Driving inclusion and diversity in Europe

“Diverse and inclusive teams are better for business, in every sense. We are committed to developing a workforce that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve and with a culture where employees are enabled to reach their full potential ” Jasmine Smith, Chief People Officer, Visa Europe

Visa takes meaningful action to drive inclusion and diversity both with employees and its wider network throughout Europe, with various initiatives and programmes across four key areas - inclusive culture, growth and development, communities and diverse hiring. Some examples are:

- Ethnic Diversity Talent Accelerators: a programme which fast tracks the progression of ethnically diverse professionals at senior manager and director levels, enabling them to become leading change makers and role models. The programme offers a 10-week curriculum that focuses on the experience of ethnically diverse professionals and blends reflection, experiential learning, practical skills and inspiration.

- Scholarship Programmes: supporting university students from underrepresented and economically disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve their full potential. The programme covers tuition fees, as well as offers mentorship, skills building, career development and work experience. The programme is offered in the UK, Spain, Germany, France and Turkey.

- Neurodiversity Recruitment Audit: Visa conducted a Neurodiversity Recruitment Audit to identify opportunities to improve its working practices, processes and workplace for individuals with different cognitive abilities. Based on this, they’ll be implementing recommendations to enhance culture and working practices to support neurodiverse candidates and employees. This aims to also support inclusion for employees with disabilities.

- Inclusion Goals: Visa’s leadership team has specific goals to increase and enhance a culture of inclusion, which influence their financial outcomes at the end of the year. In the UK, Visa has signed up to the Women in Finance charter and reports its progress against goals to the Visa Europe board and on its website. Visa also reports on the gender pay gap in the UK and France.

Visa's employee resource groups

Positive change starts with us. Visa has seven employee resource groups (ERGs) across Europe, where employees can get engaged and support each other. The ERGs are: Women in Business, Women in Tech, Parents & Carers, Viable (disability), Young Professionals, REACH, and Pride. The ERGs are focused on four main objectives:

- Talent Advancement: The ERGs provide professional development and recruiting opportunities for their members and allies, such as mentoring, coaching, networking and training.
- Belonging & Culture: The ERGs create a sense of belonging and culture for their members and allies, by organising fun and educational events, celebrating diversity and raising awareness of different perspectives and experiences.
- Community Engagement: The ERGs give back to their communities by volunteering and partnering with external organisations that address social, economic and educational inequalities.
- Business Impact: The ERGs advance Visa's business goals through inclusion, by providing insights and feedback on products, clients, marketing and more.

Diversity and inclusion is crucial to Visa’s overall mission, which is to uplift everyone everywhere, by being the past way to pay and be paid. Visa is committed to cultivating an inclusive and diverse environment that supports the development and advancement of all, recognising the power of representation, acknowledging biases and inviting talented people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives to help make its business and its company culture better.