Category Archives: Diversity

Disability, Disability at work, Diversity

Top business leaders pen open letter to Boris Johnson to tackle growing disability employment gap

Business leaders have today called on the Prime Minister to deliver on his promise of a truly transformative National Strategy for Disabled People.

In an open letter, over a dozen senior business leaders have urged Boris Johnson to keep his promise to make it the most ambitious disability plan in a generation and to consider the CSJ Disability Commission’s ground-breaking new report.

Agreeing with the PM that there should be no barriers to anyone realising their full potential, they have explicitly linked the success of the Strategy to his flagship levelling-up agenda, which promises to increase opportunity across the UK.

In the letter, the signatories say, “disabled people have waited long enough and now is the time for action”. They urge the PM to show in his strategy that he has given careful consideration to the Commission’s recommendations and say, in return, “we stand ready to play our part”.’

Disabled people have been hit particularly hard by Coronavirus according to the ONS and concerted action by Government and business is crucial to reducing the disability employment gap, which has widened as a result of the pandemic. Currently, just 52 per cent of disabled people are in employment compared with 81 per cent of non-disabled people.

The CSJ Disability Commission makes five key recommendations to reduce the gap:

  • Increasing supported routes into employment

  • Introducing mandatory employment and pay gap reporting

  • Leveraging Government procurement

  • Reforming the Government’s Disability Confident scheme

  • Reforming the Government’s Access to Work scheme

The Commission’s report argues a central feature of the Government’s National Strategy for Disabled People must be the inclusion of robust measures focused on improving disabled people’s employment prospects. It argues that until employment disadvantage is addressed, disabled people will continue to face social exclusion, financial hardship, and reduced well-being.

The CSJ Disability Commission is chaired by disabled Conservative member of the House of Lords, Kevin Shinkwin and comprised of both disabled and non-disabled members from the business, disability and parliamentary world.

Lord Shinkwin says, “The Prime Minister’s strategy represents a once in a generation chance to chart a new way forward where disabled people’s potential to contribute, compete and, in some cases, excel and reach the top of their professions, on merit, can at last be realised. We have one shot at this – that’s why it’s so important his strategy gets it right. What makes this even more exciting is that big business is ready to get behind him”

The Commission was set up with the backing of the DFN Foundation to feed into the Prime Minister’s National Strategy for Disabled People. The DFN Foundation, founded by David Forbes-Nixon, is committed to developing a new enabling vision that will seize the disability employment agenda and drive tangible and sustainable change.

David Forbes-Nixon, Commission Deputy Chair, says, “Having a disabled son has opened up my eyes to the inequalities in education, employment and life chances for disabled people in the UK. I hope the Commission’s recommendations, particularly in employment, will be embraced by the Prime Minister in his National Strategy for Disabled People so we can draw on this extraordinary and untapped talent pool.”

The Commission’s report is especially relevant now as data reveals that disabled people have suffered disproportionately during the pandemic – in physical health, mental health, and economically – compared to non-disabled people.

Importantly, the report extends beyond employment to cover four other areas of life for disabled people: transport, education, housing, and access to goods & services. It makes extensive policy recommendations which, if enacted, would substantially increase the ability of disabled people to participate more fully in society and realise their potential.

Tanni, Baroness Grey-Thompson DBE, gold medal-winning former Paralympian and a Commissioner, says, “Despite the very welcome improvements in legislation since the Disability Discrimination Act, the experience of the last 25 years shows that laws on their own aren’t enough. The political will to enforce them is crucial. Right now, disabled people feel that we’re going backwards. That’s why we really need the PM to keep his promise of a transformative strategy and drive change from the front.”

Research and analysis for the Report has been led by the influential think tank, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ).

Andy Cook, Chief Executive of the CSJ, says, “If we are to truly level-up, we need to be much bolder in our approach towards disabled people. Disabled people face too many unnecessary barriers in society. There is an opportunity now to empower disabled people into full and active participation within all aspects of society. I encourage the government to look closely at this report’s findings.”

Diversity, Leadership

Experts provide 6 ways leaders can actively lift inclusion barriers

Leaders currently face 2 key barriers – prioritisation and recognising privilege

“You either care about people or you don’t but you can’t fake it, and in turn, inclusive leadership starts with recognising the value of individuals” says Gharry Eccles, Vice President of Cereal Partners at Nestle.

