Want to get key insights into what it’s like working at XPS as a disabled employee? In this collection of Q&As, we dive deep into the diverse experiences of individuals shaping their careers at XPS. We explore a range of topics, from breaking barriers and thriving with disabilities to unlocking exciting opportunities within this pensions company. Read on as Helen Palmer and Geoff Clarke from XPS Group guide you through how they support disabled employees in the workplace.
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Who is XPS Group?
[Helene]: At XPS Group, everything we do is centered around helping members of the pension schemes that we work on to receive the best outcomes and security in retirement. We are the only UK pension specialist listed on the London Stock Exchange Main Market, so we have the flexibility to think and act differently. A few numbers for you… we have 1,500 clients and we administer pensions to over a million members. XPS itself is based across the UK, including Scotland and Northern Ireland. We advise on all things workplace pensions related. We help both trustees and employers run pension schemes for the benefit of both current and former employees, and we support scheme members in a way that is relevant, innovative, and easily digestible.
I remember when I started at XPS, I didn’t know a lot about pensions, and I think that’s the same for a lot of people. Like I said, we try to make things easily digestible for people, and we are specialists in pensions actuarial and investment consultancy, as well as administration. And we provide a wide range of advisory services to trustees and sponsors of pension schemes. We offer a broad range of services, all aiming to achieve one thing, and that is to provide the best support possible to UK pension arrangements. That is one thing to note; we work purely within the UK. Alongside the services we offer, we also have a huge team of people working to run the business in the background in our Central Services team. So hopefully, that has given you a bit of an overview of what we do.
Inclusion at XPS Group:
[Geoff]: XPS has undertaken significant work and implemented a structured framework to create an inclusive environment within the business. We have a number of initiatives and policies in place to foster a culture of belonging, where everyone is valued, respected, and comfortable to be themselves. So, for example, we have a diversity and inclusion policy, which outlines our commitment and approach to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion in XPS. We are a Disability Confident accredited employer, and we support all applicants throughout the recruitment process and provide reasonable adjustments where required. We have a large group of employees who have been trained as Mental Health Allies, and each of them acts as a trusted colleague, an ambassador, to employees who need support and guidance on their mental health and well-being. XPS also offers a confidential Employee Assistance Program, which provides professional counseling and wellness resources not just for employees but also their families.
We offer flexibility for staff aiming to improve the work-life balance through our family-friendly policies, such as parental leave, carers leave, adoption leave, fertility leave, neonatal miscarriage, and menopause. And these are available to all employees, ensuring that we avoid gender stereotypes. XPS promotes a work-life balance and professional development plan with our hybrid working model and policy requiring employees to be in the office one day per week. And this has been welcomed by those with caring duties. In October 2023, we achieved Menopause in the Workplace accreditation. We have held training workshops for 330 line managers on how their actions impact others and how they should support colleagues, especially those with caring responsibilities or disabilities, whether visible or not. We have organised training on how to instigate and encourage team discussion about what’s required for psychological safety. We also launched a Safe Space campaign, providing colleagues with a contact to report inappropriate behavior, discrimination, or harassment in a confidential manner so appropriate action can be taken.
XPS provides an inclusive Performance Management module for those involved in hiring and developing. We are signatories to the Women in Finance Charter. Also, we have a gender equality plan which includes a set of commitments and actions to promote gender equality. Evidence that an inclusive culture has been embedded throughout the business is reflected in feedback from employees and clients. 99% of clients agree that we are collaborative in our approach and enjoy working with us, while 86% of clients say that they definitely recommend XPS or are likely to do so.
Flexible working at XPS Group:
[Helene]: Roles are often advertised in specific locations, however, there is flexibility to some degree, again depending on people’s circumstances and the business needs as well. So, we say once a week to people; however, in reality, some people come in a lot more. Some people are home workers, whether that’s the requirement of the role or as a reasonable adjustment. I think what we have found over the past couple of years is that people do want to be in the office, because you get more of a sense of being in a team. What we tend to say in induction is, if people can come into the office, you kind of integrate a bit more as well, and obviously, the support then is right on hand for you. But like I say, that can be very much dependent on people’s own circumstances and the role itself.
