Diversity and Inclusion - Walking the Walk
There has been a fair amount of publicity recently pertaining to the subject of equality, diversity and inclusion at work.
PwC recently published their workforce statistics showing the gap in pay between their White and Non-White employees. Black, Asian and Minority-Ethnic employees (BAME) at PwC in the UK earn almost 13% less than other their White counterparts.
The BBC recently highlighted their profound gender pay gap. I watched Dr Miranda Brown on BBC Breakfast TV a couple of weeks ago discussing the subject of racism in the workplace.
Last week a report was published which was commissioned by the Black British Business Awards. The study analysed 30 UK Corporations and found that Black and Minority Ethnic staff existed at different levels in this organisation and the CEOs believed that progression was fair and there were initiatives in place to assist progression to executive roles. Very few made it.
The Guardian has published the results of research around racism in the workplace. On Sunday 24th September the Guardian published an article which stated: From a list of just over 1,000 of the UK’s top political, financial, judicial, cultural and security figures drawn up by the Guardian in partnership with Operation Black Vote and in consultation with academics, only 36 (3.4%) were from ethnic minorities (BAME). Just seven (0.7%) were BAME women’
Why is this? I have been in so many organisations where leaders proudly shout about their policy for creating a diverse workforce, but diversity seems to stop at middle manager level.
What does all this really mean? My enlightened HR colleagues already see within their respective organisations, disparities in career progression between different groups of employers. HR leaders discuss this all the time, but we are never quite sure how to progress things.
It is clear to many of us that CEOs are not seriously tracking and monitoring BAME progression. Why? Because there are no consequences of their failure to do so. In HR when we are trying to convince CEOs of the need to have diverse leadership teams, we frequently refer to the business case for diversity. I recently heard an esteemed Diversity expert ask the question. Why do we always need to make a business case for the inclusion of the ‘usually excluded’ groups? Do we need to present a business case for White, middle aged, middle class, able bodied, heterosexual men to be senior leaders?
It is now time to adopt a radical approach to achieving diversity in Corporations. Don’t believe you are doing well just because you have a prayer room and a Women networking group. Inequality and exclusion has been a feature of corporate life for generations. Equality legislation has been in existence for over 40 years and does not appear to have made any real impact on diversity at the top. It is time for Public Sector and Corporate leaders to honestly rethink their strategies.
We know that assistance and support is required to achieve this. If your organisation is serious about achieving diversity, I can help you achieve this by adopting a candid approach which seeks to remove the barriers to progression. This will increase productivity, create healthy happy workplaces and redress the effects of past discriminatory practices.
Valerie Todd FCIPD
Discovery HR Solutions Limited +44 7933 637239
Women, Leadership and Sustainable Development, Visiting Senior Research Fellow, ESA Beirut metcalfe.b@esa.lb
5yIt's about rights please don't get seduced by inclusion language..... We can talk about inclusion...but Pwc need to say we value rights...and we do that by including people who were excluded and now we have included rights...
Women, Leadership and Sustainable Development, Visiting Senior Research Fellow, ESA Beirut metcalfe.b@esa.lb
5yAgree Unless regulated or pressure pay will not change. We only need to look at history. Then look at the differentials between countries.... resistance can help change...but beware CSR hype..a convenient label created to help commodity care, ethic, rights,..just discovered in last few years. If you go to board meetings shareholders actually keep CSR Down....it impacts profits...
PhD in Education, University of York
6yWow! Valerie. Interesting article.
#Investigations #Discrimination #Racism #Trustee Whistleblowing; Professional & Personal Misconduct; Mediator, Employee Relations, #AntiRacist #Intersectionality #Diversity #Inclusion #Equity, #Justice #belonging
7yValerie, in one if your points you say “In HR when we are trying to convince CEOs of the need to have diverse leadership teams, we frequently refer to the business case for diversity”. Who is ‘we’ and what evidence is there that this ‘we’ is actually doing this beyond policy?Have you reflected on why it is that HR/OD profession itself lacks diversity?(being white, female, able bodied) and the way this contributes to the lack of progression on diversity and inclusion for the wider organisation to the extent that it rarely effects the lived experience of those under represented in organisations by influencing line managers (white, Male) in their daily decision-making. If HR/OD practitioners lack diversity they lack direct experience of the lived world of the lives they are supposedly seeking to improve. Instead policies are written from a position of privilege leading to poor design which then fails to remove the blinkers in everyday opportunities to step in and challenge a decision constructively to remove hidden biases. What’s your experience of putting the question of lack of diversity to HR/OD practitioners? What's your/other BME HR/OD practitioners experience of entering or progressing in the profession and making a difference?