DELIVERING DIVERSITY - Race and ethnicity in the management pipeline - CMI

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DELIVERING DIVERSITY - Race and ethnicity in the management pipeline - CMI
DELIVERING
DIVERSITY.
        Race and ethnicity in the
        management pipeline.

Prof Nic Beech, Prof Nelarine Cornelius, Dr Lisi Gordon, Prof Geraldine Healy,
Prof Emmanuel Ogbonna, Dr Gurchathen Sanghera, Chidozie Umeh,
Dr James Wallace, Patrick Woodman

July 2017
DELIVERING DIVERSITY - Race and ethnicity in the management pipeline - CMI
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research was carried out by the        The Research Advisory Board               Prof Nic Beech, Chair of BAM,
Chartered Management Institute (CMI)                                                  Vice-Principal (Academic Planning and
                                            Secondly, we would like to thank
and British Academy of Management                                                     Performance), University of Dundee
                                            the Research Advisory Board whose
(BAM). We have been greatly helped by
                                            ideas, challenge and guidance were        Prof Nelarine Cornelius, BAM Council
a number of people who gave their time
                                            instrumental to the project, under the    (Research and Publications), School
generously.
                                            expert leadership of Pavita Cooper.       of Business and Management, Queen
First, we would like to thank all those                                               Mary University of London
                                            Pavita Cooper CCMI, Chair of the
who gave their time to complete
                                            Research Advisory Board, Founder          Prof Udy Archibong, M.B.E., Director
the questionnaire, shared ideas in
                                            of More Difference                        for the Centre for Inclusion and
discussion with us, gave us their time
                                                                                      Diversity, University of Bradford
for interviews and took part in the         Béatrice Butsana-Sita, Managing
case studies. We were struck by the         Director, Capita Networking Solutions     Dr Lisi Gordon, School of Management,
enthusiasm of so many participants and                                                University of St Andrews
                                            Mary FitzPatrick, Diversity & Inclusion
their willingness to share insights and
                                            Leader, GE Renewables                     Prof Geraldine Healy, School of
ideas to drive change on this agenda.
                                                                                      Business and Management, Queen
We look forward to continuing to work       Parminder Kohli, General Manager
                                                                                      Mary University of London
with you to deliver diversity across UK     Business Development, Marketing
businesses. In particular, we’re grateful   & Operations, Shell                       Prof Emmanuel Ogbonna,
to those who contributed to the case                                                  Cardiff University Business School
                                            Anna Saunderson, formerly Head of
studies:                                    Talent, Jupiter Fund Management plc       Dr Gurchathen Sanghera,
• Jan Gooding, Global Inclusion                                                       School of International Relations,
                                            Jay Sheth, Head of Economics,
  Director, Aviva                                                                     University of St Andrews
                                            Policy and Public Affairs, Virgin Money
• Simon Rodgers, Head of Diversity                                                    Chidozie Umeh, School of Business
                                            Rachel Short, Director, Why Women
  and Inclusion, Aviva                                                                and Management, Queen Mary
                                            Work
                                                                                      University of London
• Chuck Stephens, Head of Diversity         Chuck Stephens, Head of Diversity
  and Inclusion, EMEA, Google                                                         Dr James Wallace, School of
                                            and Inclusion in EMEA, Google
                                                                                      Management, University of Bradford
• Colin Clements, EA to Fiona Cannon,       Prosper Williams, Assistant Vice
  Group Director Responsible Business       President – Digital Adoption and
  and Inclusion, Lloyds Banking Group       Engagement, Barclays                      The contribution of the CMI team is also
• Marjorie Strachan, Head of Inclusion,                                               recognised:
                                            Petra Wilton, Director of Strategy,
  RBS                                       CMI                                       Patrick Woodman, Head of Research
• Hannah Munro, Diversity, Inclusion                                                  and Advocacy
  and Early Careers Manager, Sainsbury’s                                              Ipek Noel, Research Manager
                                            The research team
• Rafael Campos Valdez, HR Business                                                   Dr Wahida Amin, Research Manager
  Partner – Diversity and Inclusion,        The research was led by the British
  Schroders                                 Academy of Management with a team         Lysbeth Plas, YPL Research and
                                            from across several universities, led     formerly CMI’s Research Manager
• Dan Perrett, Head of HR Business          by Prof. Nic Beech and Prof. Nelarine
  Partnering, Virgin Money                  Cornelius. CMI and BAM would like to
• Matt Elliot, People Director, Virgin      thank the entire team for their crucial
  Money                                     contributions.
DELIVERING DIVERSITY - Race and ethnicity in the management pipeline - CMI
CONTENTS

		Acknowledgements....................................................................................................................2

		Forewords....................................................................................................................................4
		 Pavita Cooper, Chair of the Research Advisory Board
		 Ann Francke CMI CEO and Prof Sir Cary Cooper CBE, BAM President