Careers at XPS Group:
[Helene]: I’m pleased to say, there are more [roles] available. You can’t get away from the fact that we are a pension organisation, so that is at the heart of what we do. But we do offer a huge range of roles. I joined the organization in 2019, and during the period that I’ve been here, we’ve made a number of acquisitions, and we’ve grown as a business from around 400 or 500 people to around 1,700 now. So it’s a really fast-moving, exciting business, and we genuinely put people at the heart of our business. During COVID, our CEOs started doing weekly audios they’ve continued those that go out once a week with business updates. And I always think they’re a testament to how the CEOs are prepared make that time each week for everyone so they can send that communication directly to staff. We were delighted to be named in the Sunday Times Best Places to Work in the UK last year, which was wonderful.
Looking at our people, we have over 200 people in central functions. When I say Central functions, that refers to roles such as IT. Our technology department has grown hugely over the years. We have IT service desk roles available for those more technical. A lot of it is security now that the team has grown. We have human resources, of which I’m part of. That includes recruitment administration roles, and HR business partner roles, as well as Learning and Development, and we have our Employee Engagement team, which includes internal Communications. We have a lot of office administration, whether that’s within our facilities area of the business, so for example, office managers and their support teams, whether that’s reception or general administration. We have a large finance department, which covers everything from business partners to people paying expenses. We also have an external marketing team, and that covers everything from website design to producing materials for clients, for example, and working on our social media. We offer a huge number of roles in our pensions administration teams. In those roles, you will be working on everything pensions.
But don’t worry, like I said, when I came into this organisation, I really wasn’t pension savvy, but now I’ve definitely learned a thing or two. We offer entry-level jobs to those roles that are more experienced as well. Like I said, you don’t need to have a lot of pensions knowledge. We provide training in-house and professional qualifications. If you’re coming in at entry level, we also have actuarial and investment teams who do recruit for a lot of experienced staff; however, we also offer graduate roles. In recent years, we’ve broadened that so our early careers offer expands to apprenticeships, and we do those in pensions administration, actuarial, and investment. And we also have our Trustee Governance Department that offers those. And I should add that we do offer apprenticeships in different areas of the business as well. We have a big focus on learning and development at XPS, and it’s very supportive for those who want to progress in their career, particularly going on training courses and gaining professional qualifications. So, hopefully, that’s given you a bit more of an insight into the different types of roles.
Apprenticeships at XPS:
[Helene]: When you’re on our website, you can search specifically for graduate and apprenticeship opportunities. In terms of graduates, our big recruitment campaign is normally around the autumn time when we go out to advertise, so between September and November. We aim to run assessments before Christmas. We actually offer apprenticeships throughout the year at the moment, so it is always worth checking in to see what roles are available. We do have entry-level administration roles as well that are advertised throughout the year that aren’t necessarily advertised as an apprenticeship. However, you could express your interest in doing it if you’re successful in those positions.
UK offices at XPS:
[Helene] : In Scotland, we have Sterling, Perth, and Edinburgh [offices]. We have an office in Belfast. We have offices in Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle – which is predominantly around payroll – and then moving south, Middlesbrough, Birmingham, Bristol, Reading. London, Portsmouth and Guildford.
Thriving with Dyslexia at XPS:
[Emma]: I’m Emma, and I have worked for XPS for 12 years, and I’m an actuary. I’m here to talk to you today as I’m extremely dyslexic. I’m going to give you a bit of background about myself and my disability, but also how XPS has helped me to manage this and how this has helped me progress in my job. I thought a good place to start would be with what the definition of dyslexia is.The NHS defines dyslexia as a common learning difficulty that mainly causes problems with reading, writing, and spelling. But unlike other learning disabilities, intelligence isn’t affected. It’s estimated up to one in every 10 people in the UK have some degree of dyslexia. Dyslexia is a lifelong problem that can present challenges on a daily basis, but support is available to improve reading and writing skills and help those with the problem be successful at school and at work.