“If leaders don’t value individuals, become culturally aware and listen more, they won’t overcome the barriers to their inclusion efforts. Inclusion and belonging are personal feelings which means people won’t articulate their thoughts if they aren’t asked”.

Matt Stephens, founder of Inpulse, the employee wellbeing survey experts, agrees. Research from Inpulse shows that 25% of employees do not feel like they can be themselves at work and 33% don’t believe their company takes D&I seriously.

According to Stephens, an inclusive culture is one in which a mix of people can go to work, feel confident in being themselves and work in a way that suits them to effectively deliver company needs. He asserts that to make this happen, it’s essential for leaders to address their own shortcomings in supporting employees to feel comfortable at work.

In the Inpulse webinar about Inclusion, Stephens identified two particular barriers that leaders currently face in improving an inclusive culture at work:

Not prioritising inclusion above other focuses

In the period we’re in now, it’s not that people don’t want to focus on inclusion, it’s that other things get in the way. With so much change – redundancies, remote working, return to work and home schooling – inclusion can fall into the trap of becoming more to do with spreadsheets, hitting targets and meeting the numbers. Leaders need to support inclusion initiatives in a humane way that still values people.

Being unable to recognise privilege 

Sometimes in the corporate world, where leadership teams aren’t currently as diverse as they should be, they may struggle to recognise their own privilege. They may think they’re aware of the experiences others are facing but, in truth, their own understandings of the workplace don’t reflect the experiences of their employees. Becoming aware of your own privilege and recognising the real life encounters of others are essential in creating a workplace culture that nurtures the broader needs of a team.

Here are the 6 key steps that Gharry Eccles and Matt Stephens have identified, helping leaders to address the inclusion barriers in the workplace:

  1. It starts with the top

Leaders should be encouraged to walk the talk and model the behaviours they want to see in their teams Though inclusion is a step that all employees must participate in to help create the right culture, if senior leaders aren’t encouraging inclusivity in communications and actions, middle management and those beyond won’t embrace it either.

  1. Being genuine is essential

According to Gharry Eccles:

“You either care about people or you don’t but you can’t fake it”.

Organisations must show genuine concern for the welfare of their employees. Inclusion efforts can’t merely be about hitting targets. Instead, understanding the value of people should come first and then this should be championed by setting goals and standards.

  1. Connect hearts and minds: add the human element back into inclusion

Because of remote work, the pandemic has exposed the home lives of leaders, uncovering their human side which has broken down typical hierarchical barriers. Leaders have spoken about their personal experiences – their struggles, their mental health concerns – and it’s become acceptable for others to open up too. According to Eccles, when leaders show these vulnerabilities and human imperfections, it creates a wave of sharing, providing an inclusive place to talk. Adding the human back into inclusive leadership is key.

  1. Get everyone on board

When thinking about inclusion, it’s possible that not all members of the workforce will feel it’s an effort that’s connected to them. Some groups may not understand the role they can play in helping others feel included or the benefits that they themselves would feel from a more inclusive environment. It’s important that leaders make an effort to open up the conversation with these people, by linking the conversation to mental health, wellbeing or workplace safety – any inclusion topic that will resonate with them and create a lightbulb moment where someone realises ‘yes, this is about me’.

  1. Actively find new perspectives

Most people don’t know what they don’t know, so it’s vital that leaders gain outside perspective in order to overcome their privilege and be an ally to other employees. Creating opportunities such as reverse mentoring in which grad scheme members, for example, pair up with senior leadership to provide a fresh perspective and open their minds to new ideas.

  1. Go back to basics

Gharry Eccles stresses the importance of creating a ‘listening environment’. Whether it’s by opening up conversations, using employee listening surveys or holding focus groups, leaders must be prepared to find ways to regularly hear the needs and thoughts of their staff. Action has to be based on what employees are saying.

Gharry Eccles, summarises:

“When leaders are able to create a listening environment and get to a deeper level of understanding, they have the ability to ask ‘what more can be done?’. It gives them the awareness and the capacity to take inclusion efforts from acceptance to acceleration.”

Diversity, Diversity in Tech, News

Reducing diversity to a ‘tick box exercise’ fails to exploit its role in strategic decision making and innovation – Matthew Syed tells business leaders

High performance expert and best-selling author tells the Advanced World Conference about the competitive advantage diversity brings to business, and the need for a growth mindset

A high performance expert and best-selling author has said that businesses reducing diversity to a tick box exercise are failing to exploit its role in making strategic judgements and innovating fast. Matthew Syed told more than 3,000 business professionals at Advanced World1 this week that diversity is a key area of competitive advantage, yet is underestimated in what it can do in terms of helping organisations innovate more effectively.

