Great Place to Work and Fortune have named Experian as one of the 25 World’s Best Workplaces™ 2024. This recognition highlightsmore than an award—it shows a commitment to our strong People First culture.
Experian Chief People Officer Jacky Simmonds shares insights on how our people across the globe cultivate this culture, staying ahead of the curve through a unique blend of inclusivity, empathy, and a shared purpose.
What does it mean to you, and to Experian, to be named among Fortune’s World’s Best Places to Work?
At Experian, we have long aspired to be one of the best companies in the world to work for, and over the past few years, we have made this a priority. Our journey has been marked by a commitment to putting our people first and fostering the collaborative and inclusive culture that sets us apart. This recognition reflects the common values that we share across our many countries and cultures and the dedication of our colleagues across our business. We spend so much of our time at work, so I think it’s important that every interaction – from the interview process to joining and every daily interaction – is a positive one where people are welcoming, supportive and generally just really nice people to work with.
Reaching this milestone gives all of us at Experian some recognition, but also it is inspiring as we continue to strive to attract top talent who share our values, share our purpose and make every day an enjoyable one.
How does Experian create an environment where employees feel empowered to innovate and contribute ideas that drive real impact?
To fulfill our mission of bringing Financial Power to All™, we need as many voices, experiences and backgrounds as possible, so we can represent our clients’ differing needs. This culture of inclusion drives our innovations. We have employee-led initiatives, such as internal Hackathons that bring together these diverse perspectives to develop products and services like Experian Boost, Experian Go, Experian Smart Money Digital Checking Account, Experian Support Hub, and Transforme-se so we can serve the communities in which we live and work.
How has Experian adapted to changing employee expectations since the pandemic, and what steps has the company taken to support employee well-being and work-life balance?
We know that our people really value the ability to have flexible work model, so they can work to fulfill their role in a way that works for them. For some this is fully remote, for others it is hybrid so a balance of remote and in office, and for others in office, where their role requires it fully. We know from the feedback that we get that our people appreciate that we trust them and they have flexibility to deal with varying commitments that we all have outside of work.
We also know that since the pandemic there has been an increased focused on wellbeing. Sponsored by our Chief Financial Officer, we embarked upon an initiative to invest in how we support people who may need additional support. We are very proud of our Mental Health First Aiders programme, which has trained around 400 colleagues across the world representing 23 countries and 28 languages and helping their teammates access resources. These volunteers receive consistent, ongoing and updated training.
What specific initiatives or programmes at Experian do you believe set the company apart in terms of supporting professional growth and career development?
We have invested in a number of things that we believe really make the difference. The first is developing great leaders at every level. Today’s leaders have many more challenges, many different age groups, a balance of remote and in person working, together with teams based in many different locations. Great leaders build great teams, so we think it’s important to invest in their development. That’s we built a leadership development portal – The Leadership Exchange – that has a wide range of resources to support them, including development programmes tailored to their needs.
We also want to ensure that everyone at every level can develop their skills and progress their careers. So we launched our annual Global Careers Week, Experian University, and built a world-class digital curriculum so everyone can access the form of development they need based on their role or aspirations. There really is something for everyone. This way, we help our teams stay ahead of trends and ensure our business is equipped with the skills needed for the future.
Looking forward, what are key goals or priorities for further enhancing Experian’s culture and employee experience?
We’re truly proud of this amazing recognition, but we always strive to get better and acknowledge there’s always more to be done. We see an opportunity to make things easier in the way we leverage advanced technologies like AI to further enhance employee experience. For example, more personalised learning pathways, improved tools for productivity and collaboration. We make sure we don’t lose the human touch, but we also want to make the most of these innovations so we stay relevant with our largely tech populations.
Being named one of the world’s best workplaces reflects Experian’s unwavering commitment to be recognized for having a great culture where people can do their best work with people they enjoy working with.
Learn more about what makes Experian a World’s Best Workplace in the People section of our Annual Report and the Experian Power of YOU Report 2024: Driving social impact and diversity, equity and inclusion, available in English, Portuguese and Spanish.