Speaking about Virgin Money’s ‘A Life More Virgin’ employee initiative, Nicola Goldie (pictured), head of national accounts said it was necessary to treat employees as individuals.
The programme was born out of the pandemic and saw the bank introduce measures which allowed its staff to work at times and in locations which suited them.
Goldie said A Life More Virgin was a step away from the typical 9-5 schedule which limits people to their office and forces them to “conform to stereotypes”.
She said: “It’s about the inclusion of being economically, physically and socially able to support all staff.”
People working across the group from in-branch employees to head office staff can adjust the way they work at Virgin Money.
Goldie said it allowed employees to fit their jobs around their family life and commitments.
She said it was “that real flexibility and choice and just making sure that everyone feels comfortable that they can do what they do”.
Goldie said: “I’ve got two small children so for me, it’s important to be able to do the school run or to be there for the school play or to help out on their trips without necessarily having to take the day as a holiday.
“I’m able to just work around that.”
A sense of trust
Goldie said the programme built trust in the fact that employees would do their jobs as expected without having to be confined to certain practices or schedules.
Virgin Money has also invested in collaboration hubs which allow employees to work in various locations individually or with their team, including remote workers.
She said employees were able to adjust the terms of their working pattern as and when it suited so they could “work around whatever is going on in [their] life”. Goldie said Virgin Money was also happy to test different working structures with employees to see what worked.
She said Virgin Money did not apply any company-wide changes as different forms of flexibility worked better for some employees over others.
Improved wellbeing
The business has also introduced an extra five days for employees to focus on their wellbeing.
Goldie added: “We encourage you to go and do something. That means you come back to work fresh the next day and that might mean to take one day or five days as a whole.”
She said it did not necessarily mean going for a “spa day” but as it was on top of their holiday allowance, it could be something like dealing with childcare without worrying about using up annual leave.
Goldie said while there are no requirements for employees to explain why they want to make their working pattern flexible, the initiative had encouraged people to open up.
“It’s probably given us more licence to have an open discussion with colleagues if they feel comfortable about it. And then there’s even more that you can do because that just opens up more doors. And that’s where A Life More Virgin as a broader initiative comes in,” Goldie said.
No need for permission
In her case, Goldie said she previously would not have discussed the fact that she cares for her dad and would have just told colleagues that she was “dropping off the grid for a few hours”, but now she feels comfortable discussing it.
Goldie also said it removed the assumption that permission was needed to take care of personal life duties.
She added: “It’s that kind of mindset that’s moved on and that’s where I think the real positivity from this initiative has come, which is ‘I know that I can do that’, ‘I know that I am allowed to do that’ without having to wonder if it’s okay.”
She said she previously would have been “horrified” at having to admit that her daughter was ill meaning she would be pulled away from work, which made her feel “apologetic for having a child”.
Constantly evolving
Goldie said A Life More Virgin would keep evolving as they worked to fit the needs of colleagues.
“If there are other things that we could do then we should be looking to try and do them and even further broaden that sort of flexibility and choice.
“There’s been plenty learnt along the way, and I think both from a company and an internal point of view, we’ve broken stereotypes. We’ve disrupted how 9-5 location-based working is,” she added.
Goldie said moving away from location-based working expectations meant Virgin Money could be more diverse with the talent it recruited as it was not just looking at a “regional pool of people”. The group has also removed gender-based parental leave policies and employees have day-one access to paternity or maternity leave.
There are also inclusion groups within Virgin Money, covering characteristics such as sexuality, disability and neurodiversity.
Goldie said these groups helped to shape the initiative and the business has also worked with Stonewall as part of its annual review to “push the envelope”.
Goldie said: “It comes down to treating humans as individuals and… allowing them to be supported in all ways.
Virgin Money also engages with Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) on a regular basis to host lunch and learn sessions to discuss diversity.
“It’s that education. How do you create that knowledge and bring that conversation to life? Because until we do that, nothing will change, will it?
“I’m really heartened by where we’ve got, but there’s a long way to go.”
