5 ways activism has influenced People and ED&I strategies

"Activism" - it's a word that for different people can have wildly different connotations. Whatever those are, there is no denying the impact it has on organisations. From the way they respond to them internally and externally to the way they operate as a business, its influence cannot and should not be ignored.

This latest edition of "The Change Maker's Newsletter" looks at 5 ways activism has influenced organisation's People/HR and ED&I strategies, focusing on five socio-political movements that have been at the forefront of many people's minds and some organisations' workplace culture.

They are:

1. Black Lives Matter
2. Stop Asian Hate
3. Me Too
4. Trans rights
5. Parental leave

To find out more on how employee activism can influence your people strategy and join in the discussion, sign up to our webinar on 10th October, co-hosted by our CEO and Co-Founder Gemma McCall and Product Marketing Manager Kenya Peters .

1. Black Lives Matter

#BlackLivesMatter is a social movement that has been ongoing for decades. Of course, in 2020, this reached boiling point in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder. And in the midst of the pandemic and other movements that were taking place, many organisations scrambled to do or say something in support of their Black colleagues and to do better.

However, some fell short of the expectations, realising there was so much more they needed to do than post black squares on their socials or posting a perfunctory "we stand against racism" statement. For others, ED&I was not a new thing for them, but upon their reflections after BLM, it showed that progress was nowhere near fast or impactful enough.

A number of large organisations publish their ethnicity pay gaps, which more often than not show that even within their ethnic diversity, Black colleagues are on average paid less than others and find many barriers when trying to enter the workplace or progress in their careers.

Organisations such as EY and PwC are committed to various initiatives such as publishing a Black pay gap and improving recruitment opportunities for Black people. And after admitting that " Nike needs to be better than society as a whole" and they need "get our own house in order", the sportswear giant set about trying to increase Black representation in its workforce, improving from 21.6% out of all employees and 4.9% at Director+ level in 2019 to 24.3% and 5.7%, respectively, in 2021.

With workplace inclusion drives in the UK trebling since 2020, the increase of people watching companies with eagle eyes and many leaving or wanting their employer to do more cannot be underestimated. For the latter, our research found that 50% of Black respondents said their workplace could do more when it comes to diversity. This article by Chloe Davies implores ways workplaces can become actively anti-racist in the wake of BLM.

2. Stop Asian Hate

The exponential rise in anti-Asian hate crime around the globe (+27% in the UK, according to Voice ESEA ) since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic has been documented in news stories and heavily campaigned about by people of ESEA (East and Southeast Asian) heritage. While admittedly this movement has not seen as big a shift towards changing the societal landscape as others, conversations have permeated through in some organisations.

Examples include: Airbnb sharing resources for their employees that was compiled by their ERG Asians@ and Etsy providing bystander training to employees that will equip them to better recognise racial harassment and intervene effectively as well as also helping staff members manage racial trauma with mental health resources on an ongoing basis.

The University of York issued a statement condemning the rise in incidents on campus and online, pointing students to disclose them via our platform Report + Support. And Tim Cook, CEO of Apple , tweeted his support for the community, which is encouraging to see from a world-renowned senior leader.

Many organisations have also set up ERGs for their East and Southeast Asian colleagues, including BT Group , Microsoft , Sky , HM Revenue & Customs and Salesforce , providing a safe space for them to come together, share their experiences and strive for better support and inclusion in their company.

Finally, one of many activists, Eric Toda from Meta penned an impassioned article calling out the lack of companies saying or doing anything and suggested ways in which they could, which is definitely worth a read. If this was to ever happen again, #StopAsianHate activists are hopeful outcomes and responses will be different and better next time.

3. Me Too

When Sarah Everard was murdered in 2021, her death - like George Floyd's - sparked international outcry and a renewed scrutiny on and call for the safety of women everywhere, which was already at what seemed like a peak after allegations against Harvey Weinstein ignited the #MeToo movement.

An estimated one to two-thirds of women have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace (and even more outside of work) according to various studies. And statistics also show that too few speak up about it, even though more have done, especially after they've seen others do so. For men, these numbers are much lower but the real number of victims are thought to be higher.

The rise in sexual harassment being addressed more widely in society has led to activism around it heavily influencing the way in which many organisations are trying to identify, tackle and prevent it. These could include HR implementing training, reiterating and reinforcing their anti-harassment policies and strengthening investigation processes as well as clamping down on the consequences. For some this also leads to tackling sexism, misogyny and sex discrimination by looking at their company's gender pay gap and gender diversity.

