Why we use pronouns

Many staff at the Bank Workers Charity choose to include their pronouns in their email signatures. We do this to help promote a positive, inclusive and welcoming environment for all, as part of our wider commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

Pronouns are words that we use to refer to ourselves and other people – words like she, her, he, his, they and them. We all use pronouns as part of everyday conversation; however, we don’t always think very carefully about them. Often, we subconsciously identify someone’s gender based on our opinion of their outward appearance and assign what we think is the correct pronoun. However, we might not be correct and using the wrong pronouns can cause embarrassment and distress. Everyone deserves to have their chosen name and pronouns respected in the workplace, so like many organisations we encourage our staff to share their preferred pronouns.

By sharing our pronouns, we also hope to raise awareness and understanding of the importance of respecting everyone’s identify.

Not everyone at the Bank Workers Charity will choose to share their pronouns, but this doesn’t mean that they don’t support our work to create a more inclusive workplace. We respect that this is an individual choice, and for many people, they may not be ready to declare their pronouns.

You can read more about pronouns in the workplace in this Stonewall blog.