So, what does dyslexia mean to me, and how does it affect me? I was diagnosed with dyslexia at a very early age in primary school, and I got additional help with reading, writing, and spelling, and got additional time in exams as my reading age and processing of information and questions are much lower than the average person. During my many years of study, I have developed many tricks and skills to help me deal with everyday life, both in work and at home. For example, being able to speak into WhatsApp for it to write a message for me or help me spell something that I’m really struggling with has been life-changing, and I use it on a daily basis. Every day is different and presents different challenges. Some days are harder than others, and when I’m tired, I find my dyslexia is much worse. In recent years, the stigma around dyslexia has really changed, and at times, I’ve seen it promoted as a superpower. We are out-of-the-box thinkers and brilliant problem solvers, and that adds another dimension to a team within work and a new angle and way of thinking. It’s all about turning your weakness into a strength.
I think it’s very important for an employer to understand signs of dyslexia and how this might impact everyday work and job interviews. The signs include reading and writing very slowly, confusing the order of letters and words, being confused by letters that look similar, and writing letters in the wrong way, for example, B’s and D’s, or inconsistent spelling, understanding information when told verbally but having difficulty with information that’s written down, finding it hard to carry out sequences of directions, and struggling with planning and organization.
It’s very important for a person with dyslexia to be able to tell an employer upfront about their disability so they can get the mechanisms put in place to ensure that they are on the same level playing field as everyone else. XPS has supported me in many ways. They’ve implemented supportive software, so I use software called Dragon, which is a speech tool where I speak to my computer and it writes what I ask it to. They’ve also given me access to ChatGPT, which has been extremely helpful over the last year to help me plan my emails and check for grammatical errors. I have a very supportive group of people around me at all levels who I can rely on to proofread emails, reports, and basically whatever I need. They constantly remind me about how good I am at my job and what my strengths are, and this is really important to me, especially when I’m having a bad dyslexic day. I’ve adapted my communication skills.
I learned about four or five years ago that one of my real strengths is that I’m a people person. So sometimes when I’m having difficulty with an email or writing a complex process and trying to explain this in words, I would just lift the phone and ring the client or the colleague and chat through what I want to say. Then maybe follow up with a slightly less complex email, which I think is usually better for everyone. Or if this isn’t appropriate, I’ll talk through an email or piece of work with a colleague to get some help and guidance on how to structure and present the work. XPS understands I need more time with certain projects and makes sure I have this. I’ve also had individual calls with HR to assess what they think would be beneficial for me and discuss what they provided for other employees to see if this would also benefit me. I have a tailored work adjustment plan, and recently, XPS has also made me aware and helped me apply for Access to Work within DWP. This is a grant that helps pay for practical support with your work and supports and manages your mental health at work. It can also be used to pay for communication support for job interviews. We need to start thinking of dyslexia as a superpower, and having someone with dyslexia on a team can bring a whole new level of thinking and can solve problems that others may not be able to do. It’s definitely my unique selling point.
Workplace adjustments at XPS Group:
[Emma]: I remember it clearly, actually, applying for the job. I made them aware upfront because if there is any sort of English questions or things that I would need to process quite quickly, I do need extra time. And it was absolutely fine. I was able to get extra time. I think there were some online assessments which has probably changed, because that was a long time ago, but I got the additional time that I needed, and it really was not hard at all. It was just literally a simple email to HR, and they processed and put it in place.
Workplace adjustments at XPS Group:
[Helene] : Absolutely. During the application process, we make it clear that if any support is required, we can do that. We have a centralized recruitment team now, and we’re always willing to help, whether it’s on the phone or via email so you can just let us know whether it’s at application stage or further along in the process we can provide any reasonable adjustments and that can be anything from literally support with technology applying in a different format, and providing materials in different formats, to just general assistance on the application process itself through to interview.
