Diversity within La Fosse
We are committed to encouraging diversity and eliminating discrimination in both our role as an employer and as a provider of services. We believe that hiring decisions should be made on capability and skill, not on ethnic origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, socio-economic background or religion. Having a truly diverse workforce makes us better able to understand and service the needs of our clients and candidates, so we value it very highly.
We know there’s more to be done within La Fosse to better reflect the diversity of our clients, candidates and local communities. Read our Diversity and Inclusion Statement of Intent to learn more about how our Diversity Steering Group are working to improve our internal practices.
Message from our Chief People Officer, Jackie Dane:
Our values include care, and we take this seriously. We work hard to make everyone feel like they belong. It is important that everyone feels a sense of belonging that transcends roles and that we create an environment of openness, honesty, trust and respect, underpinned by systemic integrity.
 | In November 2020, we joined seven other recruitment companies in creating Programme One, a strategic initiative recognising and addressing the need to improve diversity within the recruitment sector. The programme aims to remove barriers to the success of Black recruiters, bringing 500 more Black recruiters into the industry by 2022 and promoting transparency and accountability through an auditing methodology. As part of our commitment, we’re updating our diversity training, improving our employee data collection processes. We are also taking part in the Programme One mentoring scheme, which provides Black recruiters with access to senior mentors to enable them to grow and develop their career. |
 | #10000BlackInterns is a programme which offers work experience through paid internships across a wide range of professional sectors, providing critical training and development opportunities for Black students. 10,000 Black Interns is bringing together over 20 different industries to provide 10,000 internships over the next five years. The initiative has seen massive success so far, having already reached their 2022 target of 2,000 placements, with over 700 companies (including over 60 recruitment firms) taking part. While the official internship programme for recruitment firms launches in 2022, we are proud to be taking part in a pre-programme pilot and are looking forward to welcoming our first interns later this year. |
 | Springboard and Advance are two internship schemes run by King's College London that are designed to address the opportunity gap between students from under-represented groups, and those who are not. Springboard aims to provide increased opportunity for students from a range of underrepresented ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, while Advance is focused on placing undergraduates with self-declared mental or physical disabilities and learning differences. La Fosse is pleased to be providing paid internships in partnership with this prestigious institution. We have already welcomed our first cohort of interns and look forward to working with King's College as a long-term partner. Learn more about King’s Internships here. |
 | La Fosse is a ‘Disability Confident’ employer. We ensure our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible, communicating and promoting vacancies and offering interviews to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the job. We anticipate and provide adjustments as required, support existing employees who acquire a disability or long-term health condition so they can stay in work, and offer enhanced sickness leave and support flexible working plans when coming back from periods of non-working. |
Diversity for our clients and candidates
Training on implied discrimination and unconscious bias when recruiting is part of our onboarding programme and is mandatory for all La Fosse employees. This has installed a culture within the organisation whereby inclusivity is embedded within our values and recruitment process.
When working with clients, we offer:
Anonymised shortlists
Conscious interviewing
Neutral role specifications
These candidate selection methods are mirrored by our internal talent acquisition teams, with all CVs from prospective employees being anonymised for ethnicity, gender and university.
We also advise on:
Equal pay
Inclusive cultures
Board diversity
With over a decade of technology recruitment experience, we were keenly aware two key issues within the tech sector:
a huge skills shortage, especially within software engineering
a lack of diversity at all seniority levels
We realised that recruiting and headhunting the talent in the market wasn't enough; there simply aren't enough people learning software engineering to meet increasing levels of demand. So, we launched futureproof, a technology training company dedicated to launching and developing the tech superstars of the future and helping our clients build a scalable pipeline of high-quality, diverse talent.
We select the top 2% of talent, training them in full-stack software development and technology fundamentals to prepare them for a two-year placement in a leading company – so far, our clients include Coca Cola, OVO Energy, Babylon Health and more. We also mentor and coach our associates throughout their placement to ensure they can continue to add value to your business.
Most importantly, our course is FREE to associates because we believe in ability, not just the ability to pay.
There have historically been too many blockers for people from diverse backgrounds to enter the tech industry, resulting in an overall lack of diversity within the sector. We aim to empower people from all walks of life to bring their personal talent, ideas and perspectives and create a future where tech is created by everyone, for everyone.
Head to the Academy website for more information or contact Claudia Cohen directly if you’re interested learning more about how our associates can benefit your technology teams.
Diversity within the tech industry
 | Our technology training school futureproof are proud to be the official partner of the Tech Nation Diversity & Inclusion Toolkit, a comprehensive resource for tech leaders on how to build diverse and inclusive companies. |
 | We are a longstanding signatory of the Tech Talent Charter, a non-profit organisation leading a movement to address inequality in the UK tech sector and drive inclusion and diversity. |
 | We are a long-term sponsor of DevelopHer, a not-for-profit organisation that looks to elevate women in tech, digital and entrepreneurship through developing careers, confidence, and driving change in the workplace. |
 | We've worked directly with Diversity VC to co-write Diversity in Venture Capital: A Practical Toolkit, designed to provide practical diversity and inclusion questions and recommendations for VCs to consider within both their own business and their portfolio companies. |