Our values
People
We believe passionately that part of our wider purpose is to be the best employer we can be for our people. That begins with an understanding that everyone makes a unique contribution to the firm and there is huge value in the difference that everyone brings. We care deeply about supporting everyone to be themselves and ensuring we provide an inclusive environment free from discrimination or barriers to progression.
Our Managing Partner is the firm’s Diversity, Equality & Inclusion Champion, and our HR Director chairs our DE&I committee; more than 15 % of our people are active members of the Committee. We celebrate the fact that our partnership and management team have a 50/50 gender split but continue to work to tackle any areas of under-representation in the firm.
We review our DE&l strategy annually; the three concepts underlying our strategy are to:
- Improve representation of different demographic groups within the firm;
- create an inclusive environment where everyone can be themselves, reach their full potential and fully contribute; and
- ensure all our people are valued as individuals and treated fairly
Our strategy encompasses disability, sexual orientation, mental health, neurodiversity, race and ethnicity, sex and gender and social mobility. Each strand is championed by a senior ally. We scrutinise all our key processes, including recruitment and onboarding and career development, to ensure we are supporting everyone’s needs. We monitor the make up of our firm every two years; our latest data is here. We offer face to face diversity training for everyone in the firm every two years, in addition to diversity training for facets of our working life such as recruitment, and supervision.
Our people in the spotlight
Building an inclusive environment is intertwined with our culture and our day to day activities in the firm. We mark key dates in the year through the lens of diversity. Events are designed to promote awareness and understanding and celebrate difference.
The mental health and wellbeing of our people is a key priority for us. We have seven trained Mental Health First Aiders across the business and provide 24 hour access to trained counsellors via a confidential helpline.
We have raised awareness about neurodiversity and it is now one of the workstreams for our diversity committee. We have held a coffee morning to give people a chance to find out more about neurodivergence and we are looking at ways we can support our neurodivergent colleagues in the firm.
Part of our work to ensure the diversity of our firm addresses one of the challenges facing the wider legal profession – the lack of social mobility. Our Upreach programme supports graduates from less privileged backgrounds with career insight days, a rolling mentoring programme and a week’s paid work experience incorporating networking sessions, CV workshops and talks from colleagues around the firm.
Sometimes it can be difficult for me to track the actions that I have taken on in a meeting or discussion. So after meetings, my manager jots down a note and emails it to me or puts actions in my diary to help remind me of something that needs to be done and by when. It’s quick and easy for her to do but acts like a safety net for me. My commute into the office is quite long and it is mentally exhausting and stressful for me. Knowing that I can work at home three days a week has made a huge difference – I can work longer hours and I’m definitely more productive. Taking the stress of the commute away has been so valuable to me.
Authentic – there’s only one Peters & Peters. How lucky are we?!
Anna Bradshaw featured in Global Investigations Review