Thriving with a hearing impairment:
[Emily]: I’m Emily. I started with XPS in September of 2022 and I have a hearing impairment which was discovered when I was 10 years old. I used to watch TV out of the corner of my eye and my mum took me to the doctors and they basically tested my hearing and said that 90% of my high-frequency hearing has gone. What that means is I can’t hear high-pitched sounds like fire alarms, baby cries, or if the oven’s beeping, things like that. And the reason why it affects me day to day is because there are those high-pitched sounds within individual words. If you say to me, “Let’s go watch TV,” I will hear “let’s go what TV” because that sound is high-pitched and I can’t hear it. I rely on lip-reading for that reason.
I was fitted with hearing aids when I was 10 years old and found it a bit of a struggle being so young and trying to adapt to having this disability and being so different from people that were around me. I’ve always been quite anxious about my disability and my confidence is going up now, luckily, and I do have XPS to thank a lot for that. Even through the short time that I’ve been with them, my manager has been incredibly supportive from day one. When I applied for XPS and I got a phone call to ask me to come in for the interview, I mentioned on the phone, “I’m really sorry, I’m hard of hearing, if I might ask you to repeat yourself.” And that’s because I would always be a little bit anxious that people think I’m not listening if I keep saying, “Sorry, what was that?” But they were absolutely brilliant. My interview went really, really well and obviously, I got the position.
I think it was the second day at XPS that I spoke to my manager about my hearing in more depth and she was just like, “What can we do? What do you need?” And I had a specialist headset ordered for me which cancels background noise because that’s a very big struggle for me. If there’s a lot of noise going on in the background, even if I’m facing you reading your lips, it’s so difficult for me to focus and hear what’s being said. So that was ordered and I had it the next day. I have a fire buddy in place so if the fire alarm goes off, there is somebody on my team that is dedicated to come and find me before they leave the building. Whether I’m in the kitchen, the bathroom, wherever, they’ve got to come and get me before they leave the building, which is really reassuring because it’s quite scary that the fire alarm is so loud and I cannot hear it at all.
My team knows that I rely a lot on lip-reading and something that I’ve struggled with in the past with other jobs is phone calls. If it’s not my partner, my parent, somebody whose voice I’m familiar with, phone calls can be very difficult for me. I can’t lip-read, there’s different accents, things that I’m not used to recognizing those sounds, and I brought that up to my manager and my team and they said, “Don’t worry, you know, you will take minimal phone calls if any. And if you need any help, we’re here.” And I’ve always felt so supported and knowing that I could just talk to them about it. And I think it was the first company that I really felt I could openly talk about my deafness and not feel like I was being judged or looking for attention almost or like extra help for reasons that were not disability related.
I’ve also joined the disability and neurodiversity network. That was fairly recently and I’m really, really pleased that I did. It was quite nerve-wracking for me actually, as is me being here today, but my confidence has grown. I’ve had a lot of support from Geoff as well and other members of the network. And I’ve done a blog. I’ve written a blog about my disability and about it being an invisible disability and how difficult it is sometimes to have one because I can speak quite well. I’ve had experiences where I’ve gone to an audiologist to have my hearing tested and I’ve said, “My hearing is quite bad,” and they’ve kind of gone, “Okay, we’ll see.” And then they’ve tested my hearing and they’ve gone, “Oh wow, we weren’t expecting to see that on the screen because you speak so well.” And it just goes to show that there’s so many different variations of disabilities, hearing loss, vision loss, all these things that different people are capable of different things and need help with different things and it’s not always visible. And XPS has just been there for everything that I’ve needed. I think it’s probably one of the best decisions that I made because with the network as well, I’ve never felt so seen, if that makes sense. I think it’s so easy to fall into the background, especially in an office environment where you’re different. Like if people are talking and I don’t hear them and it goes over my head and I’ve felt quite isolated a lot in the past. But my team knows now. They’re speaking to me, come and tap me on the shoulder, make sure I’m looking at you, and they’re all brilliant at doing that. My manager, again, so supportive. I had my annual assessment with her the other day and we had a good chat. And one of my goals that she’s encouraged me to do is more with the disability network within my office – we were talking about British Sign Language. I’m currently learning and she would love me to do a sign language workshop, potentially in our office and maybe then XPS-wide. And it’s just overwhelming the support I have, to not only be myself and express my disability and how things are, but also to push it out there for others to know. And I think that’s what makes XPS so different.