  1. Executive summary....................................................................................................................6

  2. Recommendations: how to improve BAME diversity in the workplace................................8

  3. Purpose and approach.............................................................................................................11

  4. The big picture – literature review..........................................................................................12

			 Case study: Virgin Money.......................................................................................................15

  5. FTSE 100 practices: what HR and D&I leaders are saying..................................................16

			 Case study: Schroders...........................................................................................................19

			 Case study: Sainsbury's.........................................................................................................21

			 Case study: Lloyds Banking Group.......................................................................................24

			 Case study: RBS......................................................................................................................27

  6. Understanding the lived experience of BAME managers.....................................................28

			 Case study: Google.................................................................................................................30

   7. The public face of the FTSE 100..............................................................................................33

			 Case study: Aviva....................................................................................................................34

  8. A developmental approach to changing practice.................................................................36

  9. Further resources.....................................................................................................................39

 10. Appendix: research methodology...........................................................................................40

 11. References and further reading..............................................................................................42

                                                                                                                                               3
DELIVERING DIVERSITY - Race and ethnicity in the management pipeline - CMI
FOREWORDS
PAVITA COOPER

Pavita Cooper CCMI
Chair of the Delivering Diversity
Research Advisory Board,
Founder, More Difference

We’ve made significant progress with     We have to go deeper into companies        working with CMI and BAM, and I’m
workplace diversity in recent years.     to understand why so few BAME              grateful to my Board colleagues for
Managers have heard and understood       managers reach the top, and how            their brilliant input and support.
the business case: when you have         we can create a more diverse
ever-more diverse customers, you         management pipeline at every level         Moving forward, I’m delighted to be
need diverse management and              of business.                               supporting the next phase of this work,
leadership to thrive.                                                               as Chair of a new initiative, CMI Race.
                                         This research does just that. By talking   Our research made clear the need for a
Action to achieve diversity has been     to diversity leaders and to BAME           new focus on changing how managers
most visible on gender but when          managers themselves, it provides a         engage with difference and diversity
it comes to race and ethnicity, real     rounded picture of the challenges.         at every level of organisations. I look
progress has been much less tangible.                                               forward to working with managers
                                         It’s resoundingly clear that we have to    from all sectors, of every background,
The recent McGregor-Smith and            reboot the conversation about race         and other partners in developing plans
Parker reviews have outlined the         and ethnicity. Business leaders need to    for CMI Race ahead of its full launch.
scale of the challenge. Only 6% of top   set the tone and work with managers
management jobs are held by Black,       throughout the line to reshape             Business as usual won’t cut it. The
Asian and minority ethnic (BAME)         business cultures. While this research     world is changing rapidly and leaders
leaders, which just isn’t good enough    focused on FTSE 100 companies, its         that don't respond will struggle to
when BAME groups make up 12% of          findings are not relevant only to those    attract and retain the best talent in
the working population. Parker called    businesses, important as they are to       the future.
for at least one “leader of colour” on   the health of UK plc. Its insights and
FTSE 100 boards by 2021. About           recommendations for action point           It’s time to deliver on diversity.
time too: many boardrooms remain         the way forward for managers in any
diversity-free zones.                    organisation.

But just as with gender, we won’t        It’s been my privilege to chair an
make the progress that’s needed if       excellent employer-led Research
we only talk about the boardroom.        Advisory Board throughout this work,

4
DELIVERING DIVERSITY - Race and ethnicity in the management pipeline - CMI
ANN FRANCKE AND CARY COOPER

Ann Francke MBA CMgr CCMI FIC              Prof. Sir Cary Cooper CBE
Chief Executive, CMI                       President, British Academy of Management

For business, diversity is about talent,   productivity gap between the UK and        highest standards of rigour, combined
and how employers can attract, retain      our competitors. As the professional       with practical relevance and a focus on
and make the most of people’s abilities.   body for management and leadership,        making a change in business and in
Without doing a good job of growing        and the learned society leading on         society more broadly.
talent, no business can prosper.           research and higher education for
                                           management and business, CMI and           We’re also grateful to Pavita Cooper
Discussions about talent have been         BAM both have important roles to play.     and the Research Advisory Board for
given added urgency in the UK                                                         their immensely valuable contribution.
by the Brexit vote in 2016. While          The Brexit vote added impetus to our       They provided invaluable support
uncertainty persists about the             partnership. Our shared commitment         throughout the project.
outcome of negotiations with the EU,       to diversity at the heart of management
employers in all sectors have to face      and leadership made it a perfect           We would also like to thank all the
up to the prospect of reduced access       combination and the research has           leaders who engaged with the
to overseas talent. That makes it          been delivered in a superb spirit of       research, whether through roundtable
imperative that we think about how we      collaboration and joint working. We are    discussions, through our survey,
can do better at making the most of        grateful to our teams and colleagues       or through the personal and case
everyone’s abilities.                      for their respective contributions and     study interviews. Their insights are
                                           hard work over many months. The            at the heart of this report and its
In particular, that means refocusing       BAM research team drew together            recommendations for action.
on how we develop world-class              world-class scholars from a range of
management and leadership skills,          universities to develop an innovative      Delivering diversity demands action
which are so fundamental to business       methodology and work with a unique         for individual managers and from
productivity and performance – and         set of companies and diversity leaders.    employers alike, across every sector.
which, the evidence shows, is one          This style of working is exemplary         We look forward to continuing to work
the of the biggest factors in the          in producing research that has the         together to achieve that change.

