We believe in the power of a diverse global workforce that champions the right for people to be their true, authentic selves.

An inclusive workforce is a strong workforce. When people feel listened to, valued, and harness a sense of belonging within an organisation, their ability to create and innovate is unhindered. In turn, their unique perspectives and experiences open up new ways for businesses to grow and achieve more. At the Robert Walters Group, we recognise the power of diversity and the role it can play in enabling each of our clients, candidates and colleagues to fulfil their unique potential.

Our equity, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) strategy is a key part of our ESG framework. It sets out our approach and commitments we to achieve our vision of creating an environment that encourages people to listen and learn from each other, where people feel they belong and where we provide thought leadership thinking on inclusive hiring to our clients, challenging the status quo. 

Our targets

80%+
Employees feel a sense of belonging at the Group by 2025

50%
Global leaders (Associate Directors and above) that identify as female by 2025 

40%
Percentage of Non-executive Board members that identify as female by 2025

50%+
Percentage of promotions awarded to those identifying as female in 2023

Our ED&I vision

Our ED&I vision is to create an environment that encourages people to listen, learn and respect ​each other, where people can be their authentic selves, and to provide thought leadership thinking on inclusive hiring to our clients, ​challenging the status quo. 

We do this through the framework below:

Consciously inclusive culture

Review our processes and policies ensuring a systemic culture of inclusion with transparency and fairness. Developing a culture of curiosity underpinned by robust training and communication.

 

Amplifying voices 

Create a workplace of upstanders, where people feel safe to speak up and challenge respectfully. We  will raise up employee voices through visible sponsorship and allyship and empathy. 

Knowing our data 

Establish a baseline of diversity and inclusion data to enable us to measure progress and to drive meaningful change which is regionally relevant.


 

Leading the conversation 

We will drive the conversation on diverse hiring for our clients,  providing thought leadership and  innovation in diverse & inclusive hiring services.

Inclusive accountable leadership

We will be led by diverse, inclusive and effective leaders who embrace and take accountability in creating an inclusive culture.

 

 

 

Powering people potential 

We will work with our communities, and suppliers,  creating opportunities  to level the playing field for to ensure that both candidates and employees reach their full potential. 

Our two-fold approach

As a world-leading recruitment group, we are in a unique position to champion diversity both within our own business, as well as among the clients and candidates we serve. This two-fold approach promotes diverse hiring in our clients’ organisations while driving inclusive practices within our own.

Strengthening our inclusive workplace and culture

Our business recognises the importance of building a culture where our people can thrive. Using the power of storytelling to bring to life the different diversity dimensions supported by continued training and education opportunities and equitable process and practices is key to strengthening our inclusive workplace.

Learn more about our people and culture >

Promoting diverse hiring practices

Diverse hiring is an area where the Group can offer tremendous value to clients, as well as fortify our position as the recruitment partner of choice for the world’s top professionals. We have continued our pioneering use of technology to drive diverse hiring through Adify, our cutting-edge approach to removing male gender biased language from job adverts, as well as employing LinkedIn insights and bespoke advertising solutions to connect employers with the most diverse pool of candidates possible. And our award-winning Diverse Hiring consultancy services are best-in-class, helping clients remove bias from the hiring process and build diverse talent pipelines to future-proof their talent strategies. 

Learn how we're connecting clients with more diverse talent >

Resources and strategic advice for clients

Helping our clients build more diverse teams is one way we achieve our purpose of powering people and organisations to fulfil their unique potential. Our experts offer outstanding thought leadership with a focus on implementing diversity strategies, empowering and supporting employees and building a more inclusive workplace.

Our partnerships and accreditations

The Robert Walters Group partners with a wide variety of organisations championing diversity and equality across society. We continually look for new opportunities and platforms to support and advocate on behalf of those who are striving to fulfil their unique potential.

Our partnerships, accreditations and pledges are a key way of ensuring that we remain focused and held to the highest standard in everything that we do on ED&I. 

 

Local accreditations and partnerships

As signatories to the Workplace Menopause Pledge we are committed to talking openly, positively and respectfully about menopause and actively supporting our employees.

We are proud to be a part of The Valuable 500, a global community of businesses making active commitments to put disability and inclusion on their leadership agendas.

We are certified as Disability Confident Committed through the UK’s Disability Confident initiative, recognising our efforts to foster an inclusive workplace for people with disabilities.

The Group is currently undertaking Clear Assured recognition, which identifies and removes barriers in recruitment for disabled, BAME, LGBTQ and other under-represented candidates.

Robert Walters Group partners with She Codes, an Australia-based coding movement, to encourage women and minorities to consider careers in the field of technology.

Our business in Japan is proud to support The Dream Collective, an international group advocating on behalf of women in the workplace and working to increase female leadership in business.

We're proud members of the Business Disability Forum, the leading organisation working with businesses to drive disability inclusion, working with over 500 employers. 

In 2020, we began a partnership with Supply Nation, a non-profit connecting Australian businesses with Indigenous-owned suppliers in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island business sector.

Robert Walters was granted the highest level of the "L-boshi" certification from Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, recognising our efforts to advance women in the workplace.

Robert Walters has partnered with leading diversity platform, Aspiring Solicitors, to support firms in developing programmes to reach a wider range of candidates and improve diversity in the sector

We're proud to support the Intertech LGBT+ Diversity Forum, providing a platform to improve diversity in the tech sector, connecting allies, businesses and the LGBTQ+ community.   

We support InnovateHer, an organisation based in the North West of the UK working to improve gender diversity in the tech sector by preparing girls for tech roles through education and awareness.