Speaking on the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) webinar on diversity and inclusion a year on from its viewpoint survey, industry figures discussed the learnings of the study and announced the launch of a website to drive the initiative forward.
Montlake said: “It’s not a tick-box exercise, it’s not just the next trend and we’re not just jumping on a bandwagon.
“This has to be a fundamental shift in culture. Not just for us, but for everyone in the industry and together I’m sure we will really make this change.”
Robert Sinclair, CEO of AMI, said the depth of emotion revealed in the responses to the survey made the association “stop and think about where we had to go in order to make this industry different”.
In response, Georgina Phillipou, senior adviser to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on the public sector equality duty, told Sinclair: “Thank you for being brave enough to open up the wounds in the industry”, then challenged him on how to move things forward.
A platform for change
The website, workinginmortgages.org.uk, has been created as a platform for industry figures to share initiatives, ideas and concepts to help others learn and develop. He called on members of the sector to get involved with the website, which covers three areas. These are recruitment, pay and progression; leadership and culture; and experiences in the industry.
Sinclair said it was the “beginning of the journey, not the end of the journey”.
Chloe Timperley, senior policy adviser at AMI, said around 70 people had contributed to the development of the website and a mentoring scheme was in the pipeline. There is also a section on how to action initiatives and resources to improve inclusion in the industry.
Dom Scott, managing director of Lifetime Connect, said the website collated an “eclectic mix of feedback” from the industry and said the survey revealed some “difficult to read areas which needed to be aired”.
Scott said that often, when people read something provocative and emotive, it created a knee-jerk instinct to do something.
However, he said: “The main takeaway for me is that the challenges are structured, and they’re nuanced, so therefore the solutions also need to be structural and nuanced.”
Expected conduct and behaviour
Since the survey, AMI has called on trade bodies, lenders, intermediaries and external diversity and inclusion consultant Frank Starling, CEO at Variety Pack, to work on a set of standards which range from tackling bad behaviour at industry events to attracting new talent.
Scott said the website “brings all of these energies together” and is a place for changemakers in the industry to come together and share ideas and determine best practice.
Nick Mendes, mortgage technical manager at John Charcol, said the attendees of industry events did not typically reflect the communities some people worked and lived in. “As a result, comments, behaviours and actions have for too long gone unnoticed or not called out,” he said.
He added that there were instances where people who were victims of bad behaviour did not feel comfortable raising concerns as there was no platform or support to do so. Mendes said he wanted to make sure events were a “safe space” for hosts, guest and catering staff.
Bad behaviour
Alison Houghton-Corfield, national relationship director at Master Private Finance, said she had become a “sounding board for people who feel uncomfortable or have been offended or even frightened by some of the things that have happened to them”.
Mentioning some incidences she had been made aware of, she said something had happened to a mortgage professional in the view of others, but no one stepped in as they felt embarrassed.
At another event, Houghton-Corfield said someone of a “minority characteristic” sat at a table and another attendee turned to them, pointed and said ‘we’ve hit our D&I quota’ then continued to sit at the table.
“This individual then left the event at 10.30, went home and was really upset and demoralised,” she added.
She also mentioned another incident where someone was touched inappropriately, but fortunately in this instance, the table host and other attendees stepped in to resolve the issue straight away.
AMI is also working on implementing a minimum standards of etiquette for industry events.
Changes from the top
Houghton-Corfield said this was a sign of things changing, adding it will be a positive journey which needed a change in leadership and culture.
She added: “There’s a new guard coming on board, we’re getting a new cohort – a younger cohort – and the expectations have always been on people to perform. Now there are a lot more expectations that are on leaders to lead in a certain way.”
Being open
Dina Bhudia, director of P2M Asset Management, said it was also the duty of those who experienced any bad behaviour to be vocal about it. However, she said people from certain backgrounds tended to shy away from doing so.
She said: “It’s imposter syndrome, it’s from our cultural backgrounds… you shouldn’t voice unless you’ve been asked.”
Bhudia said it was easy to assume others knew how people from minority backgrounds felt but, in her experience, it was when she opened up that people began to understand and were welcoming.
She said everyone in the industry cared and people needed to be open about their experiences to drive change.
Everyone must get involved
Closing Kevin Roberts, director of Legal and General Mortgage Services, said it was important for white, middle-aged straight men like him to get involved.
“I was someone who thought I had a good value set but I was passive. Going through the viewpoint and hearing these stories, people assume we know that and I didn’t know that.
“It wasn’t happening to me and therefore I didn’t understand it was going on. That’s not acceptable, we’ve got to open our minds, we’ve got to listen… because it is going on.”
Roberts also urged professionals to engage with the mentoring scheme when it goes live.
He added: “This is a journey, we do have an output in mind which is running this survey again in 18 or 24 months. We can’t, as an industry, have the same results again. We have to step forward.”
A replay of the webinar is available here: https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/12313/561428?utm_source=ExLaunch
