Hiring with purpose – WIBF’s New Inclusive Recruitment Award

We’re proud to introduce a new category for 2025: the Inclusive Recruitment Award. It aims to recognise forward-thinking companies that are redefining how talent is identified, welcomed, supported and helped to progress in financial services.

It replaces our previous Best Returners Strategy Award. While these programmes continue to offer women a fantastic route to re-enter the workforce after a long career break, they have to be part of a broader inclusive recruitment approach. Our industry continues to see women underrepresented at mid and senior levels.

That’s why we’ve widened the scope.

The Inclusive Recruitment Award celebrates organisations that are taking a holistic, intentional and measured approach to hiring. Whether through structured programmes or company-wide strategies, we appreciate the effort it takes to recruit women from diverse industries, backgrounds and life stages, and to ensure those who join can thrive in the long term.

Inclusive recruitment matters more than ever

We know that a gender-balanced workforce doesn’t happen by chance. It takes strategy, innovation, sponsorship and commitment to create recruitment processes that not only attract women, but also make them want to stay and grow as leaders.

From inflexible job descriptions and biased interview panels, to a lack of clarity about progression pathways, there are often too many unseen barriers. The companies leading in this space are those who understand that recruitment is not just a transactional process—it’s a reflection of company culture, values and intent.

An inclusive recruitment strategy:

• Actively seeks out diverse talent pipelines
• Reconsiders criteria, language, processes and the overall approach to reduce barriers
• Connects recruitment to retention and career development
• Rewards managers who are driving organisational change
• Is measured, refined and championed from the top.

What makes a strong nomination?

Whether you’re entering a returners programme, a new hiring strategy, or a comprehensive approach to inclusive talent acquisition, this award is for companies that are rethinking how they bring women into their workforce—and how they keep them.

Your submission should cover:

• The strategy: What is the inclusive recruitment approach being entered? Who does it target and how?
• The focus: Is it a programme targeting specific women (e.g. those returning after a career break, women from other industries) or is it a broader company-wide strategy?
• The structure and evolution: How is the strategy been sponsored, communicated internally and externally and how has it developed over time?
• What changed: How have recruitment practices, HR measures, or people processes been adapted to support this strategy over the long term?
• The link to wider business goals: Is this strategy embedded in the organisation’s DEI and talent strategies? How does it connect to your business mission and culture?
• Learning and development: How are new hires from this strategy supported in terms of progression and retention? How is success measured?
• Hurdles and lessons: What challenges were faced? How were they overcome? What outcomes were prioritised (e.g. hiring targets, retention goals)? Has it helped close your company’s gender pay gap?
• Lived experience: Endorsements from participants are encouraged, showing the impact on the individual, not just on the organisation.
• Collaboration: If relevant, detail any involvement from third-party consultants, external partners, or community organisations that helped design or deliver the strategy.

What strategies can be submitted

There’s no single format for inclusive recruitment – every organisation is different and has its own hurdles to overcome. As such, we welcome a wide range of entries, which could include:

• A company-wide refresh of recruitment processes, including inclusive language, bias-reduction training and diverse interview panels
• A returners programme that includes mid-level or senior roles and focuses on long-term development and retention
• A targeted recruitment campaign that brings women from other industries into financial services and supports their reskilling
• An updated approach to assessing skill gaps that determines what new talent is recruited and how they are brought in to succeed
• A cross-functional initiative between HR, DEI, and business leaders that has changed how talent is identified, assessed, onboarded and mentored over time
• An innovative partnership with community or non-profit organisations to reach talent previously excluded from the industry

The common thread of all of these is a clear and sustained focus to improve gender equity through recruitment.

Why this matters

Attracting and retaining women isn’t just about fairness. It’s about futureproofing the industry.

Companies with more diverse teams are more innovative, more resilient and better at problem-solving. Inclusive recruitment is a key part of building sustainable futures through a long-term investment in people and performance.

With the gender pay gap still wide and female representation still lagging in senior roles, this award spotlights those companies that aren’t waiting for change – they’re engineering it.

Why you should enter

This award is about more than filling roles – it’s about creating opportunities, removing barriers, and showing what’s possible when recruitment becomes truly inclusive.

If your company has:

• Reimagined how it hires women at any level
• Developed a returners strategy that leads to real progression
• Shifted culture through smarter, more equitable recruitment practices
• Embedded recruitment into a broader DEI and business strategy

… then we want to hear your story.

You’ll not only gain recognition for your work – you’ll also inspire others to act.

Visit our WIBF awards page to download the full award criteria and access the nomination form. Submissions should include structured responses to the questions provided, as well as any data, testimonials, or supporting material that help tell your story. You can go to the nomination form directly here.

Let’s celebrate the companies that are redefining what inclusive recruitment looks like in financial services and building an industry where more women can thrive from the outset.