Employee led initiatives bring together like
minded individuals within our organisation
Our Affinity Networks are employee-led communities which bring together like minded individuals within the organisation. They are open to all employees and seek to act as a neutral forum for discussion and education. They provide an open environment to create solutions to diversity & inclusion related business challenges as well as an opportunity to support one another.
We believe in human potential. That means advocating for everyone to be accepted, respected and included in the workplace.
We are committed to driving awareness and positive action to ensure fair representation and access to opportunities for the community, underpinned by consistent fair, equal and unbiased processes.
Our aims are to:
Leverage the Affinity Network to grow our business and strengthen our brand advocacy
Be seen as an employer of choice with simple, effective and non-biased recruitment processes
Create an inclusive and open culture, equipping people with the tools to speak to clients and each other
Promoting our group at key events throughout the year in local communities and forming alliances with key partners
Leading our BRIGHT LGBTQIA+ Affinity Network, in such an inclusive organisation, allows me to inspire change, advocate for equality, and celebrate diversity with passion and pride.
Birmingham Pride: 2022 was ManpowerGroup's first year as a walking group at Pride. Not only do we celebrate Pride but we also run educational and awareness raising events throughout the year.
National Coming Out Day: Every year, BRIGHT celebrates everyone in the LGBTQIA+ community on National Coming Out Day. We held a drop-in virtual session which then prompted several employees to share their experiences.
National Inclusion Week: Our Affinity Networks came together to celebrate each day. We held sessions on what inclusion means, hosted by Mark Cahill. We also ran Lunch and Learn sessions and webinars talking about the power of inclusive recruitment and the strength of the Affinity Networks. We even ran an interactive DEIB lunchtime quiz.
Proudly representing Manpower and our BRIGHT Affinity Network, celebrating with friends, partners, colleagues and families at Birmingham PRIDE 2022. Our aim was to ensure we create a culture of inclusivity for employees, candidates and clients regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity by raising awareness, providing a platform for employees to have a voice, and ensuring we effectively connect our people.
Our Defence Connect Affinity Network is led by key members from each brand of ManpowerGroup.
Membership is open to anyone affiliated to, or an advocate for, the Defence community, including Veterans, Reservists, and partners of serving personnel, spouses, family members, and friends.
Our aim is to create a safe, constructive network for anyone affiliated to the defence community to come together, share thoughts, feelings, and views on their personal and professional experiences. Our network creates a forum for discussion and ideas to promote a genuine understanding of the Armed Forces within the wider business context and to advocate for increased awareness for this cohort.
Our network meets on a monthly basis; to date we have enjoyed external talks from the Forces Pension Society, Colin Maclachlan (former SAS TV personality) and contributed to the business’ Reserves Policy and Remembrance Day.
Established in 2022 to strengthen Armed Forces advocacy across ManpowerGroup.
Network members helped shape our Reservist Policy.
Played a key role in retaining our Gold Award from the MOD.
Host annual Remembrance Day events to honour service and raise awareness.
Proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant, supporting Reservists in the workplace.
Partnered with the Career Transition Partnership to deliver career insight sessions for service leavers.
As part of our PSR commitment, we offer a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for veterans and spouses to support fair access to employment.
Right Management, part of ManpowerGroup, has proudly supported the Armed Forces community for over 25 years through its involvment with the Ministry of Defence's Careers Transition Partnership (CTP).
We continue to collaborate with CTP and remain deeply committed to supporting service leavers.
In recognition of our ongoing efforts, ManpowerGroup has been honoured with the Ministry of Defence Gold Employer Recognition Award for the second time.
The award is the highest badge of honour for businesses that employ and support the Armed Forces community, and ManpowerGroup is one of just 36 businesses to retain Gold status.
ManpowerGroup supports the Armed Forces Community through numerous programmes such as the Forces Families Jobs website, we also help veterans to re-enter the job market through enhanced initiatives such as our Defence Connect Affinity Network.
Being a member of the Affinity Network has helped to drive positive change across the business.
We are committed to minimising the impact of mental ill health across our business.
Our Disability Leaders Network has been established within ManpowerGroup since 2016. We are committed to ensuring that we are leading the way as a Disability Confident Leader and are continuously making our organisation a more inclusive place to work.
We champion ManpowerGroup as a place that provides work opportunities for people with disabilities and that we become an employer of choice for both candidates and clients.
We have been Disability Confident since 2016, and a Disability Confident Leader since 2018 and were reaccredited in 2021.
We have a Disability Leaders Group that regularly influences ManpowerGroup’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) Strategy.
We have built on our internal wellbeing offerings, including establishing over 60 Mental Health First Aiders within the organisation.
We’ve built relationships with external organisations such as the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), Made by Dyslexia and Workfit to guide best-practice procedures.
By ensuring we are Disability Confident Leaders, ManpowerGroup can lead the way to positively shape attitudes, behaviours and cultures across the industry, and reinforce our purpose of 'Doing Well by Doing Good'.
We have worked with colleagues and external agencies to develop a suite of resources to help ManpowerGroup educate and support key stakeholders both internally and externally. Our resources include education events, support and tools in a range of areas.