Companies such as McDonald's, Sainsbury's and IKEA saw a rise in sexual harassment being reported and exposed which led them to sign the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)'s Section 23 agreement. By following guidance, including the 7-step approach above, there is hope they can mitigate incidents in the future.

One of our own partners admitted backlash they had following on from the #MeToo movement where sexual misconduct, bullying and harassment were uncovered and detailed in a research report. From this they wanted to launch a sector-wide system to record and track behaviours and implement best practice. Another partner's reputation was disputed when a major sexual harassment scandal was in the media, prompting them to take action. This made them also want to understand the "lower level" incidents that were happening as well but not being reported.

And many of the universities we work with (more than 60% of all UK institutions) say sexual harassment and gender-based violence are two of the most common incident types they receive through our anonymous reporting platform. Did you know The University of Manchester was our first partner in 2018 and Report + Support was initially created for them to solely identify and centralise sexual harassment cases they knew were prevalent?

When sexual harassment and abuse is sadly still so common, and victim-survivors could be of level within an organisation, gender, age, sexuality, ethnicity or ability, #MeToo is a movement everyone must actively be aware of and take responsibility for when it comes to the preventing the incidents from happening.

4. Trans rights

One of the most prominent and divisive social movements in the last few years has been around trans rights, proving to be one of the hardest that organisations - in particular HR and ED&I professionals - have had to navigate in the workplace. We posted this Twitter/X thread about a number of different companies doing some great progressive work to ensure LGBTQ colleagues feel safe and like they belong. Examples of places taking heed from trans activism include:

• Allianz , who released a trans-inclusive policy in September 2021
• Netflix released a statement in support of their trans and trans ally employees who staged a walkout in October 2021 to protest against some of the streaming service's alleged anti-trans content
• The Walt Disney Company came under fire for their "misjudged silenced" on Florida's "Don't Say Gay Bill", but have supported their LGBTQ colleagues in other ways, including ditching its famously strict gendered dress code for employees
• Oxfam divided public and staff opinions on trans rights and diversity and inclusion when it released a Pride supportive video and employees were given a training session on LGBTQIA+ awareness. However, this revealed the other side of activism - those who oppose the movement and speak out against it
• Hundreds of companies backed campaigns to fight for trans equality and oppose government legislation in both the UK and US
• At Culture Shift, we developed a transitioning at work policy in July 2021, and by the end of the year our first colleague came out as trans, and was able to make use of the policy with confidence. Read more about our former Head of Development Chris Northwood's experience and those of other trans people in the workplace here

Sadly, statistics show that trans people face some of the worst bullying, discrimination and harassment in the workplace compared to those from other marginalised groups, yet employers are still unsure about how to rectify that.

As the EHRC recently pushed for the definition of and differentiation between sex and gender to be made more clear in the Equality Act 2010, trans people's existence and rights to be safe, supported and included in society and the workplace have never been more important to protect.

5. Parental leave

This social movement might seem an unlikely one among the others, but more and more parents have been actively campaigning for better and more equal rights for some time. Shared parental leave was first introduced in 2014 and both maternity and paternity leave - particularly the latter - have gone through a number of changes and updates over the years. However, shared parental leave has been hotly contested by some as "deeply flawed", despite it being introduced to "transform gender equality and make life easier for families", and it has shown to be unpopular in the apparently low take-up.

In October 2022, more than 15,000 people marched together to call for government reforms to childcare and parental leave. Our blog post on the prevalence of maternity discrimination details the experiences of many mothers as well as fathers and employers' views on pregnant women and mothers in the workplace. And in light of the Spring Budget 2023 announcement which welcomed the first new update on childcare, our own CEO and Co-Founder Gemma McCall - who says experiencing maternity discrimination twice fuelled the activist in her to start up Culture Shift - lent her opinion on the news:

The expansion of childcare support is a welcome announcement for any parent with young children to hear, especially in the current cost of living crisis where some families are having to make difficult decisions on how they put food on the table. On top of this, making childcare more accessible is vital because too often parents have to make do with balancing their career commitments with their childcare needs. But making do is archaic, especially for women who want to have the opportunity to develop in their careers.

In more organisations, including our own, enhanced paternity leave has been improved to be equal to maternity leave, and language and policies have changed to be more gender neutral, include same-sex and single parents and adoption. When 75% of mothers and 92% of fathers are in employment in the UK, workplaces can't turn a blind eye to their needs and their voices.

What other examples of employee activism have influenced organisation's people strategies? Or what have some companies done for the above movements? We'd be interested to know your thoughts so let us know in the comments!