Pros
*Great people and company culture *Flexible work schedule *Supportive leadership and direct line manager *5 volunteer days per year *Good benefitsCons
*Leadership can be a bit slow in terms of decision making and tendency for initiatives get kicked off but never go anywhere *Frustration around delays in product updates and bug fixes *Less customer and team interaction in person than expected (but that seems to be the trend across businesses right now)We want Sage to be a place where everyone can thrive which is why we have made it our ambition to knock down Sage’s barriers to equity and inclusion.
We hold the firm belief that for our colleagues to achieve their full potential, we must have an inclusive culture, with diverse teams and equity by design.
Guiding us is our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategy which brings to life our six key commitments and covers how we will track our progress against our targets.
Commitments
Colleague Success Networks
Ability Network: The Ability Network provides an opportunity to connect, learn, and support people - and share knowledge and ideas in areas of visible and invisible disability and neurodiversity.
BUILD Network (North America only): The BUILD (Blacks United in Leadership & Development) Network provides professional and social networking for Black colleagues and allies at Sage, promoting a positive and inclusive environment through education, networking and workplace collaboration.
Embrace Network (UK & Ireland only): The Embrace Network connects and supports our global majority colleagues and drives meaningful change through education.
Family Network: The Family Network connects people to provide support and share experiences for anyone juggling home and family life.
Gender Alliance Network: The Gender Alliance Network raises awareness of key issues that people of marginalised genders face and promotes gender equality, diversity and inclusion.
LIT Network (North America only): The LIT (LatinX Inspiring Thought) Network leads, connects and supports the professional and personal well-being of LatinX colleagues and allies through technology, education and advocacy.
Pride Network: The Pride Network promotes LGBTQ+ visibility and inclusion through awareness and education.
Rise Network (North America only): The Rise Network connects and supports Asian colleagues and allies.
Veterans Network (North America only): The Veterans Network connects Service Members, Veterans, and supporters across Sage.
Womxn Network: The Womxn Network collaborates to promote colleague engagement and the hiring, mentoring, and retention of womxn.
More about us
Our global gender goal is for there to be no more than 60% of any one gender in any leadership team by 2026. As of September 2022, 33% of our leadership teams met this goal.
Our global Colleague Success Network participation goal is for there to be a minimum of 20% of colleagues actively involved in a Colleague Success Network by the end of 2024. As of September 2022, we were at 14% participation.
UK Gender Pay Gap
In 2022, our gender pay gap in the UK was 9.2%. You can find the full 2022 UK gender pay gap report on our website.
UK Ethnicity Pay Gap
Reporting our Ethnicity Pay Gap is not currently a legal requirement; however, we believe in being transparent and believe it is equally important for us to report on our Ethnicity Pay Gap as it is our Gender Pay Gap. In 2022, our ethnicity pay gap in the UK was 0.6%. You can find the full UK ethnicity pay gap report on our website.
Holding ourselves to account
We have an established DEI governance structure including two DEI Boards alongside our DEI team. Chaired by our Chief People Officer, the DEI Advisory Board consists of five external experts and six internal C-Suite Ambassadors. It is responsible for challenging our strategy, benchmarking against global best practices, and driving constant innovation. The DEI Accountability Board is chaired by our Chief Executive Officer and is ultimately accountable for the success or failure of our DEI strategy.
Each C-Suite DEI Ambassador has a focus area of one of our strategic dimensions of diversity, which are Disability, Gender, LGBTQ+, Neurodiversity, Race and Ethnicity, and Social Equity.
After publishing our first global DEI strategy in 2021, we wanted to explore the lessons we have learned in the last two years, including what has and hasn’t worked, and what we will do differently as a result. You can read about this in our 2022 DEI Impact report.
Global Partnerships
To support us in delivering on our goals, we have formed lasting global partnerships with the following organisations:
Business Disability Forum (BDF) Through our BDF membership, we are pleased to report that in 2023 we have completed a comprehensive review of our workplace adjustments/accommodations processes. As a result, we are currently rolling out improved systems across all our locations to better support our colleagues.
Business in the Community (BITC) Through our BITC membership, we are proud sponsors of their 2023 UK regional insights research on race. The insight that we have garnered through the research’s findings is informing the improvement of our recruitment and career development strategies to ensure our colleagues from the global majority have equitable opportunities for progression. We are also a committed signatory to the Race at Work Charter.
Neurodiversity in Business (NiB) Through our Neurodiversity in Business membership, we are a proud sponsor of their 2023 research project with Birkbeck University - Neurodiversity at work: demand, supply and gap analysis. We have incorporated the key insights into our neurodiversity action plan, as we look to improve ways of working to better accommodate neurodiversity recruit more neurodivergent colleagues and empower leaders to support them once they arrive at Sage.
Stonewall Diversity Champion. By virtue of our partnership with Stonewall, we can confidently identify our key priorities in line with LGBTQ+ inclusion for each coming year and measure our progress through their annual UK Workplace Equality Index. We have much to do but Stonewall benchmarking helps to keep us accountable.
Valuable 500. Our commitments to the Valuable 500 include a better understanding of our colleagues so that we can set representation goals and continue to support our colleague-led Ability Networks.
Wellbeing
No matter how good we are at our job, no matter our job title, we are all human and if our wellbeing is not in a good place, we will not be able to perform to our best.
At Sage, we recognise that well-being is the hallmark of the success of our colleagues, and we understand how important it is that our culture and values align with well-being in every way.
Our approach is holistic with our four pillars focusing on mind, body, finances, and community. Some of our wellbeing initiatives include our Employee Assistance Program, access to a network of global Healthy Mind Coaches who are trained mental health first aiders, free access to family support with Cleo, and free mindfulness and meditation for colleagues and their families with Calm.
We also offer five volunteering days a year for our colleagues to work with our charity partners via Sage Foundation, empowering them to do good within our communities – and feel good doing it!
For more information about Sage’s DEI work, please visit our DEI webpage, where you can read more about our strategy and the impact we’ve had so far.
From our 10-week workaway program to hybrid working, our environments are designed to work. Wherever in the world our colleagues are, we trust that they’re setting high expectations for themselves and each other because they care about our customers.
At Sage, everyone is considered an innovator, regardless of their title. To cater to an experimental way of working, the Sage Innovation Academy and Community offers colleagues from all areas of the company the tools and methodologies to innovate. Colleagues are empowered to grow through:
Using Talent Marketplace
Learn how career growth is put back in the hands of colleagues.
Pick your path
Choose your career goals, even if where you want to go isn’t a typical path, then let artificial intelligence customize how to get there.
Meet mentors
Shop for mentors or become one yourself. Browse profiles from leaders around the world, or let colleagues come to you.
Expand skills
With the gigs feature, anyone in the company can ask for a lending hand with projects. See a skill you want to learn? Express your interest!
Get noticed
Build your profile showcasing who you are and where you want to go, then let leaders and recruiters find you with internal opportunities.
Being a part of Sage means being given resources to create a future you feel good about, not only for yourself professionally, but for our customers and the people in your community too.
5 days paid to volunteer
Starting on day one with Sage, colleagues can give back to causes they care about. Since 2015, Sage Foundation has paid it forward with nearly 150,000 volunteer days and $4 million donated.
World's Best Employers, Forbes, 2023 World's Top Companies for Women, Forbes and MSCI ESG Research, 2023 Diversity Leader 2024, Financial Times, Financial Times, 2023 Best 100 Apprenticeship Employers, Rate My Placement, 2023 The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality, Business in the Community, 2023