We support in the education of the whole business surrounding the benefits of a gender inclusive workplace and unconscious bias. Our goals are outlined below:
Tackle unconscious bias within the organisation
Close the gender pay gap
Enable more women to take up senior leadership & customer facing roles
Shift the focus / narrative of caregiving from women to equally split between genders to benefit both sexes in the workplace
We achieve these goals through advocacy and internal lobbying; from offering a helping hand to the ongoing review of menopause policy, hybrid working, and other internal protocols; and by networking and supporting one another within our network.
Advocacy and internal lobbying to steer positive change across ManpowerGroup.
Offering support and guidance to the ongoing review of the following policies and procedures:
Menopause
Hybrid working
Many other internal protocols
Networking and supporting one another within the network to ensure staff feel supported and empowered.
This year we held Lunch and Learn webinars where the focus was on nutrition and support for women’s mental and physical health.
Members of GAIN also supported by taking part in livestreams of our leaders across the world to kick off our global IWD celebrations.
We came together internally behind a global initiative called “Make the unseen women of ManpowerGroup seen.” This concept is key to achieving one of our global goals within the Environmental, Societal and Governance (ESG) pillars - Working towards our global goal of 50% women in senior leadership.
Female leaders from around the world hosted career coaching sessions. They shared their stories of progression within ManpowerGroup and then acted as a career coach / mentor for a one hour session with a small group of women.
It was a fantastic session and great to meet people in the wider business. I learned a great deal and gained insights for my career moving forward.
To celebrate International Men's Day we invited ANDYSMANCLUB to facilitate an educational virtual event to talk to our staff about the support available for men's mental health. Over 70 ManpowerGroup employees attended the session to find out more.
ANDYSMANCLUB aims to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health and create a judgment-free, confidential space where men can be open about the storms in their lives. They aim to achieve this through weekly, free-to-attend peer-to-peer support groups for men aged over 18.
ANDYSMANCLUB takes its name from Andrew Roberts, a man who sadly took his own life aged 23 in early 2016. Andy’s family had no inkling that he was suffering or struggling to the extent that he would do this, and as a result looked deeper into male suicide and men’s mental health.
They soon discovered that male suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50, with male mental health surrounded by well-ingrained cultural stigma in the UK.
We now have an ongoing relationship with ANDYSMANCLUB and our staff are now recommended to the charity. We have had exceptional feedback from colleagues and many now attend weekly sessions.
We have had exceptional feedback from colleagues and many now attend weekly sessions.
Our Multicultural Employee Resource Group for Excellence (MERGE) champions the recruitment, retention, and progression of ethnic minorities across ManpowerGroup - driving growth through togetherness and better service for all.
Global conversations around diversity and inclusion have made it clear: now is the time to pause, reset, and go back to the basics. MERGE is here to create a space of psychological and virtual safety - a place where people from all backgrounds can connect, decompress, and share experiences without the pressures of the corporate world.
Importantly, MERGE isn’t just for those from multicultural backgrounds. This network is for everyone. It’s about community, friendships, and meaningful networking across the business. Many of us have met inspiring people through MERGE who have helped us realign our personal goals and grow our careers.
Our aims are as follows:
Remove barriers to progression, recruitment, and retention of ethnic minorities from our policies, procedures, and working practices.
Celebrate cultural differences and the value diversity brings to our business and our people.
Support education so unconscious bias becomes conscious, and equality is actively pursued in all areas of working life.
Inclusion doesn’t happen by chance - it happens when we make the time, right now, to create spaces where people feel safe, valued, and heard. And that’s exactly what MERGE, and the other networks, are here to do.
Inclusion in action
MERGE has delivered initiatives that educate, inspire, and foster inclusion across ManpowerGroup. From sharing Ramadan insights and encouraging a day of fasting, to celebrating Notting Hill Carnival and the legacy of the Windrush generation, we’ve helped deepen understanding and spark meaningful conversations.
We’ve hosted Lunch and Learns on racial microaggressions and spotlighted powerful stories during Black History Month - offering practical guidance, exploring identity and pride, and encouraging reflection.
These initiatives bring us closer to a workplace where everyone feels safe, valued, and heard.
MERGE supports colleagues and leaders in shaping inclusive policies and practices. We run educational campaigns and sessions that:
Celebrate cultural events like Ramadan and Notting Hill Carnival
Explore topics such as racial microaggressions and Black History Month
Highlight the contributions of ethnic minority communities to British culture
These initiatives help us reflect, learn, and work together to build a more inclusive workplace.
Ramadan is a month of fasting and abstaining from things considered to be impure for the mind and body. Those partaking in Ramadan abstain from food, drink and impure thoughts between the hours of sunrise and sunset, allowing them instead to focus on prayer and connecting with Allah. At the close of the month, Eid al-Fitr is celebrated with loved ones. Eid is a great time of celebrations for our Muslim community.
In support, some of our teams made adjustments within their office environments.
Whilst individual preferences varied we encouraged our people to speak to their line managers about any additional adjustments needed. We supported in the following ways:
Adapted working hours, including starting 2 hours early/late to help with the change in sleep and fasting schedules
Remote working during Ramadan (wherever possible and led by the individual)
Regular conversations around the timing of Eid so that colleagues could book annual leave for the festival, as they only knew a few days before, when Eid started
Supporting our colleagues is important to us, so that everyone feels included and a sense of belonging.
