Speaking up
The best teams share ideas and challenge things that don’t feel right. We want all of our colleagues to feel confident about raising ideas, questions or concerns, knowing they’ll be listened to and treated fairly. Speaking up is an important part of our culture.
Feel safe to speak up
We want everyone who works at L&G to feel safe speaking up about anything negative they’ve noticed. We encourage our colleagues to start by speaking with a line manager or other trusted leader.
They can also raise concerns through human resources or via our speak up channels. This can be via an online referral form, an email to speakup@landg.com or a freephone 0800 number. External stakeholders like suppliers, customers or other third parties can also use the email address to report a concern.
All concerns raised are anonymised and treated confidentially.
Colleagues may also confide in their Unite, the union, representative or managers’ forum representative (UK only). If needed we encourage them to speak to Protect, the whistleblowing charity, for free and independent legal advice.
We don’t tolerate retaliation against those who speak up. Any reports of this would be thoroughly investigated, with appropriate disciplinary action taken against colleagues breaching our speak up standards.
How we’re creating a workplace where every voice is heard.
Training and awareness
We share our Speak Up Policy with all colleagues through training and regular updates from senior leaders, including the Group Management Committee and our Speak Up Champion. We check awareness and confidence through our annual survey and by engaging with colleague communities.
What to look for
Wrongdoing within a financial services organisation can take many forms. We may also act if colleagues behave inappropriately outside work, in line with the FCA’s guidance on non-financial misconduct. This doesn’t include private civil matters.
Please raise concerns about:
- non-financial misconduct, including bullying, harassment, violence or breaches of FCA conduct rules
- company polices or procedures not being followed
- the company breaking the law
- a criminal offence being committed or likely to be committed.
- health and safety dangers that haven’t been addressed
- risk of or actual damage to the environment
- retaliation or victimisation for speaking up
- covering up or hiding wrongdoing
- anything else that could harm the company
Assessment process
We assess all referrals within 48 hours of receiving them and then share any steps we plan to take with the relevant people.
Our investigations are fair, impartial and led by experienced investigators. We’ll assess any possible harms and take steps where necessary to mitigate them. We’ll provide regular updates to referrers throughout the process. Afterwards, we’ll follow up with them to make sure they’ve been treated fairly
HR consultants are on hand to support anyone involved in a speak up matter.
Governance
The Speak Up Committee, which meets quarterly, is a sub-committee of the General Management Committee. It oversees the effectiveness of the function and the fair treatment of our referrers. They:
- assess our speak up performance against a range of KPIs, in line with industry peers
- track the timely completion of investigations against a 60 working day service level agreement
The Speak Up Committee members receive details of the findings of and any recommendations resulting from each investigation. Reports are presented to the Group Board and other boards on an annual basis.
In line with regulatory requirements, Clare Bousfield, one of our Independent Non-exec Directors, is our Speak Up Champion. She meets regularly with the Speak Up team.
Speak Up Policy Statement
Our Speak Up Policy Statement reflects our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of business ethics, honesty, openness and accountability. We publish it externally and expect everyone we work with to uphold these same principles.
Our policy reflects our commitment to honesty, openness and accountability. We expect everyone we work with to uphold its principles.