Top tips to apply for roles at XPS group:
[Helene]: I think the most important thing is that what we want to achieve is we want to ensure that everyone feels comfortable throughout the application process. So, I spoke earlier about if you need any support at the application stage, my first point would be: do contact us. You can contact one of the team and they’ll be in touch. We can discuss by email or via phone. And that’s if you’ve got any questions about the role, about the process. Like I said, my first tip would be: do ask. Don’t sit there just wondering. And that might apply to, as I mentioned, the job description. It might apply to the process itself, or maybe you just want to find out a bit more information about the role. And we can have confidential conversations as well. So, if, as a disabled person, you wanted to have a confidential discussion about your disability and any support you might need in the workplace from the beginning, we can talk about that too. Say how we can support you and hopefully reassure you.
So, that’s the first part. My second piece of advice is: always, always read the job description. And then read it again. And maybe read it a third time to make sure that you understand the role and what the role entails, but also what the requirements of the role are. And linking on from that, be confident in your abilities. I know sometimes that’s really difficult, but often there’s a statistic out there that I can’t remember, but women in particular won’t apply to roles unless they tick every single box on the job description, and that really isn’t necessarily the case. You think about your transferable skills, whether that’s gained through employment or voluntary work that you do, and those are just as relevant as specific skills and knowledge that are directly relatable. So those transferable skills, don’t ignore those. Make sure that your CV is an accurate reflection of your experience and please, please don’t be afraid to put on any career breaks. We will look at gaps in employment, but that definitely doesn’t rule anyone out. People have breaks in employment for various reasons, and we will always take that into consideration and it certainly wouldn’t be a factor as to why we wouldn’t take you forward.
Be very clear about how your experience, skills, knowledge match those requirements of the job. Like I said, bearing in mind anything that’s transferable. Often you’ll find our process just involves filling out basic details about yourself, name and contact details, as well as uploading your CV. Some roles will have additional questions, and I’d say make sure on those things that you take your time answering them. Don’t rush it. You know, have that thinking time before you submit anything and ensure that you provide clear and relevant answers.
In terms of disclosing your disability, in case you’re wondering about that, you absolutely don’t have to. Hopefully, you are aware of that. It’s your personal choice. We have the equal opportunities form that’s available for everyone on our application process, and we do use that for monitoring, improving the process that we offer, and it’s completely confidential and is only viewed by my team. Line managers don’t have access to that. Like I said at the beginning, if you did want to disclose your disability, whether it’s just to make us aware or to ask specific questions on how we can support you throughout the process, you can contact us to have a discussion.
XPS Disability Employee Network:
[Geoff]: XPS has seven employee networks, each of which aims to create a culture of belonging where everyone feels valued, respected, and comfortable to be themselves. And hopefully, Emily and Emma’s stories have reflected that. I am chair of the Disability and Neurodiversity Network, to give its full title, and that network provides a safe space for employees to have real, honest conversations on work-life experience and highlighting areas for improvement. It also creates a supportive environment and helps bring people together with its inclusive program throughout the year of events, campaigns, and workshops, such as raising awareness of different types of disabilities, promoting accessibility and inclusion, and celebrating the achievements and contributions of disabled employees.
Some examples of this would include that we’ve worked with the HR team to promote the ability for employees to record and discuss their disability or health condition and any reasonable adjustments which they may need. XPS has created a Disability Toolkit, which provides information and guidance on disability etiquette, language, and support. And the Disability and Neurodiversity Network collaborates with other employee networks, such as the LGBTQ Plus network, the Women’s Network, and the Multicultural Network, to explore the intersectionality and diversity of disability.
