Inclusion and Diversity

We are committed to advancing Inclusion and Diversity (I&D) in Odgers Berndtson and the world at large.

To find out more about Unlimited, or if Odgers Berndtson feels like the kind of place you’d like to work, get in touch.

What we believe in

At Odgers Berndtson, we will always strive for a world of inclusion, diversity, tolerance and acceptance.

Inclusion and diversity is hardwired into our business and, as such, we have made commitments in two areas.

The first is to create an inclusive culture and working environment where everyone has a sense of belonging and ensures equal opportunities, remuneration, and conditions.

The second is to act on our unique responsibility. As one of the world’s leading executive search firms, we are committed to using our global voice and network to change social inequality and injustice for good. We aim to help our clients address their diversity challenges through more inclusive search, and aim to create a more equal playing field for all emerging and aspiring leaders around the world. 


Meaningful change takes time. At Odgers Berndtson, we are committed to the journey.

How we’re doing it

We have and will always stand with and support the inclusion of our colleagues, candidates and clients and are committed to improving the level of diversity in all its forms within Odgers Berndtson. 

To this end, we launched Unlimited – a programme of initiatives that embody our philosophy and our commitments to inclusion and diversity.

Externally, Unlimited is our approach with clients and how, by working with them, we aim to shape the future of leadership into a more diverse field. We challenge our clients to consider each role's parameters and actively engage with the broadest range of candidates so that we access the most diverse talent pool and recruit the best people.

Internally, it includes our Allies – The Allies programme was created as a means by which to ensure our unique ‘Unlimited’ culture is upheld and resonates across our geographic locations.

Allies are self-nominated individuals who believe all colleagues should experience equality, fairness, and dignity at work and ensure we actively improve in all areas of inclusion, diversity, equity and access. These groups are (though not limited to) Age, Ethnicity, Gender, Disabilities, Mental Health, Menopause, Social Mobility, LGBTQ+ and Neurodiversity.

We have made it an integral priority to focus on developing our I&D capabilities and have taken a number of important steps in the right direction.

• We use consistent behaviour which excludes any potential for unintentional discrimination.
• We send out engagement and pulse surveys on a variety of topics to our employees regularly. At our last survey, 75% of employees said the Unlimited Festival increased their knowledge and understanding of I&D.
• We support and contribute to a wide range of positive network initiatives, thereby deepening our understanding and reach
• We produce an annual Gender Pay Gap report which highlights the steps we’ve taken in the areas of recruitment, internal progression and salary monitoring, and makes recommendations for further actions.
• Improving our family leave policy so that it more effectively meets the needs of all our people, and adapting our promotions process to ensure it offers an equal footing for all and working with partners such as Leonard Cheshire to create an open and inclusive recruitment process (we are a level 2 Disability Confident employer and working towards level 3).
  
  

Why we’re doing it

Simply put, we believe helping to create fairer and more inclusive societies is not just the right thing to do but is part of our responsibility as a global executive search firm. In fact, the moral case for inclusion and diversity is so irrefutable, that we are focused on the ‘how’, not the ‘why’. Evidence of this ethos is illustrated by:

• Our attainment of the highest government accreditation for search companies on gender diversity – the Executive Search Voluntary Code of Conduct.
• We are a signatory to the UK search industry Voluntary Code of Conduct and are accredited under The Enhanced Code of Conduct for Executive Search Firms for the FTSE350. We have also received the highest level of accreditation for our diversity outcomes from the Cabinet Office.
• We have contributed and been keenly involved in the Hampton Alexander Review into female representation in corporate boardrooms and our percentage of female placements at FTSE350 board level (51%) exceeds the target set by his Steering Group for Women on Boards.