“We are attracted to people that think just like us,” Matthew explained during his keynote. “It makes us feel smart when people are telling us things we already know. The pleasure centres of our brains light up when people are mirroring our perspective. However, this can suppress thinking and creativity which are so important in a world that is rapidly changing.

“Organisations with people from the same background, and with the same knowledge, will narrow their perspective and they will miss out on opportunities which come from connecting with diverse groups of people. The result is this echo chamber, in which everyone agrees with each other all the time thus becoming more confident about very narrow assumptions.”

During his keynote, Matthew also shared how easy it is for leaders to drift into a fixed mindset due to hierarchical society. When a leader assembles a diverse group, for example, it’s incredibly easy for people lower down the social hierarchy to not share what they truly think but share what they think the leader wants to hear. Yet the data on the power of diversity in shaping culture and improving performance is overwhelming. A diverse group of economic and social forecasters, while individually less impressive, would be 15% more accurate.

Matthew adds: “In the words of Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella, we need to shift from a mindset of ‘know it alls’ to a mindset of ‘learn it alls’. When we learn it all, even if we are super smart, we can learn more. We can expand our collective intelligence. So, when someone says something that challenges our perspective, we don’t see it as a threat but an opportunity.

“What’s more, this growth mindset culture needs to begin to organically value diversity as a performance tool and a cutting edge asset. Is it the right thing to do? Yes. Is it something that enables us to be more socially progressive? Yes. Also, critically, it can help us to perform better. And if we don’t have this last element, there is often push back from the organisation.”

The keynote ended with Matthew highlighting the impact a fixed mindset has on an individual’s self-confidence, and the need for continuous dialogue and reflection with oneself to stay in a growth attitude and remember there is always an opportunity to learn.

Gordon Wilson, CEO at Advanced, concludes: “As someone who is passionate about creating diverse and inclusive communities, I found Matthew’s keynote fascinating – and timely too as we’ve seen Covid-19 become a catalyst for prioritising diversity in the workplace. It’s not only right to recognise and celebrate differences, and ensure everyone has the opportunity to thrive, it’s also critical for any business to create a diverse and inclusive culture and view it as a cutting-edge asset in order to continuously improve.”

Diversity, News

Graham Mills: Knowledge beyond borders: Diversity in delivery

Graham Mills, co-founder and managing director, techspert.io

Having diversity in business is a necessity. Aside from the ethical reasons for having as diverse an organisation as possible, the business case is extremely strong – as McKinsey and Co noted in its latest diversity and inclusion study, “the greater the representation, the higher the likelihood of outperformance.” Put simply, the more diverse a business, the better it performs.

That’s within a company.

Yet no organisation can exist in isolation. Bringing in outside expertise is critical, whether it’s to advise on a new investment, or deliver skills that are cost-prohibitive to have employed within the company.

Disrupting established thinking

But as well as introducing skills and knowledge, leveraging external expertise can also be a valuable way of disrupting groupthink. Even within the most diverse organisations, we run a major risk that employees and executives will succumb to a degree of internal bias in their decision-making. Market leaders and successful disruptors alike derisk for this by bringing in outside expertise to challenge established views and provoke greater diversity of thought. This in turn leads to the identification of new solutions and alternative approaches.

This isn’t new. Sports teams make a lot of noise about how they bring in expertise from other areas, whether it’s psychologists, nutritionists, or even specialists from other sports (such as sprinters to train footballers and rugby players how to accelerate) to deploy new ways of thinking and unlock elite levels of performance.

But in a world where anyone with a social media account and enough time can promote themselves as an influencer, how do businesses go about ensuring they engage with the real experts who can truly add value to their company?

Protecting against bias, even in experts

Academics are usually a good starting point for accessing more objective insights on specialist topics. Similarly, industry professionals often have highly specific knowledge of certain products or markets that can be of value to companies.

The problems here are twofold though. Firstly, there can exist many distinct schools of thought within a discipline or sector and speaking to only a few experts can run the risk, of missing innovative insights. Secondly, there often exists a tendency to use the same experts, or the same networks, over and over again once relationships have been established. Experts are human too, and if using the same few, companies are only going to be getting a handful of different perspectives at most. To combat this, businesses need to be tapping into a diverse range of knowledge holders from a variety of backgrounds. But simply put, how can you identify these right specialists quickly and effectively?

