Bank of Ireland won two awards at last year’s Personnel Today Awards, with HR director Eimear Harty crediting its success to its progressive and wide-ranging approach to employee policies and benefits.
If proof were needed that Bank of Ireland’s ‘life-friendly’ approach to looking after its employees is paying off, then bagging two awards at the 2023 Personnel Today Awards was that recognition. At the awards ceremony last November, the Bank celebrated winning both Family Friendly Employer of the Year, and the larger employer award for Health and Wellbeing.
A major contributor to both of these wins was its Life Moments programme, which supports employees through key milestones, whether that’s buying a car, going through a bereavement, or planning retirement. The bank had reviewed and revitalised many of its people policies after deciding that they did not reflect the challenges faced by and the diversity of modern families.
Eimear Harty, HR director, Bank of Ireland Group (pictured right) explains that the principle behind Life Moments is that “families are made up of different shapes and sizes, and we need a suite of policies that connects with that”.
“People need support at different times in their life, even if that’s with what were previously more taboo issues such as surrogacy, fertility or pregnancy loss,” she says. The benefits included under the ‘Family Matters’ banner include 26 weeks’ paid maternity leave, six weeks’ paid paternity leave and seven weeks’ paid shared parental leave.
Some of the more progressive policies at the bank cover surrogacy, fertility treatment, early pregnancy loss, foster care and menopause. A domestic abuse support policy offers paid emergency accommodation, salary advances and physical security services for employees who may need to flee a risky home situation.
But while it’s important to offer a more diverse range of policies to cater for the needs of a changing workforce, building an inclusive culture where employees feel comfortable discussing their wellbeing needs is even more crucial, Harty believes. “It’s about how we operate a culture of care so we can have a deeper wellbeing dialogue with colleagues,” she says.
This openness is supported by an ‘inclusion passport’ that employees can use to communicate different needs with their manager, whether a disability, neurodivergent condition or other workplace adjustment. This is transferable and moves with colleagues from role to role, making it easier to communicate with new managers.
Team charters
Manager training also plays an important role in ensuring policies are followed empathetically. “We have team charters that encourage managers and teams to have conversations about what they need to thrive at work. Our role is to care for colleagues across their different lives, and things that are happening to them,” adds Harty.
As with many employers, the pandemic left a lasting impression on working styles and arrangements. The bank introduced hybrid working post-Covid, and there is a flexible policy on how many days employees are on site, rather than taking a prescriptive approach. Bank of Ireland has remote working hubs where employees can take a desk rather than commuting into a city.
“People are empowered to make that decision depending on their work and life commitments,” she says. “They can choose to be nearer to a sick or elderly parent, or even move back to where they lived when they were younger, where they can get support.”
The pandemic also shone a light on employee wellbeing, as it did in many businesses, and this legacy continues. During the pandemic, the bank ran a ‘show we care’ conference for managers on how to help colleagues in crisis, and 84% of leaders took part. It has trained 265 mental health first aiders, and offered direct financial support during the periods of high inflation witnessed in 2022 and 2023. “We want to care for colleagues through all the times in their life, not just when they’re focused on progression,” Harty adds.
The Bank is now working on a two-year workplace wellbeing assessment that will provide anonymous data on colleague wellbeing, but those who take part also receive a report they can use for their own health awareness.
Personnel Today Awards 2024
There are 23 categories to enter this year ranging from Candidate Experience to Workplace Culture.
One of the key areas it wants to support employees with is neurodiversity, and recently the bank launched its neuro-inclusion strategy, offering training for all colleagues on how to support neurodivergent colleagues and candidates. Policies and processes have been updated and improved to better cater for neurodivergent employees and new-joiners.
“Neuro-inclusion is really important to us because almost half of neurodiverse people do not disclose this at work, which has huge implications for their wellbeing as they could be masking their true selves at work,” Harty adds, referring to research by Red C which showed that 48% had not mentioned their condition to their employer. “This is a very important societal issue and we hope we can extend our strategy to other employers,” she says.
Harty is supported by a team of HR colleagues across specialisms such as learning, culture, communications and diversity, equity and inclusion, and reports into the chief people officer. Over the past few years she feels the bank has been on a journey where functions have become more connected, which in turn has increased the impact HR can have – and winning two Personnel Today awards recognises this shift. Employee engagement is also up by five points compared to last year.
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“What we do now is more holistic and relevant, we have better listening systems and data,” she adds. “Our role is to raise awareness of issues important to colleagues and support managers to care day-to-day.”
