Carlos Jaureguizar
CEO, Bupa Global & UK
A workplace where everyone can shine is crucial to building business success and retaining critical talent.
At Bupa, our people are our most valuable asset. There are 23,000 of us in the UK, providing high-quality services to our patients, residents and customers every day. Our people must reflect the diversity of our customers to serve them best. This helps us deliver our purpose; helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives and making a better world.
We have long lived by the mantra that ‘everyone is welcome’ and consistently feature among the most Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers. Becoming the Official Healthcare Partner for ParalympicsGB encouraged us to take this commitment further, within our walls and in wider society.
We do better when we feel included
A supportive team helps us achieve our goals, and our Bupa mental health experts tell us that being in a team can boost happiness and confidence, reduce stress and even improve cognitive health. However, our research showed that three in four disabled people (72%) have felt excluded in the past year.1 This is concerning and demonstrates the importance of breaking down stigmas and barriers in society.
People are at their best when they can
bring their whole selves to work, and it’s
up to businesses to embed inclusion and
celebrate differences in their workplace.
Supporting disabled people in the workplace
Employers must look at inclusion in the workplace. Worryingly, two in five people with less visible disabilities have avoided disclosing them at work for fear of reprisals, leading to presenteeism and poor physical and mental health.1
As employers, we must support our people. A happy, healthy, productive workforce is essential for business performance, productivity and talent retention. People are at their best when they can bring their whole selves to work, and it’s up to businesses to embed inclusion and celebrate differences in their workplace.
Making individual adjustments
This means ensuring that no experience is invisible. We’ve audited our physical spaces, language and culture and have increased our support for colleagues who are neurodiverse, LGBTQ+ or going through bereavement or pregnancy loss.
We have also reviewed our healthcare benefits for our people to make them inclusive, accessible and tailored — particularly for the 15,000 people working in our care homes, dental practices and clinics. This means greater access to mental health and physiotherapy support, GP appointments in the evenings and weekends, vital cancer checks and menopause support.
Advancing diversity and inclusion in the workplace is essential to breaking down barriers in society. With less than a year to go until our Paralympians take the stage at Paris 2024, we must continue to help everyone feel heard and seen and part of the wider team.
[1] https://www.bupa.com/news/press-releases/2023/belonging-to-a-team-boosts-happiness
[2] https://www.bupa.com/news/press-releases/2022/employees-avoid-telling-employers-about-less-visible-disabilities