Going further, what makes someone an expert? There is no clearly defined formula, but demonstrable experience and a track record of objective success, acknowledgement and recommendations by peers, and accreditation from noted bodies (whether industry or academic) all contribute to helping pinpoint expertise. With so much of this identifier information digitally and publicly available, how can we sort the signal from the noise?

Combatting information overload

We are all flooded in information day in day out. The World Economic Forum estimated that on any given day 500 million tweets and 294 billion emails are sent, and five billion searches are made.

To wade through all that information, sort it and identify the most relevant expertise would be a process that is too time intensive for any organisation. Plus, by the time you’ve analysed the data, the field will most likely have evolved and the true experts of today may not have been the experts of yesterday. So, how do we find people that are becoming increasingly hidden by the noise of modern life? Technology has an answer. Artificial intelligence (AI) could be used to comb through digitally stored information, whether it’s research papers or tweets, press releases or award announcements, and identify potential experts that could support a business need. Such a platform would dramatically cut the time it takes to find knowledge leaders, while still providing a broad and diverse spread of candidates. What’s more, technology sees no borders, meaning that businesses are no longer restricted to those experts in their region, time zone, or cultural affiliation.

There’s a major opportunity to ensure that those experts engaged bring a diverse and varied outlook, challenge internal consensuses and give businesses the competitively differentiated insight they need to make informed, accurate, and innovative decisions.

By giving organisations access to AI-sourced experts, such a platform is acting as a route to, rather than the ultimate source of, knowledge. What AI can do is rapidly find the needle in the haystack of knowledge, allowing companies to stay at the forefront of innovation in their space.

Diversity driving growth

Diversity isn’t just a fashionable buzzword – it’s a performance driver that supports businesses in making fast, accurate decisions. It also means being able to access a diverse base of knowledge that others are missing and avoid going back to the same people for the same thinking, no matter how easy it is. Using an AI platform to find the right individuals gives companies a path to finding the expertise they need to challenge internal thinking and ultimately identify new opportunities for growth.

 

Diversity, News, Redundancy

Finding a future for the ‘Forgotten 55s’ in the Covid era

Punter Southall Aspire  is calling on employers to take a different direction when it comes to supporting older workers, as the COVID-19 pandemic apparently sees them disproportionately bearing the brunt of redundancy.

CEO, Steve Butler highlights the need for a more creative approach as new figures reveal that the numbers of unemployed over 50s has increased by a third in a year, according to analysis of Office for National Statistics (ONS) by over 50s web site, Rest Less[i].

Steve recommends that employers carry out Midlife Career reviews to stimulate conversation with employees about next steps, second careers and flexible career solutions. These should focus on mid to long-term plans and consider a person’s situation holistically: reflecting on their financial situation, work aspirations and their wellbeing.

This approach has been given extra impetus by the findings from No Desire to Retire, a recruiter for older workers, which found 85% were neutral or negative about their current job. When asked what would help their job prospects, just under a third (30%) said they were interested in having a career coach or undergoing a ‘Mid-Life Review’.

Latest employment ONS figures[ii] suggest the coronavirus pandemic is impacting both younger and older workers disproportionately with employment levels for those aged 16-24 and over 65 having fallen by 7% (343,000) compared to a 0.5% fall for those aged 25-64.

Steve Butler says, “Employers should be engaging with their older workers by carrying out Midlife Career reviews to enable them to have the best outcomes in what will be challenging times ahead due to the pandemic.

“The main objective is to retain the talent and experience of older people by identifying the right pathway to meet their needs and aspirations and help them plan their retirement. If done correctly, the Midlife Review can mean that the last ten or twenty years of a person’s working life is their most productive and rewarding. At a time when there is so much uncertainty, offering financial and career support is something most older workers will appreciate.”

Steve recently published a new book, ‘Midlife Review: A guide to work, wealth and wellbeing’ written with Tony Watts OBE, offering business leaders, managers and employees guidance to help them understand and support ‘midlife’ workers.

Steve has also published, Manage the Gap: Achieving success with intergenerational teams giving employers valuable insight and advice for managing an age diverse workforce.

For more information visit: www.psaspire.com

Diversity, News

1 in 4 feel they don’t fit in at work; experts fear D&I may have slipped down corporate agenda

A quarter of UK employees don’t feel they fit in at work, new research from employee engagement experts Inpulse, has revealed, as experts warn that whilst D&I (Diversity & Inclusion) may have been talked about last year it has inadvertently been ‘left behind’ during the pandemic.

