Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

Difference is a superpower

Difference is what drives debate, changes perspectives and broadens horizons. We see it as a superpower that all our people have.

Equality is the goal

Equality is the goal

We are determined that everyone has an equal chance to join us and progress their career with Frontier. We care about creating an inclusive atmosphere and are committed to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion in all its forms.

By doing this, we bring together the imagination, curiosity and flexibility to deliver advice that gets to the heart of what matters to our clients. We also think working with a diverse range of colleagues makes life more fun and interesting.

Inclusion in action

Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion programme (ED&I) is employee driven with support from our People Director. We trust and empower our people to ‘be the change they want to see’ by creating spaces and networks for everyone to contribute to successful inclusion outcomes.

Our Executive and Board ensure our aspirations are met by checking that equity, diversity and inclusion runs through everything we do. So far, we've made important strides forward but we will always challenge ourselves to do more.

Recent initiatives include:

  • Introducing our employee-led network for disability and mental health, Brilliance;
  • Practice led ED&I initiatives and feedback;
  • 2 months of enhanced parental leave for all parents in addition to our 4 months of maternity (primary carer ) leave;
  • Expanding our parental leave policies to include bereavement leave in the event of pregnancy loss or the loss of a baby, as well as additional leave for parents whose child requires neonatal care;
  • Introducing a menopause policy;
  • Regular seminars and talks from external speakers focussing on topics and lived inclusion experiences;
  • Enhanced flexible working options for all staff, incorporating individual circumstances;
  • Providing peer-support role models and return to work coaching for all new parents returning to work;
  • Input from a neurodiversity coach on our mentoring programme;
  • Championing female talent with sponsored leadership programmes in collaboration with Oxford University and London Business School;
  • Having a dedicated team monitoring wellbeing and promoting awareness on mental health; and
  • Celebrating holidays and cultural events of Frontier’s international and culturally diverse staff.
Supporting a diverse and inclusive workplace is central to who we are and our ED&I programme has developed with us as we have grown. In recent years we have made important progress, such as through the creation of our employee networks and seminars that encourage the sharing of personal stories and experiences.
James Bellis
Director
Supporting our diverse workforce

Supporting our diverse workforce

We have five employee-led networks to support our ED&I ambitions, and to provide safe spaces for staff across all aspects of ED&I. You can find out more about each of these networks below.

 

Eliminating gender-based barriers

Prism, was launched in 2020 and aims to help make Frontier a great place for all individuals to work by eliminating gender-based barriers. As such, the goals of the network are:

  • To create an environment where people of all genders can thrive;
  • To explore how to support the company in reducing our gender pay gap; and
  • To create additional networking opportunities.

Immediate aims of the network include:

  • Providing a safe space for all individuals to raise issues and raise awareness for everyone of where gender-specific issues can affect colleagues;
  • Engaging in a fact-finding process to collect experiences to help guide future processes;
  • Creating learning experiences for Frontier staff through story-telling sessions; and
  • Putting on educational events throughout the year and on specific awareness days such as Equal Pay Day and International Women’s Day.

 

LGBTQ+ visibility

Spectrum’s mission is to raise LGBTQ+ visibility and bring people together, by promoting a culture that supports diversity and inclusion, and providing a forum open to LGBTQ+ staff and allies.

Spectrum organises regular events and awareness-raising activities. The focal point is an annual Pride Week with daily events and socials across Frontier’s offices. As part of these celebrations, Frontier has hosted fascinating external speakers including Caroline Paige, the first openly serving trans officer in the UK armed forces; and the Reverend Jide Macauley, founder of the House of Rainbow, which works to promote inclusion among BAME members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies. Spectrum team members have also spoken about their own experiences of coming out at work, and on topics including allyship and activism.

As well as Pride Week, the Spectrum team host regular social events, fundraise for charities such as the National AIDS Trust, and attend networking events hosted by professional LGBT+ networks.

Championing ethnic, cultural and religious diversity

Kaleidoscope is a network focused on ethnic, cultural and religious diversity, with the aim of empowering and supporting colleagues from religious, ethnic and cultural minorities.

The network has a number of focus areas including:

  • Creating regular and inclusive opportunities for conversation about ethnicity, culture and religious beliefs.
  • Signposting and providing resources for all staff so that they feel well-informed and able to support colleagues of ethnic, cultural and religious minorities.
  • Supporting activities which promote ethnic, cultural and religious diversity at Frontier. For instance, coordinating focus groups to understand employee perspectives on relevant issues, running fundraisers and educational events, and collaborating with external networks such as the Black Economist's Network on recruitment, which includes the development of the Frontier Economics Black Heritage Insight Programme, which has been running for the past 3 years.
Supporting family life

The Working Families Group (WFG) aims to support parents and carers to balance work with family life.

The group is made up of Frontier employees from every office, practice and team and meets regularly to discuss topics like parental leave, part time working, and the balance of work with caring responsibilities.

Some recent initiatives implemented by the group include:

  • Specialist mentoring
  • Career coaching
  • Specific support groups put in place for those returning from parental leave.

 

Supporting neurodiversity, health conditions and disabilities

Our employee-led network, Brilliance, has the core purpose of supporting Frontier staff with health conditions, neurodiversity or disabilities that may impact their experience at work.

Aims of the network:

Provide a safe space: The goal is to create a space where employees are able to talk freely about neurodiversity, physical and mental disabilities, and health conditions in a safe environment.

Promote awareness: This is a really important aspect in creating a supportive environment for everyone. The network regularly hosts internal awareness raising events for staff to learn and ask questions about a wide range of topics. Recent initiatives include:

  • Neurodiversity week: an internal lunch and learn discussing support available at Frontier alongside a fantastic talk from a certified ADHD coach.
  • Autism Acceptance Week: a combination of events including a stand-up comedy show that explored autism, how it might manifest in the workplace and its (often lopsided) representation in popular culture.
  • Fact sheets to inform around awareness days such as Migraine Awareness Week and Colour Blind Awareness Day.

Understand the gaps: the network regularly seeks to ensure any gaps in support are identified and looks for ways to continue to improve work-life for Frontier staff. This includes but is not limited to individual workplace adjustments.