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Inclusion and diversity

Driving inclusion together for a better world

We strive to create an environment which recognises, values and respects the differences we all bring.

We embrace our differences knowing they make us stronger and help better reflect the needs of our customers and communities. This means creating and sustaining an inclusive culture where everyone feels they belong.

Our approach encompasses diversity in its broadest sense, from gender, sexuality and race, to social, educational and professional backgrounds, disability, religion, age, learning styles and personalities.

We believe that having varied perspectives promotes understanding and helps generate innovative ideas to solve the complex problems of a diverse and fast-changing world.

Be you at Bupa

‘Be you at Bupa’ is our commitment to an inclusive culture where we celebrate diversity and embrace our differences.

Our ambition

  • We celebrate diversity in all forms, creating a culture where everyone feels a sense of belonging and our people are able to bring their true selves to work and be their very best
  • All Bupa leaders play an active part visibly role modelling inclusive leadership, building diverse teams and creating safe environments in which our people can develop and grow
  • Our teams should be reflective of the customers and communities we serve, mirroring the diversity of culture and heritage in our markets.

Our global inclusion framework

We lead our Inclusion and Diversity agenda through our global Inclusion Framework, which is focused on embedding inclusion into our culture. On an annual basis we align both global and local goals to our three foundational elements: creating an inclusive culture, with inclusive leadership and inclusive practices.

Inclusive culture

We embrace diversity within our workforce to inspire innovation and deliver seamless experiences for our customers.

Inclusive culture in action

  • In Europe and Latin America, Fundación Sanitas organized the first Inclusive Games in Madrid, bringing together over 170 Spanish Olympians and Paralympians to promote sport and equality.
  • In the UK we have been driving an inclusive culture through storytelling on topics such as gender, age, sexuality, faith, ethnicity, family and caring, helping to amplify the topic of inclusion and raising awareness. Creating an inclusive workplace is a fundamental part of staying true to our values. Through our Be You At Bupa network, Bupa UK is doing exactly that. Made up of different community groups, Be You At Bupa provides a representative voice and peer-to-peer support for colleagues whilst continuously driving employee-led inclusion forward.
Inclusive leadership

We expect our leaders to role-model and champion diversity. It’s embedded into our leadership standards. We want leaders to foster high-performing, diverse teams. We support them in this throughout the process – talent acquisition, mentoring, and succession planning.

We’re building a robust pipeline of female leaders through gender-balanced leadership development and mentoring programmes.

Inclusive leadership in action

  • In the UK, the ‘Bupa Belong’ programme for managers develops inclusive leadership skills enabling them to create a workplace where our people can be their whole selves. Since 2020, we’ve partnered with Moving Ahead to deliver ‘Bupa Include’, our internal two way mentoring and sponsorship programme. This recognises the power of sponsorship and reverse mentoring to improve diversity and develop inclusive leaders.
  • In Bupa Arabia, to improve gender balance at senior levels, 100% of our female people managers and high performers have received enhanced development, through coaching, mentoring and leadership development programmes. Knowing the importance of role models, they have been sharing their experience and career stories with university students to inspire the next generation of future leaders.
Inclusive practices

We make sure we apply fair hiring methods that eliminate bias, and offer policies like hybrid working to support work-life balance.

We’ve introduced a number of early careers programmes, giving younger people the chance to get into the healthcare industry.

We're actively sharing accessibility best practices across the organisation to enhance consistency and pinpoint areas for improvement. While acknowledging that it’s a work in progress, we are committed to continual improvement.

Inclusive practices in action

  • In Bupa Australia, we are committed to fostering a culturally safe workplace that values and respects First Nations people. Through the Reconciliation Action Plan and First Nations Employment Strategy, we aim to increase employment opportunities and career pathways for First Nations people and raise awareness of the rich culture and history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. To support this, we have strengthened our training and awareness approach, updated policy and enhanced our First Nations Employee Advocacy Group. As a global leader in healthcare, we have an opportunity to reimagine how we partner with the First Nations health sector to deliver improved health and wellbeing outcomes to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
  • Throughout the organisation, colleagues can use a ‘This Is Me’ document that prompts an honest conversation between a colleague and line manager to help someone work at their best.

Inclusion and diversity commitments and reporting

As well as our own commitments to increasing representation of under-represented groups, we are signatories and members of organisations that help ensure that we are ambitious in our approach to inclusion and diversity.

We have been members of the Women in Finance Charter since 2018 to improve gender balance.

In the UK, Bupa reports to the FTSE Women Leaders Review, an independent, business led framework which sets recommendations to improve representation of women on Boards and Leadership teams.

We are also members of the Valuable 500, a global organisation of 500 partners and companies working together to end disability exclusion.

Our Pay Gap report outlines our performance and progress in increasing gender balance across all levels of the business with updates on the steps we're taking.

The Board also has a Board Diversity Policy which was last updated on 9 December 2020.

Our accessibility commitments

We’ve launched a global set of Be You at Bupa Accessibility Commitments. These are our promise to provide inclusive environments and experiences.

We remove barriers that exist for people who live with disabilities, creating inclusive and accessible experiences.

With health and happiness core to our purpose, we will:

Offer a great colleague experience, starting from the moment you apply for a job at Bupa and continuing right through your career.

  • Give everyone an accessible and inclusive recruitment experience, in line with our Bupa values.
  • Provide inclusive working environments with a clear, easy-to-navigate workplace adjustments process for colleagues.
  • Train our managers to feel confident supporting their team’s accessibility needs.

Listen, advocate, and innovate to create positive change for people with disabilities.

  • Create and enhance employee advocacy groups and safe spaces for those with accessibility requirements and disabilities to connect, find support and influence change.
  • Support innovation and progress with best practice advice from a Group-wide Accessibility Advocacy Forum supported by expert partner organisations.

Make it as easy as possible for our people and customers to access health and wellbeing support.

  • Innovate to provide digital platforms that offer inclusive health and wellbeing resources.
  • Be accessible by design, complying with WCAG 2.2 guidelines and adhering to a Group-wide set of accessible communications guidelines.