According to data compiled between January and December 2020 from 11,000 employees, 25 per cent said they did not feel they could fully be themselves, while 33 per cent said they did not feel their company took D&I seriously.

The year-long research backs up a poll1 carried out by Inpulse in December which showed stark differences in respondents feeling either a sense of belonging or opportunity across demographics. While 56 per cent of respondents said they felt a sense of belonging overall, just 29 per cent of those who identified as either Black or Black British said the same. In addition, over half of this demographic said they felt unable to ‘voice a contrary opinion’ due to fear of negative consequences.

Inpulse define inclusion as the culture in which a diverse mix of people who work together feel comfortable and confident to be themselves and work in a way which suits them and the needs of the business. But there are fears that D&I may have taken a backward step over the last year despite #BlackLives Matter and #TransRights movements.

In an Inpulse-facilitated roundtable discussion with Nestle Cereal Partners, Gharry Eccles, VP Cereal Partners (Nestle), said: “This is not about inclusive leadership but active inclusion, where every process and every team is part of an inclusive culture. Senior leaders need to blend the traditional leadership qualities with vulnerability, cultural intelligence and empathy if they are to help middle managers embrace it for their teams. It’s not easy. Taking a temperature check to understand if you’re lagging or leading is important”.

Matt Stephens, CEO and Founder of Inpulse, added: “Our research found that 1 in 4 don’t feel they fit in at work – that’s a critical issue. Whilst organisations undoubtedly made some noise during last year and some made changes, in large part nothing really changed. We must continue to challenge ourselves to keep talking about issues such as white privilege and latent exclusion – the more we talk and keep the issues in focus, the more chance something will happen.

“We recognise that conversations around these areas can be uncomfortable: indeed, a quarter of respondents to our survey earlier in the year showed people feel apprehensive talking about these issues. However, we can also see from the survey that open discussion can lead to people feeling more valued, confident and hopeful. We can’t become complacent about inclusion, we need to work hard to change hearts and minds.”

Diversity, Farming, News

Oxford Farming Conference makes history with new Co-Chairs

A diverse, female team has been announced to jointly chair the Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) – the first time in the event’s 76-year history.

Agri-food industry experts Barbara Bray and Sarah Mukherjee were appointed to the voluntary position at the end of the annual conference in January 2021, and will lead the OFC’s charitable and industry work including the delivery of the 2022 conference.

Both Barbara, who is Black British, and Sarah, who is British Asian, said they want to bring their combined experience to help shape the focus of the next conference, which will be a hybrid digital and physical event following the success of the online event last month.

“We are delighted that the Directors of the OFC are unanimous – we must do more to ensure that food and farming better reflects the modern communities of the UK. Organisations that are more diverse are more resilient, a quality that everyone in business will need in the coming years to survive these very turbulent times.

“As Co-Chairs, our plan is to continue to draw on the conference’s rich history for debating the agri-food sector’s biggest challenges and opportunities. We are proud that the entire Council of Directors is determined to encourage diversity and inclusion in UK agriculture and the food sector.”

Based in Manchester, Barbara Bray, MBE is a food safety consultant and registered nutritionist driving and delivering food safety in food supply chains and developing nutrition strategy for businesses.

With a passion for educating people about food and nutrition, Barbara became an OFC Director in 2020 and is a trustee for International Affairs with the Nutrition Society and sits on the food and nutrition committee for the Institute of Food Science and Technology.

“I was initially drawn to the role by the excitement of being able to create events that bring people together to network, hear from a range of thought leaders, and provide an opportunity to set the scene for the year ahead.

“During my time as Director, the UK Agricultural industry has undergone unprecedented upheaval with the dual disruptions of the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit. But the OFC continues to inspire farmers to think differently and meet challenges head-on, something I’m keen to champion during my time as Co-Chair,” says Barbara Bray.

Sarah Mukherjee, based in Hertfordshire, is Chief Executive of IEMA, the membership organisation for environment and sustainability professionals.

Sarah read law at Oxford University and worked in PR and consultancy at the House of Commons before becoming a BBC Environment correspondent for BBC TV, radio and online. More recently she was Director of Environment at Water UK and Chief Executive of the Crop Protection Association, joining the OFC as a Director in 2020.

“I’ve been attending the OFC since 1995 and, over that time, I’ve witnessed the evolution of the event, and was proud to be a part of the first-ever digital conference held this year.