                                                                                                                               5
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

THE DIVERSITY OPPORTUNITY                                         Global changes demand diversity too.     Despite that, not a single one of the
                                                                  FTSE 100 businesses already generate     diversity leaders we interviewed gave
Black, Asian and minority ethnic
                                                                  75% of their income from outside the     their company’s current performance
(BAME) people are under-
                                                                  UK,2 and emerging markets are growing    on BAME diversity top marks, a ‘very
represented in business and
                                                                  rapidly. More than ever, businesses      good’ rating. Only 54% said that senior
especially in management roles.
                                                                  need diversity of backgrounds, life      business leaders are championing
                                                                  experiences and viewpoints at every      BAME diversity.
It’s time for change.
                                                                  level of management.
                                                                                                           That has to change. We need action
Drivers of change
                                                                  The economic benefits are clear. Full    now, to deliver diversity at every level of
Around 12.5% of the UK population are
                                                                  representation of BAME individuals       the management pipeline.
BAME – yet they hold just 6% of top
                                                                  across the labour market would be
management positions. Closing this
                                                                  worth £24bn a year to the UK economy.
representation gap is an urgent
challenge. The UK’s BAME population
                                                                  The biggest business driver for
is set to grow to 20% by 2030 and
                                                                  diversity is improving performance, as
busineses are missing out on the talent
                                                                  75% of HR/diversity leaders told us.
they need.

                                                                              FULL BAME

          Only 54%
                                                                            REPRESENTATION                                   ONLY

                                                                                                                       6%
                                                                            WOULD BE WORTH

                OF SENIOR FTSE 100
                LEADERS CHAMPION
                  BAME DIVERSITY
                                                                          £24 billion
                                                                                  A YEAR                              OF MANAGERS IN
                                                                                                                      THE UK ARE BAME

1
    McGregor-Smith Review 2017   2
                                     Parker Review 2016   3
                                                              BEIS 2017

6
KEY FINDINGS

               1. LET’S TALK ABOUT RACE
               We need to end what one FTSE 100 leader described to us as “the silence around race and
               ethnicity.” Many managers are uncomfortable discussing it and wary of causing offence. Only 54%
               of HR/diversity managers see their business leaders championing BAME diversity. Leaders need to
               find their voice and show their commitment to diversity and to building inclusive business cultures.

               2. LEARN FROM THE GENDER AGENDA
               Employers can transfer lessons from the progress made on gender diversity, among them the
               power of transparency to drive change. For now, BAME lags far behind. Only 21% of companies
               surveyed report publicly on BAME, compared to 71% on gender diversity. 42% even told us that the
               prioritisation of gender has become a barrier to progress on BAME: it has to be ‘and’, not ‘or’.

               3. FACE THE NUMBERS
               83% of the HR/diversity leaders surveyed say they need better data to drive progress on race and
               ethnicity. Many report employee reluctance to share personal information, but data from across the
               employment cycle is vital to driving business improvements. Most powerfully, publicly setting and
               reporting on key diversity indicators is a major lever of accountability and change.

               4. IT AIN’T WHAT YOU KNOW – IT’S WHO KNOWS YOU
               Many BAME managers say their careers were significantly influenced by a senior executive who
               took a special interest. Managers at all levels need to make sure they support diversity through the
               emerging leaders they sponsor.

               5. WANTED: ROLE MODELS AND MENTORS AT EVERY LEVEL
               Role models show the company welcomes diversity. ‘Next up’ role models – drawn from all levels of a
               business, not just those at the very top – inspire confidence and ambition from those who follow them,
               showing that career progression is possible. Mentoring also needs to be encouraged at all levels; peer
               mentoring, mentoring circles and reverse mentoring offer powerful benefits.

               6. FITTING IN?
               Many BAME managers question the perceived ‘fit’ for BAME employees in their businesses, pointing
               to norms that favour what one interviewee called “white middle class men from elite schools and
               universities.” Some stressed the responsibility of BAME employees themselves to understand and
               navigate these differences. Internally, companies need to bridge this gap, tackling outdated cultures.
               Externally, they need to show a more diverse ‘public face’ in company websites and annual reports.

