunity to develop skills and achieve their potential. We aim to provide a broad range of policies, practices and procedures to help create a better working environment for all our people.
In order to be clear about what we are trying to achieve we will endeavour to make progress against the following objectives:
Withers has set up a Diversity Group which meets regularly to promote the objectives outlined above. The Group is made up of staff and partners and is championed at Partner/Counsel level. The Group recognises the importance of monitoring and measuring its activities so it can benchmark progress against its stated objectives.
Each year our staff are asked to acknowledge their understanding of and commitment to the Firm’s Equal Opportunities Policy as part of our annual audit.
Our Supervisors and Partners receive training to ensure they understand their obligations in implementing our equal opportunity policy in the workplace.
In addition, all interview panelists are trained in the Firm’s approach to diversity and given guidance on our structured skill based approach to interviewing.
In January 2009 we hosted an event in conjunction with the Black Lawyers' Directory to raise awareness of the opportunties available within the Firm and the profession as a whole. Students with backgrounds from over 60 different ethnic minorities attended.
We also support the Afro-Caribbean diversity mentoring programme. Over 30 members of staff (both support and fee-earners) have volunteered to be mentors to young people aged between 14 and 18 over a two year period. The programme's aim is to raise the educational aspirations of black and ethnic minority students from London borough state schools.
On 22 July 2009 we hosted the launch of the 2009 Mentor Matching scheme and had over 100 attendees from various organisations who plan to participate in the this year's scheme.
Opportunities for promotion are communicated and made available to all staff on a fair and equal basis. A skills framework is used in all promotion, appraisal, and pay discussions to ensure a consistent and fair approach across the Firm.
Selection of candiates for promotion to 'Of Counsel or Partner' status is undertaken by a panel of Withers Partners, whose selection decisions are based upon technical expertise and pre-defined partner competencies.
Training is made available to all staff and Partners in line with our business needs. Training needs are recognized formally via our appraisal process, which is objective and skill based, to ensure a fair and equal approach.
In the past we have received external recognition for having a high percentage of female equity partners and have been ranked top amongst law firms for the diversity in the sexuality of our staff.
We monitor the diversity of our global workforce on an on-going basis. Here is the breakdown of the diversity of our staff :
Europe and Asia - Gender and part time employees as at 1st January 2009
US - Gender of employees as at 1st January 2009
Europe and Asia - Age distribution as at 1st January 2009