“By utilising digital tools, we were able to provide a rich experience bringing together old friends, international speakers and, most importantly, some new faces by making Oxford more accessible, fulfilling our charitable mission to inform, challenge and inspire.

“We know how important networking is to the experience of Oxford and I am very much looking forward to returning to the exam halls in January 2022. The event sells-out every year so, by offering a hybrid event with some online sessions live streamed, we will be able to reach even more people than before,” said Sarah Mukherjee.

Find out more about the conference and watch the sessions from January 2021, at www.ofc.org.uk

 

Awards, Diversity, HR News, News

Minority ethnic talent progression impossible without the “deep work” of stakeholders, report finds.

New report calls for senior leaders to use the new year to “surgically diagnose” their HR data to take action against the practices and bad actors that produce disproportionate outcomes for ethnic minority professionals.

A new report released today by the Black British Business Awards (BBBAwards) in partnership with J.P. Morgan, identifies the gross failings of businesses to collectively address and act upon racial disparity in the workplace.

The report, The Middle: Progressing Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Talent in the Workplace Through Collaborative Action*, is one of the only reports to offer actionable frameworks for businesses, specifically tailored to addressing the challenges of the UK market.

The first framework for action addresses how to create a collaborative task force that unites the efforts of different stakeholder groups into a coherent, effective and strategic solution to improve the career experiences and representation of minority ethnic professionals at senior levels.

The second framework for action builds on the understanding that tackling inequity is not the responsibility of minority ethnic professionals alone, and describes how to build a race allies campaign which spreads the responsibility to members of privileged groups.

The BBBAwards, which has been at the forefront of the movement to improve diversity in UK businesses since 2014, analysed qualitative insights gathered through the lived experience data of four key D&I stakeholders: Human Resource Directors, Network Leads, Diversity and Inclusion Practitioners, and Executive Sponsors from 30 organisations.

The research found that these stakeholders are the key catalysts for organisational change, yet businesses are failing to collectively leverage these roles and address the pervasive barriers that each of them face.

In addition, the report highlights the perception disparity between Executive Sponsors and their people experts, with senior management often having a much more positive view of how the company is addressing race than the people doing the work on the ground.

BBBAwards offers five key guidelines for organisations who are serious about tackling the lack of diversity as they move into 2021:

1. The tone must be set from the top and connect to key performance indicators;

2. People managers must act responsibly and take accountability;

3. There should be alignment and stronger partnership inside organisations;

4. Map the journey;

5. Normalise discussions about race and establish a shared vocabulary.

Sophie Chandauka, Global COO of Shared Services and Banking Operations at Morgan Stanley and co-founder of the BBBAwards, states: “We have seen many charters and pledges signed and publicised over the last year, but pledging is no longer enough. As we begin this new year, senior leaders will need to surgically diagnose their HR data to identify practices and bad actors that produce differentiated outcomes for ethnic minority professionals when it comes to high profile work allocation, mobility opportunities, talent ranking, compensation and promotion. The Middle provides strategic recommendations for cultural and organisational change. There is no quick fix; organisations must commit to the journey in order to provide assurance to shareholders and other stakeholders that deep work is being done to drive meaningful change urgently.”

Melanie Eusebe, co-founder of the BBBAwards, states: “As we enter into the New Year, we are calling on company Chairs, CEOs and HR Directors to identify practices that must be stopped to avoid exacerbating issues and reinforcing barriers for minority ethnic talent progression. There is no better time to begin speaking openly about race, which is the first step towards addressing the problem.”

Tia A. Counts Global CIB and EMEA Head of Advancing Black Leaders of J.P. Morgan, comments in the Key Partner’s Foreword: “It is encouraging to see leaders around the world seize this opportunity to re-commit to doing the hard work it takes to create more inclusive companies. Innovative thinking is just what is needed at this time to move forward. The Middle is a great example of this. Intelligent and specific, its methodology applies a local lens, addressing the specific challenges of the UK market.”

Diversity, HR News, Law, News

Could Your Law Firm be Compromised by a Lack of Diversity?

Diversity is a factor high on the list of any industry looking to ensure parity in their workforce and hiring practices. Nowhere should this be more the case than in the legal industry. Ensuring the workforce is representative of the wider society is particularly important within this sector because of the direct link it has to the people it serves. Lawyers are the ones representing us in court, while judges hand down verdicts that determine our legal fate.