               7. EVIDENCE BASED DEVELOPMENT
               Companies should accelerate their progress by gathering evidence from outside the business,
               like good practice case studies and benchmarking data. This data can be used to identify
               opportunities for improvement and ways to develop key decision makers throughout the
               business – including, critically, line managers.

                                                                                                                        7
ACTION FOR LEADERS: IN SUMMARY

           1. BREAK THE SILENCE
           • Re-boot the conversation. Show commitment, make the business case and build employee
             buy-in to deliver diversity
           • Support BAME networks to voice BAME employees’ views
           • Build line managers’ capacity to deliver diversity. Make it OK to be curious and ask questions

           2. CHANGE THE STORY
           • Generate momentum: make BAME your focus and define a plan for change
           • Use the power of transparency. Publish your strategies, your targets and your progress
           • Show inclusive leadership and call out bias

           3. MEASURE IT, MANAGE IT, REPORT IT
           • Measure BAME diversity throughout the talent pipeline, including representation at
             management levels
           • Build employee trust and confidence for the use of personal data on ethnicity
           • Establish pipeline indicators and use time-trend data to manage progress

           4. TAP INTO THE POWER OF SPONSORSHIP
           • Create more opportunities for senior leaders to meet emerging BAME leaders and build diverse
             networks.
           • Actively seek out diverse emerging leaders to sponsors and advocate for within the
             organisation

           5. BUILD DIVERSITY THROUGH ‘NEXT UP’ LEADERSHIP
           • Identify and use ‘next up’ mentors and role models, not just remote senior leaders. Make
             mentoring the norm
           • Use mentoring circles and reverse mentoring
           • Share stories of diverse employees and showcase cultural differences

           6. BE INCLUSIVE AND ADAPTIVE
           • Make clear that the company values difference and diversity so no minority employee is left
             questioning their perceived ‘fit’ in the company
           • Build adaptive cultures that respond to the differences people bring to work, rather than just
             asking others to fit in
           • Prove to the external world that your organisation is diverse, remembering that your online
             presence is your public face

           7. BENCHMARK AND COLLABORATE
           • Benchmark with others in your sector
           • Collaborate and share good practice to accelerate change
           • Build diversity training into management and leadership development and make it a
             requirement for career progression

8
2. RECOMMENDATIONS: HOW TO IMPROVE
    BAME DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE

SENIOR LEADERS                              6. Seek out talented BAME employees       6. Engage with employees on why
1. ‘Break the silence’ and speak up            to sponsor and mentor. Get your            it is vital to disclose background
    with strong leadership on BAME              senior managers and direct reports         information to HR. Explain why data
    diversity. Communicate a clear              to do the same.                            is so important to driving change
    business case and build employee                                                       and earn trust in how it is used.
    buy-in to organisational change.        7. Implement the ‘pathway to
    Senior leaders must show inclusive          development’ for BAME diversity        LINE MANAGERS
    leadership by calling out any bias in       described in Chapter 8 below.          1.Celebrate cultural diversity in your
    their organisation, and encouraging                                                    team. Be curious and ask questions
    all managers to do likewise.            HR/D&I LEADERS                                 about cultural differences.
                                            1. Measure and monitor diversity in
2. T
    alk publicly and use all the               HR processes and set targets for       2. Don’t be afraid to ask for help on
   company’s communications                     progress, from recruitment right           how to break the silence on race
   channels to make clear the                   through the talent cycle.                  and ethnicity. Take the lead with
   organisation’s commitment to                                                            your professional development
   diversity. Can your people articulate    2. Make diversity real by using case          and seek out training, for instance,
   the company’s diversity culture when         studies and stories to engage              in unconscious bias or inclusive
   talking to clients?                          colleagues across the company,             leadership.
                                                BAME and non-BAME alike.
3. C
    ommit to collecting better data            Celebrate cultural events to promote   3. Focus on developing others. Act as
   to enable change. Set aspirational           a culture of inclusivity.                  a next-level role model for inclusive
   targets to measure the company’s                                                        leadership and support others’
   progress. Be accountable for the         3. Develop managers’ capability               development through mentoring.
   results. And listen to staff views on        to talk about race. Integrate
   how to achieve change and tackle             diversity training into management     4. Signal your availability to talk about
   barriers to progress.                        development, at senior levels and          difference, and make it possible
                                                throughout the pipeline, to give           for all employees to do the same.
4. B
    enchmark across your competition           managers the confidence to talk            Actively call out biased behavior
   and collaborate to share good                about race and diversity.                  with a focus on learning and
   practice and accelerate change.                                                         development, and encourage your
   Make diversity a company KPI.            4. Ensure all high potential BAME             team to do so.
                                                employees are actively mentored or
5. M
    ake every manager and                      sponsored to support progression.
   leader accountable and identify
   champions across senior and              5. Work towards measuring and
   middle management levels so it has           addressing any BAME pay gap,
   ownership beyond the CEO. Embed              building on the gender pay gap rules
   diversity as a factor in business            already in place for large business.
   decisions.

