IP Inclusive pledge

We are delighted to be a part of IP Inclusive’s senior leaders’ think tank and to have signed up to the ‘Leaders’ Pledge’. Its aim is to help senior professionals provide visible and active leadership on improving diversity and inclusion (D&I) in their organisations.

This is a commitment entered into by individuals not organisations. Intended for signature by managing partners, chief executives and others in senior, decision-making roles – in this case, Mathys & Squire Partners Alan MacDougall, Caroline Warren, Nicholas Fox, Andrea McShane and Consultant Paul Cozens – it includes a promise to work alongside more junior colleagues to effect positive changes.

The Leader’s Pledge consists of eight high-level commitments, shown below. Alongside each of these, we commit to one or more practical steps that will take to fulfil the pledge. We have publicised, both internally and externally, to demonstrate that D&I will not be a box-ticking exercise, will not be consigned to silos within the organisation, but will be championed at the highest levels.

1. Providing visible and proactive leadership to improve D&I in my organisation:

Being personally involved in, and contributing to, D&I projects and events
Publicising my commitment in regular corporate communications, both internally and externally
Providing D&I-related content for those communications
Having the courage to speak out about difficult D&I issues and share my own experiences
Putting my name to a public statement of the organisation’s commitment to D&I and of its D&I objectives, strategy and policies
Publicising this pledge, along with our plans for fulfilling it
Acting as an ally to colleagues from under-represented groups

2. Taking D&I seriously at the highest level:

Including D&I in my organisation’s corporate strategy and business plans
Allocating corporate budget to D&I work
Acting as, or appointing, a D&I champion at board/partnership level
Including D&I as a standing agenda item at board/partnership meetings
Encouraging my senior colleagues to do as I do to provide visible and proactive leadership on D&I issues

3. Embedding and valuing D&I throughout the organisational culture:

Building a culture in which the whole of my organisation embraces D&I
Ensuring that internal communications regularly include D&I-related content
Including D&I-related topics on the agendas of internal events such as for new starter induction, would-be partner training and staff awaydays

4. Building trust and safe spaces throughout the organisation:

Establishing an internal D&I forum with representatives from all roles and all levels within the organisation
Ensuring that forum includes, and/or has access to, a D&I champion at board/partnership level
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
Where feasible, adopting the IP Inclusive guidelines on post-lockdown inclusivity

5. Educating myself and my colleagues about D&I issues:

Introducing a reverse mentoring scheme for senior staff to learn from more junior professionals and professionals in under-represented groups; participating in that scheme myself
Providing allyship, privilege awareness and/or unconscious bias training for staff at all levels, including board/partnership level
Adding key D&I-related awareness dates to the organisation’s internal calendar and encouraging staff to learn about and mark those dates

6. Sharing my privileges:

Involving my organisation in some form of outreach scheme to improve access to the IP professions (eg a work experience, internship, sponsored placement or similar scheme), working where appropriate with outreach charities and community interest groups
Widening the channels through which we advertise vacancies in the organisation, including through external recruitment consultants
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 organisation are aware of, and ideally involved with, IP Inclusive’s Careers in Ideas outreach initiative

7. Insisting on equity:

Ensuring fair, diversity-enhancing recruitment and promotion procedures are practiced throughout my organisation
Commensurate with the organisation’s size and resources, requiring the use of:
- objective selection criteria
- at least partially-blinded (eg name-blind) early-stage selection processes
- unconscious bias training for decision makers
- contextual recruitment

8. Working closely with HR and management colleagues to achieve this:

Involving HR personnel in board/partnership level decision making on D&I-impacting issues
Allowing them access to D&I-related training and professional development and valuing the expertise they acquire from it
Empowering them to propose D&I-related changes in the organisation to the Board, and providing visible and proactive support for their work
Encouraging involvement of board/partnership level colleagues in HR communications, conversations and projects