So, does this diversity exist, and where does it fall short? Specialist lawyers Bolt Burdon Kemp investigated. They used bi-annual data from 2014 onwards from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), as well as national statistics, UCAS data and other related research and studies. The findings from the research suggest the legal industry has some ground to cover when it comes to boasting a diverse and inclusive workforce. Some of their findings are below.

Women hit a glass ceiling in law firms

While there are more women working in law firms than men (women made up 69% of all staff in 2019), there is a concerning gender gap at partner level. Only 37% of partner roles in law firms were held by women in 2019. Unfortunately, this is reflective of the general workforce, with women only making up 38% of managerial roles in the UK in 2019.

However, this gender gap becomes even worse when you look at firms that have 50 or more partners. These larger firms only see 29% of women being made partners, suggesting that it’s more difficult for women to climb the corporate ladder.

The proportion of female court judges has improved

Unfortunately, even at the most senior levels, female representation fails to keep pace with society. The proportion of court judges that are female stands at a mere 32% as of 2019, although this is an improvement from 2014 (24%). The situation is slightly better for tribunal judges, where women made up 46% of roles in 2019 (up from 43% in 2014).

This slow progress is concerning when you consider that the student body in 2019 was 57% female. When these students graduate, the legal industry will find themselves with more female candidates than males looking for positions. Firms – and courts – will need to take steps now to be able to demonstrate to female candidates that they’re coming into an industry where their career progression will be properly supported.

As diversity and inclusion expert Chikere Igbokwe remarks, “the lack of diversity in senior judiciary is worrying. A group of upper middle-class white men can’t reflect the views and values of a diverse community, and their biases can influence judgements.”

Firms need to be more welcoming towards LGBTQ+

The research also explored the sexual orientation of lawyers.

The majority of respondents identified as heterosexual, with only 3% identifying as gay, lesbian or bisexual. In comparison, approximately 7% of the UK are estimated to be LGB by Stonewall and the Office of National Statistics (ONS). On a brighter note, while only 2% of lawyers consider themselves to be transgender, this is one percentage point above the UK average, where 1% are likely to be transgender.

While some of this is positive, drilling down into firm size does highlight a potential problem. While 2% of partners in larger firms identify as gay or lesbian, there’s a gender difference that needs to be addressed: 3% of partners in larger firms are gay men, while only 1% are gay women. Without addressing the issues in gender representation, the legal industry will likely fail to correct discrepancies between gay and lesbian people.

Ethnic minorities are underrepresented in larger firms

Data regarding ethnic minorities in law firms suggest that Asian, Black, and other minority lawyers are finding alternatives to large firms.

Only 19% of lawyers in 2019 were from ethnic minority backgrounds and this paltry figure represents an increase over the past six years. Drilling down into specific roles, in 2014, 10% of solicitors were Asian or Asian British, and 2% of solicitors were Black or Black British. Six years later, these numbers had risen to 14% and 3% respectively. While these are roughly representative of the UK population (and Asian representation is better than the UK average, which stood at 8% according to the latest census), there’s work still to be done.

The percentage of Asian lawyers and Black lawyers – and Asian partners and Black partners – drop as the firms get bigger:

Asian lawyers make up 27% of 1-partner firms, 19% of 2-5-partner firms, and only 8% of staff in bigger firms with 50+ partners.
Black lawyers make up 8% of 1-partner firms, 4% of 2-5-partner firms, and only 1% of staff in bigger firms with 50+ partners.

The data suggests it’s more difficult for these lawyers to both get jobs in larger firms and receive promotions. With 30% of the 2019 student body being from ethnic minorities, it’s crucial that the legal industry ensure they reduce unconscious bias and ensure fair treatment in their hiring and promotional practices.

It’s getting harder to be made partner in firms

In 2019, the average age in law firms was 25-44, with the proportion of lawyers in different age groups accurately reflecting typical career progression in the industry. That said, yearly trends do suggest firms are changing their approach to promotions, and that it’s taking longer to progress up to partner status:

In 2014, 7% of partners were aged 25-34 and 32% of partners were aged 35-44. By 2019, this fell to 5% and 29% respectively.
Over the same time period, the percentage of partners over 44 years of age increased.
In 2014, 61% of partners were aged 45+. In 2019, 66% of partners were aged 45+.

Mental health support is severely lacking in firms

Another aspect of diversity and inclusion is ensuring people with visible and hidden disabilities, as well as people with mental health issues, are not disadvantaged in the workplace. Only 4% of respondents to the SRA survey in 2019 said they consider themselves to be disabled.

