KNOWLEDGE

Morton Fraser shortlisted as a finalist at Diversity Awards

Morton Fraser Director of HR Martin Glover
Author
Martin Glover
Chief People Officer
PUBLISHED:
28 October 2021
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Article

Morton Fraser is a place where helping people to be the best they can be is firmly part of how we do business. We recognise that talent lives everywhere and in everyone and so creating an environment where people are recognised for who they are and what they contribute is the cornerstone of how we deliver the very best for our clients. 

To be recognised for our efforts, and to have been shortlisted as a finalist at this year’s Herald & GenAnalytics Diversity Awards in association with Arnold Clark was a clear honour and recognition of all the hard work effort and focus we put into creating the right culture for our people to be at their best more of the time. We did not win but that does not matter, we are in the game and we are making a positive difference and this is what matters.

The things that got us to the shortlist are many and varied, and include things such as our work in widening access to the profession. Last year we received 304 applications for legal traineeships and we attracted nearly 40% of applications from people from disadvantaged backgrounds. We are able to identify them through our use of contextualised recruitment software.

We also ensure that we challenge ourselves at key 'moments that matter' in the employee lifecycle and analyse the impact of the decisions we make, before we make them, to check for any unconscious bias. This means we analyse the impact of decisions we make on pay and bonus for example, to ensure the decisions we make will reduce the gender pay gap and in the upcoming cycle any ethnicity pay gap. We do the same at promotion time and challenging ourselves in this way has reduced our pay gap by over 30% in 3 years and we have no bonus pay gap at all between the genders. In promotion it has helped us identify women returners who are already fitted for promotion and we have been able to actively move them up the career ladder. People notice these things and it makes a difference.

There are many, many more things we are doing which are wider than our own walls, such as the work we do supporting disadvantaged young people reach positive destinations and preparing them for interviews for all sorts of jobs in law firms (not just our own). We do this because we believe it is the right thing to do and because the whole of society benefits. Law is about justice and fairness and that will always be our guiding compass in our work around diversity, inclusion and belonging.

Disclaimer

The content of this webpage is for information only and is not intended to be construed as legal advice and should not be treated as a substitute for specific advice. Morton Fraser LLP accepts no responsibility for the content of any third party website to which this webpage refers.  Morton Fraser LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.