                                                                                                                                    9
BAME COMMUNITIES                            POLICY-MAKERS
1. Help break the silence, including       1. Encourage transparency through
    colleagues who fear making                  reporting on the BAME pay and
    mistakes to discuss difference.             progression gap. Work closely with
    Engage with business initiatives to         the management community to
    support and discuss diversity. Share        shape policy, champion industry
    your background information with            leaders, and share emerging good
    HR when they collect ethnicity data         practice on this complex challenge.
    and encourage others to do the
    same.                                   2. Champion progressive employers
                                                and encourage others. Work with
2. Put yourself forward. Differences           business to develop aspirational
    in organisational norms and                 targets for BAME representation in
    expectations can prevent BAME               all levels of management, not just the
    employees from asking for support           boardroom, and for action on pay.
    or guidance. Ask for more, from line
    managers, mentors and sponsors,         3. Address inequalities in educational
    and from the business.                      access and attainment for BAME
                                                students. Businesses’ ability to
3. Seek formal opportunities to develop        shape the management pipeline is
    new skills. Network with, and learn         influenced by the intake: government
    from, peers.                                can help ensure a focus on growing
                                                employability skills among all
4. Challenge outdated cultural norms in        students, including BAME groups,
    your company. Nobody has to accept          and should look, in particular, at the
    a company’s culture just the way they       skills needed by growth sectors.
    find it. Talk about differences and
    question the status quo.

10
3. PURPOSE AND APPROACH

This research aimed to:                   • analysis of the public face, policies    or Asian people are in the majority. It
                                            and performance of all FTSE 100          could also be interpreted as implying
• understand the presence and
                                            companies through a web-based            that BAME people are a homogeneous
  representation of Black, Asian
                                            evaluation                               group, which is clearly not the case.
  and minority ethnic (BAME)
                                                                                     We have written in this report of BAME
  managers and leaders in FTSE 100        • an online survey of 24 HR or
                                                                                     groups or communities in the plural:
  companies                                 Diversity and Inclusion (D&I)
                                                                                     businesses also need to avoid thinking
                                            leads, to build a picture of
• analyse problems and barriers to                                                   in overly simplistic terms. A similar
                                            diversity practice regarding BAME
  progression of BAME managers                                                       point could be made about the
                                            representation and practices in the
• uncover company and individual                                                     diversity of non-BAME groups.
                                            FTSE 100
  actions which are helpful in enabling
                                          • case studies of seven companies          Different businesses may settle on
  progression
                                            (five in the FTSE 100, one exemplar      different terms. Whatever the language,
• make recommendations to                   from the FTSE 250, and one               we emphasise that the important thing
  accelerate inclusivity and enable         exemplar outside the FTSE 250).          is for businesses to have the
  UK organisations to benefit from                                                   conversation in the first place and to
  a greater proportion of BAME            As this report shows, many managers        take action that delivers change. As
  managers and leaders.                   are nervous of talking about race and      one leader told us: Better to apologise
                                          ethnicity, wary of causing offence by      for something said with the best of
The approach taken included:              using words that some find                 intentions, than to stay silent and
                                          inappropriate. We recognise that there     perpetuate the real issues around
• a review of current literature,         is an ongoing debate about the best        diversity at work.
  research reports and policy             language to use. The Parker Review
  documents relevant to BAME              refers to ‘people of colour’, a term
  diversity in the FTSE 100               often used in the US. BME – black and
• identification of key themes and        minority ethnic – is still widely used.
  practices through a workshop and        Others have suggested ‘visible
  roundtable discussion including 13      minorities.’
  companies, hosted by Google
                                          We decided to use BAME – Black,
• follow up data gathered with 26         Asian and minority ethnic – and
  interviews with pairs of BAME and       non-BAME, terms that are widely used
  non-BAME managers in equivalent         and understood across business and
  positions across 12 FTSE 100            academia alike. Even these have limits
  companies4                              though. For instance, one global
                                          business we interviewed said they
                                          avoid using BAME, because it does
                                          not translate to territories where black