This is in stark contrast to the 19% of the UK’s working population who say they’re disabled and is one of the major shortfalls in the law industry’s diversity metrics. According to City Disabilities, workers in the legal sector may be reluctant to disclose their disability, suggesting there may be an element of underreporting in the survey. Firms need to explicitly state their support for people with disabilities to make them feel more able to be open.

Addressing mental health issues is equally important when it comes to supporting staff. However, the Junior Lawyers Division Resilience and Wellbeing Survey in 2019 found that 48% of junior lawyers reported experiencing mental ill-health, but only 19% stated that their employer was aware of the issue. A whopping 78% of lawyers also said they believe their employer could do more for their mental health.

How law firms can ensure diversity, inclusion, and belonging

The findings above suggest employers in the legal industry need to take steps to ensure support for their staff, and to allow staff to be their authentic selves at work. Two ways law firms can solidify their commitment to diversity include submitting diversity and inclusion data into the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index and making reasonable adjustments for disability as a matter of course, instead of waiting to be asked by employees.

Diversity and inclusion expert Chikere Igbokwe suggests further avenues law firms can explore:

  • Build teams regardless of their background, race, religion, disability or sexual orientation as a step towards true equality in the workplace.
  • Reduce unconscious bias, including training hiring managers.
  • Choose new employees from a diverse pool of candidates.
  • Ensure junior staff have a diverse pool of mentors.
  • Change the workplace culture, paying close attention to individuals resistant to change.
  • Make reasonable adjustments for disability as a matter of course, instead of waiting to be asked by your employee.
  • Avoid the acronym ‘BAME’. The groups of people that are categorised as ‘BAME’ don’t share the same experiences and conflating those distinctive groups in this way means we’re only telling half the story – and it’s usually an inaccurate one.
  • Involve employees in diversity activities.
  • Conduct a diversity hiring audit on current hiring processes.
  • Use photos and videos on the company website to show the diversity you aspire to.

Get further insights in the full report here: https://www.boltburdonkemp.co.uk/campaigns/diversity-and-the-law/

Diversity, News

XpertHR offers practical steps for creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace

Diversity and inclusion remains high on the corporate agenda, after the brutal killing of George Floyd by a US law enforcement officer earlier this year stirred the collective consciousness, prompted an outpouring of emotion and catalysed many difficult and authentic conversations around race.

XpertHR says organisations need to take action to harness the increased awareness created by these conversations and embed a culture that fosters genuine diversity and inclusion.

Many organisations have already started to improve their diversity and inclusion strategies. Research from XpertHR[i] earlier this year found that diversity and inclusion is firmly on the agenda for the majority of employers, with just over half (53.9%) undertaking diversity and inclusion initiatives, and a further third (34.2%) planning to introduce them over the coming 12 months. However, organisations are realistic about just how much work they need to do to achieve the objectives on their diversity and inclusion agenda.

XpertHR is offering employers guidance on how to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce, including short and long-term measures in a new webinar with Roianne Nedd, a diversity and inclusion expert, author, speaker and life coach. The webinar is available to listen to via XpertHR’s on-demand webinars hub.

In the one-hour webinar Roianne, who is global inclusion and diversity lead at management consultancy firm, Oliver Wyman, looks at why organisations should care about diversity and inclusion, how they can get the basics right and create a more inclusive workplace and build on the progress their organisation has already made.

The webinar also covers the key steps organisations can take to improve diversity and inclusion including carrying out a diversity and inclusion audit and review, defining targets and KPIs and creating a measurement framework.

Roianne Nedd is dedicated to improving workplaces for all employees by helping organisations to embrace the principles of diversity and inclusion. She provides expert oversight on inclusion and diversity topics across all Oliver Wyman’s offices in 60 cities worldwide.

She specialises in cross-cultural diversity, inclusive leadership, intersectionality and financial inclusion, as well as being the firm’s strategic lead for racial, ethnic and cultural diversity. In her spare time, Roianne runs The Trusted Black Girl Network founded after the publication of her book of the same name.

The webinar is available to listen to here. Webinar: Practical steps to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace (xperthr.co.uk)

XpertHR offers an extensive range of tools and resources to support organisations to embed a culture that fosters genuine diversity and inclusion, visit: https://www.xperthr.co.uk/topics/equality–diversity-and-human-rights/diversity-and-inclusion/

For more information on XpertHR visit: www.xperthr.co.uk