In today’s competitive global economy, the concept of social mobility has become a focal point for businesses that aim to focus on innovation, inclusivity, and resilience.
Social mobility is a topic that plays a huge part in Finance with Flow’s core values and is ingrained within the business to ensure that talent is drawn from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and also helping to show future generations what careers are available to them within the finance industry.
Within this blog post, Finance with Flow explores social mobility and the effects of this within the finance industry and help towards shaping a society that gives everyone a chance.
What is social mobility?
Social mobility refers to the movement of individuals, families, or groups through a social hierarchy. This is often measured by income, education, and occupation and has become a crucial consideration across all industries.
What factors influence social mobility?
Social mobility typically occurs when people have had different life outcomes from their parents/family. This could mean different income levels, different occupational class or things such as different housing/accommodation and education experiences.
Social Mobility can both be upwards or downwards.
How is the Finance industry affected by social mobility?
In finance, influence and power often comes with privilege – however social mobility is reshaping traditional norms.
The Finance Industry typically thrives on solving complex finance problems, however more recently it is thought that social mobility can unlock the door to diverse skills.
Employing people from a variety of backgrounds can often bring unique problem solving approaches and cultural insights.
More work in raising awareness to students (specifically those in Sixth Form, College and University) is needed. Those from lower social mobility backgrounds will often not consider Finance as a possible career choice due to the following:
- Education Inequality
- Bias over schools/area
- Limited awareness / opportunities
Why social mobility matters?
Social mobility matters because it reflects the ability of individuals to improve their socio-economic status based on merit, effort, and opportunities rather than being limited by their background or location.
Future generations should be encouraged to break the mold and look into a wider pool of opportunities that they might have thought wouldn’t have been available to them. This can only happen if businesses are like minded and can provide help and support to the younger generation to help them succeed.
Why is this a topic that is close to FWF’s heart?
We have seen social mobility achieved!
Our founder, Roz Johnson is keen to share her journey and raise awareness of the opportunities that are available within the finance industry.
Roz grew up in an area which had very stereotypical job opportunities suited for certain levels of education and backgrounds. These were the same opportunities shared to Roz via school careers advisors and it was a given that you would lean towards those particular careers and were not encouraged to venture further afield.
However, Roz had set her sights on higher things after following in her fathers footsteps and going to work in his construction business, and then continued on with education after school going on to University (the first in her family!) and broke the mould.
One thing led to another and Roz got accepted for a training contract with a Top 10 Accountancy practice and became ACA qualified.
Four years working in audit gave Roz a solid grounding for her future career, working across a range of different sized businesses and industries. Key clients during this time included a £500m revenue construction group, listed entities and family run businesses and has since covered a range of entities from £1bn revenue to PE backed start-ups and turnaround situations.
This path ultimately led her to the realisation that her knowledge and expertise could have a profound impact with SME businesses seeking to thrive and flourish with a full finance team functionality, which would not be possible to access with in-house personnel.
FwF’s current and future initiatives
We strive to create initiatives that support career growth, training, and mentorship, both with those who are employed by Finance with Flow along with visiting local schools and Universities to take part in career days and provide talks to raise awareness of roles within the finance industry to those who may not originally been made aware of the opportunities in this sector.
Finance with Flow have many personal goals that we are progressing with, along with taking advice and guidance from the Social Mobility Index and The Kings Award on how to improve in ensuring that we as a company are offering support, advice and roles to people from all walks of life to create a well rounded workforce.
Finance with Flow were thrilled to have been recognised by the Social Mobility Awards 2024 and were placed 127th in the rankings!
This honour reflects our commitment to ensuring a workplace that provides – diversity, inclusivity, and equal opportunity for all. This award energises us to continue making a positive impact and removing barriers to success.
Embracing social mobility is a journey, but one that yields dividends for employees, employers, and society alike. Let’s take the first step today.
Looking for support with your business finances from Finance with Flow?
Contact us today on undercontrol@financewithflow.com or 01206 326620 and let’s chat through your needs. We can shape your success together! Visit our website to find out more about our services and packages – https://financewithflow.com/packages/
