For Toby, supporting a greater purpose isn’t a tick-box activity. He gets back from his giving. Interested to hear more about Toby and how he’s made a positive impact as part of his role at Legal & General, we ran a few questions by him.
Clearly, Toby’s mother left him with a genuine enthusiasm for philanthropy, and he explained that he's tried to carry that lesson with him in whatever he does, personally or professionally. He’s had a varied career, from film studies to financial services to personal training and back to financial services. But when reflecting on this with us, Toby pointed out one common thread that ties it all together - wanting to deliver a positive impact.
Toby added that his job at Legal & General, as a Community & Engagement Business Partner, allows him to keep giving back, so we were curious to find out how he’s been able to drive change for our people, business and society.
Tell us a bit about your role at Legal & General and how this links to the company’s purpose
I worked in our Transformation department for around three years, as part of the ever-evolving Change team, where I've taken on various roles. My side involvement in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) led to an opportunity for a secondment within the group CSR team, and I jumped at the chance. This shows the emphasis Legal & General places on delivering a positive impact.
Being the size it is, there is an obvious duty for Legal & General to act in a socially and ethically responsible way, but people throughout the organisation genuinely believe it’s the right thing to do. It’s what drives us.
Since then, I have been fortunate enough to create the last two roles that I have delivered at Legal & General. Seeing opportunities to add value to the organisation encouraged me to create proposals for the new roles. I took the initiative and it paid off!
How does Legal & General deliver a positive impact?
Outside of the social impact investing and sustainable business practices, you’ll find that the people within Legal & General also want to get as involved with community engagement and philanthropy as much as possible.
Not only do we have charitable partners across the divisions and locations, each with their own objectives and societal impact measures, but we also champion colleagues supporting their own causes through numerous initiatives. A good example is our Summer Challenge programme which in 2023 saw nearly 3,000 colleagues complete wellbeing challenges over the course of the summer, with opportunities to win charitable prizes at stake. Over the last four years, this initiative alone has donated £400,000+ to charities chosen by colleagues across the globe. This team effort was awarded Best Wellbeing Initiative at the Great British Workplace Wellbeing Awards for 2022 and 2023. It’s wonderful to have these efforts recognised!
Another good example was our work with the Royal Voluntary Service - a national charity that supports people in NHS hospitals and communities. One campaign they run provides food and drink to staff, patients and visitors with a trolley service. So we fundraised for a new trolley for the Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton and then took the trolley around the wards.
We’d go in every Friday with almost 60 volunteers, including the CEOs from our Legal & General Retail and Legal & General Retirement Institutional (LGRI) businesses. We received a really warm welcome, particularly from the staff, who don’t often get the time to sit for a break. For the patients, it was more about having someone to chat to. Some don’t have visitors, so the time we spent with them meant a lot.
What sets Legal & General apart in supporting employee engagement in social causes?
I’ve worked in financial services for almost fifteen years and Legal & General is the first company to actively encourage me to get more involved in this space. Of course, there are other opportunities elsewhere if you go and look for them, but Legal & General has made it exceptionally easy to deliver impact and has allowed me to create my own career path in an incredibly purposeful area.
Ultimately, it’s this culture and attitude that makes me feel like I’ve found the place I’m meant to be, and it makes working here genuinely a pleasure.
Find a job where you can give back
As a business, we aim to continually do the right thing for our customers, business, society and planet. Whether it’s helping individuals save for a more colourful retirement or releasing capital for under-invested towns and cities, people are at the heart of our decisions. So we're truly grateful to have people like Toby.
If you're interested in a career that delivers impact like Toby’s, why not see what jobs we have to offer and find the place at Legal & General that's right for you?
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