Diversity & inclusion
The Bank is a modern, dynamic and internationally-orientated organisation. Every employee plays a vital role in providing quality service to all our customers and helping to create an inclusive working environment, where everyone can realise their full potential. That means treating everyone equally and fairly across all areas of the business.
We’re involved in a range of initiatives to ensure we attract, develop and retain the very best people, based purely on individual merit. For example, we support employees from other countries when they relocate to take a job at Berenberg with relocation support, visa and language trainings. Our European Women`s Network as part of our Learning and Development activities offers tailored career training and support for female talent across all divisions.
Our partnerships
We have established a number of partnerships to help us attract, encourage and enable a variety of people to join and thrive with us.
Bright Network
Bright Network connects Berenberg with the next generation of bright and diverse graduate talent.
University partnerships
Event collaborations with universities across the globe, including tailored presentations at Frankfurt School of Finance: Women in Business Society.
Hacker School
Berenberg supports the Hacker School by providing IT online courses to school kids across Germany.
Visionpath
Through our social mobility partnership, Berenberg colleagues host regular workshops to equip disadvantaged students with skills to support their progressions from school to work.
Girls & Boys Day
Girls & Boys Day offers the opportunity for the children of colleagues to expand their career choices through job shadowing in Germany.
Supporting others
We’ve been a socially responsible business since the 16th century. Today, our people are involved in a variety of initiatives. Since 1990, our Berenberg Foundation has supported young artistic talent by awarding the annual Berenberg Culture Prize and a series of scholarships. So far, it’s helped over 140 young, gifted artists in every cultural area, from fine arts and performing arts to literature, music and film.
Social mobility scheme
Social mobility has always been important to Berenberg. We work with Visionpath to mentor A-level students from socioeconomically disadvantaged areas of London. Our people offer one-to-one mentoring throughout their final school year, giving them support and guidance on their future after school, whether that’s' helping them with securing apprenticeships, or heading to university.
Throughout the programme, we run sessions to help them to understand what employers look for at interviews and assessment centres, how to submit UCAS applications, managing stress and resilience in the workplace and giving them confidence to take the next step. We believe it is an opportunity for firms like Berenberg to drive change by creating pathways for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and in the process attract more diverse talent to our business.
Spotlight on... Berenberg Journey
BerenbergKids
Germany
BerenbergKids was set-up with the aim of supporting underprivileged children and young people in the communities in which we work and live through fundraising and active volunteering. In Germany, it is a foundation supporting several different projects throughout the year. The vulnerability of children and young people is always determined by fate. Facing up to this is what drives the employee-led initiative, which has been an independent foundation in Germany since 2009.
In the past year, donations from employees, customers and business partners make possible to fund projects worth more than 250,000 euros. The foundation defines its purpose as identifying and supporting projects that have a challenge with attracting public attention. Well over €1 million have already been raised to help underprivileged children and young people since the foundation was founded. A valuable and easy source of donations is the donation of leftover cents. Employees can voluntarily have their pay slips rounded off and donate the cents or euros of their net salary.
United Kingdom
In the UK, BerenbergKids supports small children and young people charities nominated by our colleagues. And ones that are local enough that our teams can get involved in volunteers days. We are proud to have worked with several different organisations over the years and are delighted to currently be supporting with The Childhood Trust. The Childhood Trust is London's child poverty charity and their work is focused on supporting the 700,000+ children and young people living in poverty in London.
Their projects support children who are hungry, cold, behind with their education, at risk of abuse and exploitation, often homeless, and suffering from mental health issues. We help to keep them safe and resilient, and provide them with aspiration, with an end goal of helping them to reach their full potential and become a productive member of society.
The work of BerenbergKids will play a vital active role in the post-pandemic rebuild in London, helping to prevent a whole generation of children from disappearing from view. It offers the opportunity to get involved in charity fundraisers throughout the year. These can include in-house competitive quiz nights, or something a little more active.
More about BerenbergKids
