The Royal British Legion

We’re modernising our mission

We’re a forward-thinking organisation with aspirations to make an even bigger impact on the lives of those who have served or are serving in the Armed Forces today. And as their needs, and the needs of their families are changing, we’re changing our way of working too.

We have ambitious plans to deliver more for the communities we support by becoming a more inclusive, flexible, customer-focused, data-driven, and collaborative organisation.

Improving our practices

We are committed to building a truly inclusive organisation of diverse people and perspectives but recognise that we aren’t yet where we’d like to be. We’re actively engaged in a programme of work to develop our practices; click here to see our commitments to realising our ambition.

In our most recent employee engagement survey, 72% of our workforce said they would recommend working for RBL. We want every single colleague to feel like that and we’re striving to give all our colleagues a first-class working experience with us.

Our D&I action plan sets out our commitments to the RBL being a truly inclusive organisation. Through the actions we have set out, we are:

• Ensuring our leaders play a visible role in fostering a positive and inclusive culture.
• Providing opportunities for everyone, no matter their role, background, or personal characteristics.
• Supporting our members in building diverse and inclusive communities.
• Enabling everyone to reach their potential and receive the service or recognition they deserve.
• Showcasing diverse role models and celebrating our differences.
• Working with key stakeholders and partners and sharing best practice.

We have seen a decrease in our gender pay gap and are actively working to reduce the gap further. We aim to support all our colleagues to have a work-life balance that suits individual and team circumstances, offering colleagues the opportunity to talk about flexible working and what it means to them. We are also pleased to offer paid Carer’s Leave and paid Time Off for Dependants to deal with planned and unplanned family and caring responsibilities. We also offer paid reservists’ leave.

Staff networks for a range of groups including Carer’s, LGBTQIA+, Disability, Women’s, BAME and Veterans are in operation, and we are a Gold Award Accredited member of the Armed Forces Covenant scheme, and a Disability Confident Employer.

We have an Employee Voice Forum with representatives from varying demographics across the RBL, who meet monthly to feedback on how we can improve working lives at the RBL. We also have six staff networks who provide peer support, organise events to increase awareness of Diversity & Inclusion, and influence future policy.

Our Armed Forces Community Network has been set up to support and connect veterans, reservists, and / or military partners as they work and develop careers outside the forces at RBL. We know that the transition to civilian life can be hard for both the serving person and their families, and we understand the struggles that deployments overseas bring to both the serving person and their families.

Our Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnicity (BAME) Network were pivotal in the award of our Race Equality Matters Bronze Trailblazer award. The BAME Network holds regular committee meetings and organises and attends race related events, such as South Asian Heritage Month, Black History Month, Diwali, and many more.

Our Carers and Friends Network hold monthly meetings to support and connect our colleagues who are carers, usually with a theme surrounding caring where they share top tips and feedback how the RBL can better support our colleagues who care. The network helped develop RBL policy ahead of the implementation of the new Carers Leave Act (2023).

Our Disability Network have contributed to shaping how we support colleagues with disabilities, mental health conditions and neurodivergence. They hold regular virtual coffee mornings, awareness events, distribute newsletters to keep members abreast of any forthcoming policy changes, and have active Disability Role Models who provide peer-led support to all RBL colleagues with similar conditions.

Our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer + (LGBTQ+) Network connect and support all LGBTQ+ colleagues across the organisation, and work with RBL to develop how we can better support our LGBTQ+ beneficiaries who served in the forces prior to 2000, when the ban on ‘being out’ in the military was decriminalised and lifted.

Our Women’s Network promote and celebrate women’s contributions across RBL and raise awareness of issues affecting women. They provide a support group for women going through perimenopause and menopause and for pregnancy and maternity leave returners. They celebrate successes, showcasing inspirational women within the organisation via their Women in the Spotlight campaign and have held events for all colleagues to attend regardless of gender.

We have updated our core Diversity and Inclusion training, offer inclusive recruitment training for hiring managers and hold bespoke D&I workshops catering for different business areas throughout RBL Group and regularly update our D&I resources and materials.

Help shape our future

It’s a really exciting time to join us and play a part in changing the lives of the people we support, and our future capacity and capability. Working at RBL means working with colleagues who are young at heart, keen to learn and eager to make change. Our team is massively committed to our mission and proud of what we achieve.

We employ around 1,800 people across the country to campaign on behalf of the Armed Forces Community, deliver support services, lead Remembrance, raise funds to support our work and develop and run the organisation and our network of membership branches.

From our major hub offices, we work collaboratively and have flexible/hybrid working practices in place. And with the latest technology colleagues can connect with one another, our members and beneficiaries, and come together around our common purpose, and values, which can be seen here.

Rewarding opportunities