DEVELOPMENT

Our vision is to provide the best learning experience in procurement and equitably empower all Proximites to grow their careers. We want everyone to feel they have the tools and support available to learn, expand their knowledge and develop personally and professionally.

DEVELOPMENT

CAREER PROGRESSION

PROMOTION PROCESS

To help facilitate a diverse talent pool across all levels in the business, it is essential that we operate a promotion process that allows for equal opportunities for promotion. Therefore, we run promotion panels on a bi-annual basis through which everyone is able to apply, to help ensure that a fair and consistent process is carried out across all applicants for promotion.

The panel interviewers are rotated and reviewed regularly with a diverse mix of interviewers, and we continue to review and receive feedback on the process to enhance and improve our promotion process.

COACHING COMMUNITIES

At Proxima all employees are assigned a Career Coach to support them to continue to develop their performance and progress their career to meet or even exceed their own expectations.

As every Career Coach is different, the level of support can vary too, and so to help address this and provide equitable support to our employees, we have set up Career Coach communities to facilitate a network to support and aid the consistency of career coaching and enable a flow of feedback from across the peer group.

Additionally, Career Coach relationships are reviewed frequently and subject to change and rotation to enable everyone to build various connections and receive a diverse range of support.

Watch: Review our Career Trajectory

ENGAGEMENT CONVERSATIONS

At Proxima, we have various mechanisms to enable employees to reach out for support, and one such method are our Engagement Conversations (ECs). ECs take place for all employees on an annual basis for all levels up to our Principal Consultants and are a one-on-one conversation with a member of the HR team to talk about their Proxima experience, discuss any concerns they have with their client or project work, their career development and aspirations, training needs, and relationship with their career coaches.

From these conversations, HR can work with the individual to address any areas of concern and ensure everyone is having an equitable opportunity to work towards their career aspirations.

ACCESS ASPIRATION

At Proxima we are proud to partner with Access Aspiration, part of the Mayor of London fund, who are working to increase social mobility through providing access to employability training and aspirational work placements for 16-18 year olds in non-selective schools around London.

Each year we host students for a work experience placement in February and October Half Term and the Summer Holidays. Through this initiative the students gain insights into the world of procurement, data analytics, and professional services and are able to list the experience on their CV for university, apprentice, or job applications.

“It was the most useful experience in my life, the people were super kind and helped me a lot. I had great fun and a great time. People looked after me and took me out for lunch, everyone gave me their advice, and it was a positive mindset that all people had in common. I was able to meet a lot of people and had very qualitative meetings and workshops with them. I learned for life and would recommend Proxima to everyone. Best experience. Thank you!”

Elias, Access Aspiration London Placement Student

EMPLOYEE EDUCATION

IMPLICIT BIAS WORKSHOPS

At Proxima we want to educate all Proximites on the potential negative impacts that bias can have on individuals, businesses, and society as a whole. Therefore, we have partnered with the Culture Shift Team to run Implicit Bias Algorithm workshops to help all our employees understand the brain science behind how human cognitive processes can turn into bias and how to mitigate bias to improve relationships, leadership, and organizational effectiveness.

CONSCIOUS CONFLICT WORKSHOPS

Following the success of our Implicit Bias Workshops, we wanted to take the concept of biases a step further and take a deeper dive into the topics of belonging, workplace community, and the role of psychological safety. Therefore, we have partnered with the Culture Shift Team to run a follow-on workshop on Conscious Conflict which explores conflicts that break trust, cause harms, or allow microaggressions to occur; and enables employees to practice disruption using real world examples, and develop the language of calling-in and receiving a call-in.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION IN ONBOARDING

At Proxima, we want all our employees, including new hires, to understand that inclusion is a key focus for the business. We educate all new joiners about our framework, internal committees, and how they can support the initiatives at Proxima.

MANAGING MENTAL HEALTH AT WORK

We partnered with the mental health charity, MIND, to roll out Mental Health Awareness Training to all of our Career Coaches at Proxima. Career Coaches are uniquely positioned in Proxima to provide support to colleagues on a daily basis and build an inclusive and supportive working culture. Providing this training aims to help encourage employees ask for help which can help reduce the stigma associated with mental health.

ALLYSHIP PORTAL

An ally is any person that actively promotes and aspires to advance the culture of inclusion through intentional, positive, and conscious efforts that benefit people as a whole. We want to enable all our employees to feel safe, valued, and cherished at Proxima no matter who they are. Allies are people who recognize their own privilege and use that privilege to actively uplift and support others. Being an ally is more than just being a friend, a supporter, or a cheerleader. An ally is someone who is willing and ready to stand up and call out discriminatory remarks and intervene when they see behavior that marginalizes others.

True allyship in the workplace leads to psychological safety and a greater sense of belonging, ensuring everyone has an equitable place at the table. Therefore, we created an easily accessible Allyship Portal with information on how Proximites can educate themselves on how to be an ally to their colleagues, friends, and family, and understand how they may be best placed to support someone.

Watch: Gender and Mental Health