4
    At time of interview

                                                                                                                          11
4. THE BIG PICTURE – LITERATURE REVIEW

To set the context for our research,                        In the UK, some 14% of the population                business leadership will widen, raising
we reviewed the latest literature                           are currently from BAME groups. By                   both ethical questions of fairness in
from business, policy and academia.                         2030, this proportion is expected to                 selection and inclusion,11 and questions
This summary synthesises key                                rise to 20%, reaching over 30% by                    about business performance in a
insights about the situation of BAME                        2051.6 Employment rates among BAME                   diverse world.
leaders and managers in the UK, and                         groups of working age are lower overall,
what’s known about the FTSE 100                             at 62.8% compared to 75.6% for                       4.2 BAME diversity in higher
specifically.                                               individuals identifying as white. Among              education
                                                            Pakistani and Bangladeshi groups the                 Increasingly, the management and
4.1 The management population                               employment rate drops to 54.9%.7                     leadership population is drawn from
and the working population as a                                                                                  graduates, so the diversity of the
whole                                                       There is also a pronounced                           student population is important to the
Diversity in management is an                               representation gap in management                     future management pipeline. In 2007,
increasingly high-profile issue for                         and leadership roles. In 2007,                       BAME students made up 17% of UK
business, with recent reports such                          only 6.8% of the BAME working                        undergraduates, which would suggest
as the Parker Review on the ethnic                          population were described as being in                an increase in the BAME working
diversity of UK Boards (2016), led by                       management positions.8 What’s more,                  population in future. However, as these
Anglo-American Plc Chairman Sir John                        this gap appears to have widened                     BAME graduates are in their early
Parker, and the review by the former                        between 2007 and 2012.9                              years in the job market, there is no
Mitie CEO, Baroness McGregor-Smith,                                                                              evidence yet of any increase in those
on Race in the Workplace (2017).                            In total, analysis by the UK’s Department            reaching management positions.12
                                                            for Business, Energy and Industrial
These reports make clear that business                      Strategy shows that the potential                    Analysis has shown that elite universities,
imperatives are changing. Consumers                         benefit to the UK economy from full                  such as the Russell Group, do not have
are increasingly international and                          representation of BAME individuals                   proportionate BAME groups.13 BAME
diverse in race and ethnicity, globally                     across the labour market, through                    students tend to study in cities with a
and in the UK. Between 2015 and                             improved participation and progression,              high BAME population, clustering around
2050, it is projected that one half of                      is estimated to be £24 billion a year (1.3           London, Birmingham and Bradford.
the world’s population growth will be                       % of GDP).10                                         When it came to subject choice,
concentrated in nine countries, five of                                                                          BAME students were found to favour
which are in Africa and three in Asia.5                     In short, whilst there are changes in                entrepreneurial subjects. However,
Currently, the FTSE 100 derives more                        economically active populations in                   differences were found in employability
than 75% of its sales from outside the                      production and consumption both                      post-university, where a smaller
UK. Future commercial success is                            in the UK and around the world, these                proportion of BAME graduates compared
therefore likely to require more diverse                    changes are yet to be reflected in the               to non-BAME graduates found graduate
business leadership.                                        general UK working population or                     level jobs. In 2012, only 10% of workers
                                                            senior leadership. If there is no change,            on the first rung of the promotional ladder
                                                            the gap between the population and                   were from BAME groups.14

5
    Parker 2016 6 Parker 2016 7 McGregor-Smith 2017 8 BiTC 2007      BiTC 2015a
                                                                    9            10
                                                                                       BEIS 2016
11
     Groysberg and Connolly 2013; Saggar et al 2016 12 BiTC 2015a    BiTC 2011
                                                                    13            14
                                                                                       Kirkton 2009; BiTC 2011

12
4.3 An issue with the                                       Further research on intersectionality                       Mentoring is one area that
management pipeline?                                        informs us that BAME professional
A previous study by CMI of BAME                             women often fare less well than BAME                        has been identified as a
and non-BAME managers showed                                professional men who, in turn, fare                         crucial positive factor in
that higher proportions of black and                        less well than non-BAME professional                        supporting BAME career
Asian managers indicated that they                          men.23 Hence, when collecting data
would like to become a CEO, a board                         companies will need intersectional data                     progression.
director or a non-executive director.                       by gender and race/ethnicity and other
However, the existence of an ‘old boys’                     protected characteristics, such as
network’, a lack of career guidance,                        disability, age and sexual orientation,
and discrimination were all identified as                   in order to properly understand the
barriers to progression.15                                  nature of dynamics in the pipeline.

