A Wise decision

Date

June 2024

Author

The Research
& Insights Team

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Diversity, equality and inclusion have been central to fintech Wise’s overarching purpose from the beginning. Founded by Chief Executive, Kristo Kaarmann, and former Chair, Taavet Hinrikus, a little over a decade ago, it now has 5,000 employees and 10m active customers worldwide.

Much of its growth – annual revenues topped £840m last year – is down to the strength of demand for its services and core mission: making international money transfers cheap, fair and simple. Says Selina Wilson, Wise’s Global Director of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion: “When it comes to hiring we’re very clear about who we are and what we’re trying to do. Who we are attracts people to us. “Our mission, our whole purpose, is a really inclusive one: how do you move and manage the world’s money in a transparent, fair, cheap and accessible way?”

Wilson believes effective DEI policies deliver more than fairer workplaces; they can make for better businesses too.

“DEI is this red thread that is woven into everything we do,” she says. “It is a mindset: you bring the DEI lens to everything.”

Take, for example, Wise’s approach to disability inclusion, which is intended to benefit not just employees but customers too.
“Neurodiversity and disability is something very close to our hearts,” says Wilson. “We’ve got a very active disability network; they’ve got different conditions, experiences and health needs, and they’re all making a difference at Wise.

“But part of that is also how we can support our customers as much as our Wisers. How do we ensure our technology, website and app are genuinely accessible? What are we missing when we’re putting policies or voices together on disability experiences?”

The other current area of DEI focus for Wilson is women, a notably under-represented demographic in tech. While around 51% of staff at Wise are female, the company realised that numbers were notably lower in both senior leadership and technology teams. At the very top level of management, for instance, only around 30% were women. “So we thought, OK, that’s the goal for us: let’s move from 30% to 40%,” explains Wilson, in line with the Women in Finance Charter.

Alongside looking to increase the number of female candidates, however, Wise is attempting to put in place more long-term systemic changes, to encourage more young women to choose tech as a career. “We’ve got to play the long-term game,” says Wilson. “We know that programmes like WiseWomenCode and our scholarships in universities make a massive impact on women’s aspirations and career access to tech roles.”

Wise currently has three scholarships, two in Estonia and one in the UK, and will hold WiseWomenCode events in Singapore, London, Tallinn and Budapest this year. Women spend three days in Wise offices, speaking to female engineers, taking part in workshops and shadowing staff. “It is career-enhancing. It inspires them to think about tech careers, whether they join us or not,” says Wilson.

Whether it’s women, disability or another area of DEI, the final step, however, is always to measure progress.

As Wilson says with a laugh, “If it doesn’t get measured, it doesn’t get done. “I’m really proud of where we’ve come to so far; I think we’ve got something really unique here. But of course, there is always stuff to work on. DEI is never done.”

As she insists, ultimately DEI is about finding your purpose, as an employee but also as a business. “We just want people to be themselves.”

Recent findings from The Hybrid Future

The most recent findings from The Hybrid Future – Leesman’s ground-breaking study into hybrid working, carried out in conjunction with the MIT Center for Real Estate – illustrate clearly how needs and attitudes differ between employee groups.

Of the 2,428 respondents surveyed between July and September 2023, 10% identified as having a disability or a long-term health condition, a mental health difficulty, a mobility impairment, a neurodiverse profile or a sensory impairment. Both groups – those who identified as having some form of disability or impairment, and those that did not – were asked if they had the option to work in a hybrid way, and if, in general, they liked hybrid working.

The majority of both cohorts (60% and 64%) had the option to work in a hybrid way, but worked in the office ‘some or most of the time’. For those who identified as having some form of disability or impairment, 95% said they enjoyed hybrid working, just one percentage point less than those who did not.

But there was also divergence. When asked ‘When in the office, do you socialise with colleagues after work?’ 14% of able-bodied participants said it happened ‘frequently’, compared to just 8% of disabled respondents – 24% of whom also said they ‘never’ socialise with colleagues after work, compared to 13% in the other group.

The other divergence was that more able-bodied participants (44%) felt socially disconnected from colleagues when working remotely. Yet disabled participants were less affected; only 34% said they ‘frequently’ or ‘sometimes’ felt socially disconnected.

Recognising the diverse needs and perspectives of individuals with disabilities in the workplace is crucial for fostering inclusivity and supporting all employees. By doing so, workplaces can create environments where every employee feels valued and supported, ultimately leading to greater productivity and satisfaction.