Diversity and inclusion policies offer huge benefits to fleets and leasecos

Diversity and inclusion has risen up the agenda of organisations in the fleet and leasing sector in recent years as leaders recognise the huge benefits in employing a diverse spread of employees who can add new perspectives and alternative views.

Auto Trader has been working on a number of areas to improve the diversity and inclusivity within its own business, as director of automotive finance Rachael Jones outlined on episode three of the Fleet News Quarterly Market Insight, sponsored by Auto Trader.

“There's often a focus about making companies more diverse, but just bringing more diverse people together doesn't necessarily mean that they're all heard, they've all got an equal voice, they all get an equal chance at progression,” said Jones.

For Auto Trader, it starts with data. Back in 2019 it had a huge focus on collecting and analysing staff data on as many information metrics as possible, including gender, ethnicity, disability, neurodiversity and social mobility.

Jones explains: “You can't change a metric that you don't understand, and you can't measure the impact of anything you're trying to do if you don't even know where you started from.”

The data analysis highlighted gaps, unconscious bias showed where it was not making progress, and the exercise ensured the company could make the right decisions.

The second part of the analysis, which is an ongoing process, focused on inclusivity, asking staff how it feels to work at Auto Trader, such as can you be your true self at work.

“We're very proud that 95% of our staff say that they can,” said Jones. “97% of them say that they feel it's safe to speak up in the environment. And so we work very hard to keep driving those metrics and measuring them to make sure that we are making and sustaining an inclusive culture.”

Auto Trader achieves this by partnering with groups and charities externally, to both support them and to bring their expertise and knowledge into the business.

“I know many leasing companies are members of the Automotive 30% club, for example, as are we, and they will feed lots of information into our business, maybe through our employee networks, or through different people in the business, to help us understand, what do we need to be thinking about: Is it policies? Is it raising awareness of issues? Is it open discussion to build awareness of a topic?,” Jones said.

Auto Trader is also a member of an active participant in the social mobility foundation, black leaders foundation, disability confident leaders, which helps it to understand key challenges and opportunities s to improve its D&I strategy.

“Lastly, we focus on wellbeing for all colleagues, and that's across a physical, mental and financial perspective,” Jones said. “That's not just about the list of benefits that you get at work every year, it’s the support and direction you get from the business.

“So for our sustainability network, we've been doing some work to help build awareness and understanding about putting solar panels on your house: what do you need to know, what are the top tips and what are people's experience in the company?

“Last week, there was a session for those thinking about buying a house: what is a mortgage, what's an overview of the mortgage market, what's the application process like?

“And today, there's a session on usage of kids devices: how should kids be using devices and what's everyone's thoughts and experiences.”

Jones added: It’s beyond the policies and benefits that you have in place and thinking about looking after your staff from lots of different angles.

“From our perspective, we’re always happy to share ideas and collaborate, because it's very useful to see what others are up to and learn from them. So if anyone wants to reach out and have a chat; we'd absolutely love that.”