A HSBC employee, who has been a champion for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, has played a role in helping the Bank to win the ‘Company of the Year’ award at the European Diversity Awards (EDAs), Europe’s most prestigious diversity event, held at the Natural History Museum in London recently (16th November).

Stuart Barette, who works for HSBC in Jersey and is Transgender Lead for the HSBC Pride UK Network and Chair of the HSBC Pride Network in the Channel Islands, was also shortlisted in the Awards for “Role Model of the Year”.

He has been an active participant in driving forward HSBC’s diversity strategy locally, in the UK and across Europe, and recently came top of the global ‘OUTstanding LGBT+ Future Leaders List’, presented by the Financial Times (FT).
 
Additionally, HSBC’s Pride UK Network, of which the Channel Islands and Isle of Man Pride Network forms a part, was shortlisted for the ‘Outstanding Employee Network’ Award. 

HSBC Channel Islands and Isle of Man has been fully engaged in the Bank’s UK and European diversity strategy. Earlier this year, it introduced ten new gender-neutral titles customers can use with their accounts, whilst the Bank was also heavily represented in the Channel Islands ‘Pride’ celebrations this year and launched an ‘LGBT+ Ally’ program, whereby employees show and give their support for diversity issues. In October, the first all-women cohort graduated from the Bank’s inaugural future leaders development programme ‘Accelerate’.

Commenting on HSBC’s success in the Awards, Stuart said: “It’s encouraging to see HSBC as a whole recognised at a European level as being the best company for championing diversity. It takes the whole business, including us in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, to make that happen. This success demonstrates that HSBC is an organisation where people of any gender, race, belief, sexuality or physical or mental ability can thrive. I hope what HSBC is doing can inspire other businesses locally to embrace diversity too.”