As far as the future is concerned, we would like to see the Disability and Neurodiversity Network grow and expand its reach and impact, both within and outside of XPS. Some of our aspirations are to increase the membership and engagement with the network, to encourage more employees to share their stories and experiences in the way that Emma and Emily have, to further enhance the communication and collaboration with the XPS Senior Management and HR teams, continuing to influence the policies and practices which affect disabled and neurodiverse employees.
We also want to develop the skills and confidence of the network members and provide them with opportunities for personal and professional development. And again, hopefully, the stories that you’ve heard so far today back that up. And we want to partner with external organizations and stakeholders, such as disability charities, advocacy groups, and our clients, to learn from their best practices and insights. And ultimately, what that should do is to raise the profile and reputation of XPS as a disability-confident employer, and most importantly of all, enable us to attract and retain more diverse and talented employees.
Working part-time at XPS:
[Helene]: Often you’ll find that all our adverts will state whether they are full or part-time. However, please don’t be put off if something says full-time and that isn’t something that’s possible for you. You’re welcome to apply for all roles and discuss your reasonable adjustment requirements with the hiring manager at the interview. As I mentioned earlier, if you wanted to have a confidential discussion before you actually apply, you can ring and speak to one of the recruitment team in advance to talk about those options. Admittedly, sometimes it does depend upon the business needs and the requirement as a role, but we would be open to discussions and explore what is possible for any such requirement
Using Access to Work at XPS Group:
[Helene]: There are some really great transport links, but obviously, don’t forget as well about Access to Work if you did want to come in. I believe they can provide support as well for commuting, so there are options. And like I said, we do offer homeworking roles as well, so I wouldn’t want anyone to be put off because we can discuss any reasons for not being able to commute or perhaps to want to come into the office more frequently instead. So, it very much depends upon your individual circumstances.
Flexible working at XPS Group:
[Geoff]: In one of the other roles I have, I run a team responsible for our group risk employee benefits. I’m based in Belfast, and work from home some of the week and in Belfast some of the week. My team is based in Birmingham, Reading, Swindon, and Leeds, and we have regular meetings, obviously not in person. We may get together in person two, three, four times a year, where some of us will use automobiles to get together to collaborate, celebrate, and socialize. That’s an example of a team that operates very well indeed and functions very efficiently without needing to be physically present in an office together every day. Each case will be different, but I would like to encourage everybody to keep an open mind and explore what opportunities are available within XPS Group.
Why work at XPS Group? (Helen)
[Helene]: For me, I think that everything you’ve heard here is genuine. We’re not just ticking a box with anything that we’ve said. We really mean it. We’re an organization that lives our values. We want to do the right thing. We want to be helpful, and also, we recognize how important diverse talent can be and what individuals bring to the company.
Why work at XPS Group? (Geoff)
[Geoff]: There’s a genuine commitment from everybody, from the top down within the business, to make this a great place to work for everyone. Our values are: we are agile, ambitious, expert, helpful, and we do the right thing. We live those values day in, day out. I think those are reflected in our employee survey scores and the feedback that we get from clients. So, I think it’s a huge opportunity for anyone with the ability and willingness to work hard to thrive at XPS.
Why work at XPS Group? (Emily)
[Emily]: The main reason to check out XPS and apply would be to build confidence and be surrounded by a team and an entire company that only wants you to be confident, grow, and accept you for who you are and how you work. And you don’t get that everywhere. So, that would be my one reason: that the whole company will support you and get you to where you want to be.
Why work at XPS Group? (Emma)
[Emma]: The culture set down from the very top at XPS is so important, and that is to be inclusive and for everyone to understand what their strengths and weaknesses are, and to promote your strengths and just show how important you are to each member of your team and the group as a whole.
Want to work for this inclusive employer? Check out the latest job vacancies with XPS Group.
