Toxic for minorities - Anonymous employee iwoca Employee Review

Whilst we are always grateful for feedback, I feel so disappointed to read this review and hear this was your experience. Your review covers a number of things, but mainly what I want to address are your notes on our approach to D&I. D&I is a really important topic for iwoca. Having an inclusive and diverse workplace is not only the right thing to do, it makes iwoca a stronger and better business. Our D&I mission is to create an environment where everyone feels welcome and respected, and where we can develop both personally and professionally here. D&I is also a complex topic. Many people feel passionately about it, and as with other complex topics, it is one that gets discussed and debated a lot. Those discussions can feel uncomfortable at times, however we believe that being able to share ideas and challenge each other’s assumptions is an important and effective part of the learning process. And when we challenge each other, we should do so with positive intent and also assume the same intent when we are being challenged ourselves. This kind of environment takes work and is hard - and if certain conversations don’t strike the right balance, we try to learn from that too. As a company, we believe that a diverse and inclusive environment is a prerequisite to learning, so it remains important to us and what we do. We strive to remove bias from our recruitment, pay and promotion decisions (e.g via calibration sessions; transparent salary bands; blind CV assessments). We strive to have open conversations across the organisation. We strive to build a place where everyone feels welcome and heard. We’re not always successful and I’m sorry you felt we failed you, but on our journey to achieving that vision we approach it absolutely with the best of intentions. Seema Desai Chief Operations Officer