Unconscious bias has been an                                Differences in workplace culture may
increasing area of focus for businesses                     also affect satisfaction at work. One
and researchers. Analyses of trends                         survey of 24,457 workers found that a
in management and leadership                                higher proportion of BAME employees
recruitment suggest unconscious                             (65%) said they enjoyed working for
bias may play a role during all                             their organisation than their white
stages of the process, affecting                            colleagues (61%). However, a high
BAME candidates.16 Other research                           proportion of Bangladeshi (34%),
suggests that a dominant ‘white, male’                      black Caribbean (29%) and black
discourse in organisational culture                         African (24%) employees said they
affects the ‘acceptable criteria’ used                      were dissatisfied with their career
in recruitment and promotion.17 BAME                        progression.24
candidates may not be regarded as
meeting these ‘traditional’ criteria                        In this survey, BAME employees
and are less likely to be seen to                           also reported witnessing or
have the potential to ‘fit’ with cultural                   experiencing bullying/harassment
perceptions of a ‘good leader’.18 Even                      from managers (reported by 28% of
the provision of feedback to candidates                     BAME employees), from colleagues
has been found to be more extensive                         (32%) or clients/customers (17%).28
for non-BAME than BAME people.19                            In the wider literature, bullying and
                                                            harassment are reported to be enacted
Reinforcing the notion of a perpetuating                    disproportionately on BAME workers.25
white, male discourse, an interview
study of 130 BAME and non-BAME                              When it comes to enabling
women found that 90% of BAME                                progression, there is some evidence
women felt they had to leave their                          about what works. Mentoring is one
culture behind in order to progress in                      area that has been identified as a
their organisation.20 This was despite                      crucial positive factor in supporting
perceiving that their cultural identity                     BAME career progression.26 In one
impacted on their own approach                              interview study in 2012, more BAME
to leadership. Many women, in                               employees had mentors, sponsors or
particular from the Bangladeshi and                         role models. A higher proportion of
Pakistani ethnic groups, believed                           BAME employees that did not have a
they were discriminated against. This                       mentor would have liked one than their
finding is reflected elsewhere, where                       white colleagues. Similarly, a higher
appearance, religious belief and                            proportion of BAME workers (40%)
traditions were repeatedly questioned                       were interested in fast-track
and there was a perceived obligation                        management programmes compared
to participate in out-of-work activities                    to their white colleagues (18%), but
that made them feel uncomfortable.21                        only 8% of BAME employees had
Additionally, while half of BAME                            gained places on such programmes.27
participants felt that their organisation
was a place for progression, many felt
that they were under-utilised (30%) or
overlooked (18%).22

15
   CMI 2008 16 Wood et al 2009; BiTC 2014; Wilson 2014; Saggar et al 2016 17 Jenkins 1988; Saggar et al 2016; McGregor-Smith 2017 18 Grint 2005; Wilson 2014
19
   Noon 1993 20 BiTC 2012 21 EOC 2007; Saggar et al 2016; McGregor-Smith 2017 22 BiTC 2012 23 Healy, Bradley et al. 2011, Oikelome and Healy 2012 24 BiTC 2015b
25
   Westhuses 2004; McGregor-Smith 2017 26 BiTC 2012 27 BiTC 2015b.
                                                                                                                                                                  13
4.4 Focusing on the FTSE 100
                                                                          FTSE 100 companies                                                           2014         2015
There is little research relating to the
FTSE 100 specifically. A snapshot                                         Number of Chairs who are BAME                                                   2          3
of ethno-cultural diversity in the top
                                                                          Number of CEO who are BAME                                                      6          4
rungs of these companies shows
that BAME groups are under-                                               Number of CFO who are BAME                                                      3          4
represented at top levels.28 Table
1 opposite depicts the numbers of                                         % Non-executive directors who are BAME                                        5.8         6.8
BAME leaders in the top levels of                                         % Executive directors who are BAME                                            5.2          4
these companies in 2014 and 2015.
While some changes may reflect                                            % Operating board members who are BAME                                        6.5         7.4
companies moving in and out of
                                                                         Table 1: BAME group leadership and management representation in FTSE 100 (adapted from Green
the FTSE 100 as well as changes                                          Park Leadership 10,000, 2014 and 2015).
within companies, the overall
message is clear. Fifty three FTSE                                       A lack of inclusion is not only a                 to do it, remain under-researched.
100 companies had no directors                                           problem for business. In the wake of              There are many helpful suggestions
from BAME groups and just seven                                          the EU Referendum result, the Home                and recommendations, but there is
companies accounted for over 40%                                         Office noted a “sharp increase” in                relatively little multi-method, in-depth
of BAME representation at director                                       racial abuse and harassment.30 In this            research that seeks to go beyond
level – five of these seven having                                       context, business has an even more                the ‘what’ question into the ‘how’
previously been headquartered                                            important role in improving inclusivity           and ‘why’ questions of changing
outside the UK.29                                                        and diversity.31                                  practice: something this report seeks
                                                                                                                           to address.
Health, banking and finance rated                                        However, detailed questions of
relatively highly for diversity in                                       what business should do, and how
leadership roles, while utilities,
engineering and construction and
property were least diverse in their                                                                2014 – % BAME                      2015 – % BAME
top leadership.
                                                                          Top 20 Roles

