Colleagues from Phoenix Group, the UK's largest long-term savings and retirement business, have been selected to feature in the prestigious Empower Future Leaders Role Model List for 2022.
Rabya Akhtar and Imran Khan, have both been included on the list, which showcases the ethnic minority talent working at all levels of business who are making a significant contribution inside and outside of their organisations to increase opportunities for people of colour.
Rabya, who is a workplace pensions relationship manager, is a founding co-chair of the MOSAIC network, Phoenix's Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic community network for colleagues that seeks to enhance the cultural awareness of diverse communities, and also helps to actively drive diversity and inclusion across Phoenix Group. This is the second year she has been included in the Empower Future Leaders Role Model List, having previously secured inclusion last year.
Imran, who is a business development manager, is also a founding co-chair of MOSAIC and has been instrumental in the inception and implementation of a successful new diversity data application - 'Who We Are' - that drove up diversity data completion rates to more than 75% within only eight weeks. ‘Who We Are’ provides a modern, safe and confidential way for colleagues to share their diversity data. The initiative also enables colleagues to learn more about the many areas of diversity through a corresponding educational site.
As well as this work, Rabya and Imran also lead the MOSAIC committee, made up of 12 colleagues from across the business. The MOSAIC committee has organised events to promote personal and professional development and social and cultural awareness, which have been attended by hundreds of colleagues from across Phoenix Group.
Phoenix Group is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the diverse nature of its customers and communities in which it operates.
To be included on the Empower Future Leaders Role Model List for 2022, both Rabya and Imran were nominated by peers and employees for the award. The nominations were then reviewed by an esteemed judging panel, who scored nominees on: the influence of their role; their impact on ethnic minority inclusion inside and outside of the workplace; and their business achievements.
Tamar Hughes, Group Head of Talent and Organisational Development at Phoenix Group, said:
“At Phoenix we believe that having greater diversity of thought, experience and outlook within our business will help us better understand our customers and meet their varied and changing needs.
“Rabya and Imran put their passion for building a diverse and inclusive business into action every day so it's great to see them being recognised with this prestigious award for the work they are doing not just at Phoenix Group but across the whole industry.”
Phoenix Group's programme of diversity and inclusion focuses on gender, ethnicity, disability and social mobility with specific objectives and priorities for each. The group has nine active colleague networks, including MOSAIC, which celebrate the diversity of colleagues, and who collaborate and contribute to making Phoenix Group an inclusive place to work.
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Photos of Rabya and Imran can be provided upon request
Enquiries
Andrew Liddle
PR & Public Affairs Manager
Phoenix Group
07891 256749
andrew.liddle@thephoenixgroup.com
Tim Naylor
Senior Account Executive
Lansons
07983 612919
Linkedin: PhoenixGroup-UK
Twitter: @PhoenixGroupUK