Hogan Lovells ranked Top 20 employer in 2020 Social Mobility Employer Index

Created by the Social Mobility Foundation in 2017, the Index ranks UK employers based on the actions they are taking to ensure they are open to accessing and progressing talent from all backgrounds. 119 employers from 17 sectors, who collectively employ almost one million people, entered the 2020 Index which assesses employers across seven key areas including: outreach, recruitment, selection, progression and data collection processes. Employers are benchmarked based on the results of both employer and employee surveys.

The methodology was developed in collaboration with the Bridge Group, a non-profit consultancy that uses research to promote social equality. Hogan Lovells also partners with the Bridge Group on research exploring the effect of socio-economic background on career progression in the legal profession, published in September 2018 and 2020.

Also in 2018, the firm signed up to the Social Mobility Pledge, launched by former Education Secretary and Minister for Women & Equalities, Rt Hon Justine Greening, MP. The firm will welcome Justine later this month for a discussion on social mobility in action, and on the C-19 Business Pledge, to which Hogan Lovells was a founding signatory in April this year.

Susan Bright, Global Managing Partner for Diversity & Inclusion and Responsible Business at Hogan Lovells, said: “Ranking in the SMI top 20 demonstrates the progress we have made in our commitment to social mobility and to embedding a culture of inclusion where all our people can be themselves and feel empowered to succeed, regardless of background and personal characteristics. In 2019 we appointed Christopher Hutton as Social Mobility Partner Sponsor and launched a social mobility working group with representatives from across the firm, in recognition of the fact that barriers based on social background do not necessarily stop at entry. Social mobility underpins all other diversity strands and feeds into our works across a number of areas, including our focus on ethnic minority attraction, retention and progression.”

Sarah Atkinson, chief executive of the Social Mobility Foundation, said: “I am delighted that Hogan Lovells committed to entering the Index this year despite the challenges they have faced in the wake of the pandemic. Now more than ever, we need to see business play their part in the levelling up agenda.”

For further information about the Index, please see here.