What is your business and how did you come to be in your role?

AMS is a worldwide recruitment outsourcing and consulting firm, employing approximately 8,500 professionals across the globe.

I’ve worked for AMS for the last 10 years and I lead our DEIB Centre of Excellence, reporting directly to our Global Managing Director for Innovation. My role encompasses overseeing our internal DEIB strategy and ensuring our client solutions are designed with DEIB principles at their core.

My interest in DEIB stemmed from the time I worked on the London 2012 Olympics & Paralympics where I headed up recruitment for the Organising Committee. A big focus was on driving diversity across all of our employment opportunities.  I brought that passion with me when I joined AMS and, for the last four  years, I have been in a dedicated DEIB role.

What inspired you to champion the Ban the Box campaign? How does it align with your organisation’s values?

At AMS, we are passionate about removing any form of discrimination, ensuring we do not overlook talent by offering employment opportunities for all, irrespective of their backgrounds and experience. We know for those who have criminal convictions the inclusion of the question asking about previous convictions at the start of the process is likely to deter them from continuing with the recruitment process. We are committed to social mobility and we include those with a previous criminal conviction as a key part of the community we want to support.

How has a different approach to the traditional checkbox about criminal records in job applications impacted your organisation, particularly in terms of candidate response and diversity?

At AMS, DEIB is at the centre of everything we do. One of our colleague DEIB Promises (commitments) is that “we will work towards becoming representative of the communities where we are based….”. We are passionate about creating a culture of inclusivity. We are dedicated to making long-term, significant changes to inclusive hiring practices and strive to make our candidate pools representative of the communities we serve;  including those who have been through the justice system. By eliminating the conventional criminal convictions checkbox, we have broadened our candidate pool and welcomed an array of diverse lived experiences and skills we may have overlooked in the past.

Have any challenges or notable successes arisen in implementing ‘Ban the Box’?

Because DEIB is truly central to AMS, we proudly have 10 Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) that represent various protected characteristics. These groups play a vital role in promoting DEIB leadership on a global scale, creating a welcoming environment for colleagues who are often underrepresented. They also help transform these individuals into valuable allies for our business, enhancing our inclusive culture. A notable example is our Social Mobility ERG, which was instrumental in our decision to join the Ban The Box campaign. One of our colleagues from Belfast participated in a ‘Seeing Is Believing’ visit to a local women’s prison and a young offenders centre, thanks to the ERG’s outreach efforts with youth from low socioeconomic backgrounds and our collaboration with BITC. After hearing the impactful stories from these visits, they brought the Ban The Box initiative to our attention! We aspire to support individuals who have joined our organisation with experiences in the criminal justice system, allowing them to eventually share their journeys through our ERG networks, creating a meaningful full-circle moment.

What advice would you give to other senior leaders or organisations that might consider adopting ‘Ban the Box’?

Our experience here at AMS with this initiative has been positive. I recommend that other DEIB leaders and organisations considering the implementation of ‘Ban The Box’ take into account several important factors that can benefit their business, including:

• Broadening your talent pool – given the current skills shortages, this initiative can open doors to a previously marginalised group of candidates
• Strengthening your DEIB efforts, whether you have a specific strategy aimed at enhancing social mobility or you are looking to start your social mobility journey. We are happy to share our social mobility journey and experience with other DEIB leaders.
• Promoting community engagement and unity by playing an active role in the rehabilitation of individuals with criminal records

What social impacts do you think ‘Ban the Box’ brings?

The guiding principle of our Social Mobility Employee Resource Group (ERG) is to foster equal opportunities and career advancement for everyone. The ‘Ban The Box’ initiative aligns perfectly with this mission in several key ways:

• Establishing equality by eliminating obstacles that hinder individuals with prior convictions from re-entering the workforce
• Economic advantages – facilitating the reintegration of more individuals into employment, thereby decreasing dependence on welfare and other support systems
• Contributing to the reduction of stigma associated with having a previous conviction

In summary, this initiative promotes community unity, particularly in underprivileged regions.

What else are you proud of when it comes to DEIB in AMS?

Each year, we release a DEIB Annual Report that offers a clear and transparent assessment of our progress and identifies areas that need improvement, detailing our diversity data in regions where collection is feasible. We have attained Disability Confident Level 2 status and are now recognised as a Disability Confident Employer, having implemented an ‘Offer an Interview’ initiative for disabled candidates applying for positions in the UK. Our goal is to eliminate unnecessary obstacles for disabled individuals seeking to join our organisation.

In the past year in the UK, we have celebrated several significant achievements, including winning the ‘Outstanding Disability Network of the Year’ at the 2023 British Diversity Awards. We have also been included for the second consecutive year in the Social Mobility Foundation’s Top 75 Employers Index and have renewed our Gold Standard Defence Recognition Scheme. For the upcoming three years, we will be sponsoring the Social Mobility Award at the British Diversity Awards. Additionally, I support an external webinar series known as the “DEI Knowledge Exchange”.