4.5 Conclusion: implications from                                                                   Natural resources (11.2%)          Health (15.9%)
the literature and the future of                                          Top 3 sectors             Industrials (9.5%)                 Natural resources (11.7%)
UK business                                                                                         Health (9.0%)                      Technology (9.1%)
The literature shows that while                                                                     Engineering (2.0%)                 Construction and
the BAME working population has                                                                     Construction and                   Property (2.2%)
                                                                          Bottom 3 sectors
increased in recent years, this is not                                                              Property (1.6%)                    Utilities (0%)
reflected in the diversity at senior                                                                Utilities (0%)                     Transport (0%)
management levels. This lack of                                           Top 100 Roles
ethno-cultural diversity is apparent in
                                                                                                    Natural resources (10.4%)          Health (10.3%)
the FTSE 100. Issues with the pipeline
                                                                          Top 3 sectors             Industrials (9.5%)                 Banking and Finance (8.1%)
for management and leadership                                                                       Health (8.0%)                      Consumer (6.4%)
have been identified including
organisational culture issues, a lack                                                               Construction and                   Construction and
                                                                                                    Property (1.6%)                    Property (3.1%)
of effective mentoring and monitoring,                                    Bottom 3 sectors
                                                                                                    Engineering (1.0%)                 Engineering (2.6%)
culture-specific construction of                                                                    Utilities (0.0%)                   Utilities (1.8%)
selection criteria, unconscious bias,
and bullying and harassment, which                                       Table 2: BAME group representation in the FTSE 100 by sector (adapted from Green Park Leadership
can deter people from applying.                                          10,000, 2014 and 2015).

28
     Green Park 2014   29
                            Parker 2016   30
                                               Home Office 2016   31
                                                                       CMI 2017

14
CASE               VIRGIN MONEY
STUDY

 Virgin Money’s People Director, Matt          measures allow the company not only to          within the company and through these
 Elliott, and Head of HR Business              track trends, but explore how minority          partnerships.
 Partners, Dan Perrett, describe a             groups feel about managers and the
 range of exciting initiatives and             opportunities they have for access to           “We want to make sure the [Affinity
 innovations relating to BAME                  leadership pipelines. The data is fine-         Group’s] action plans are dedicated and
 diversity and inclusion practices. As         grained enough to track diversity trends        achieving what we want…appreciating
 a FTSE 250 company, Virgin Money              at a local level. For example, population       that, although there might be commonality
 currently employs 3,000 people in             diversity of the North East of England is       between gender and ethnicity in terms of
 the UK. Following the acquisition of          different to that of London. This means         needing mentoring, there might be different
 Northern Rock in 2011, the company            that diversity targets can be set to            ways we will approach mentoring… From
 expanded tenfold. This rapid change           reflect the local population. Additionally,     an ethnicity point of view, we may not have
 in employee profile has pushed the            these measures allow the company to             the right mentors in-house, so we will work
 diversity and inclusion agenda to             track the effectiveness of their diversity      with EMpower or the BBBA to say ‘can you
 the fore in the last three years. Their       and inclusion initiatives and listen to         get someone in your existing organisation
 BAME diversity and inclusion work             employees to determine how to improve.          partners to help mentor?’”
 is ongoing and will continue to take
 priority for ongoing development              “We have adopted the Parker Review              Storytelling to facilitate diversity
 over the coming years. Among many             now. The report says we have to 2024 as         and inclusion
 examples, a few of their innovative           a FTSE 250 company to be compliant…             Virgin Money also recognise that
 practices are described here.                 it’s now live, we’ll comply with the            sometimes the little things can bring
                                               recommendations before then… We’ve got          about cultural change. A bottom-up
 Overall company ethos and approach            to create a talent pipeline to make sure that   development in Virgin Money has been
 to BAME Diversity and Inclusion               happens.”                                       the use of storytelling. Employees are
 Virgin Money’s central purpose of                                                             encouraged to write a memo about an
 Everyone’s Better Off (EBO), is seen to be    Affinity Group                                  experience (for example, what it is like
 all-consuming and part of all employees’      Over the past year, Virgin Money has            to be a Muslim woman in the company)
 day-to-day work. This ethos is about          launched an Affinity Group, which is            and place it on the company intranet.
 fairness, transparency and encompasses        employee-led and focused on building            These stories are widely read by company
 diversity and inclusion. The purpose          diversity. While at an early stage of           employees. Authors of these stories have
 around EBO is to be welcoming and             development, the Affinity Group has split       reported a huge influx of personal support
 equally engaging to all. This ethos applies   into specific networks (including BAME)         and these stories have led to company-
 both to how Virgin Money aims to serve        and they are developing actions plans           wide learning about diversity.
 customers and how company employees           for what they want to do and support.
 are treated. To facilitate EBO, an ExCo       Examples of work they propose to do             “She simply wrote a memo [of her personal
 member has responsibility for each            include: identifying and training BAME          experience of being a Muslim woman] and
 dimension of diversity, including BAME.       role models in the company; the rollout of      we put it on our intranet… We were taken
 The company has an action plan for            unconscious bias training company-wide          aback when we saw that over 2,000 of the
 BAME diversity and inclusion from which       in 2017; and connecting with the local          3,000 people in our company individually
 progress is reported at Exco every month.     business community on diversity issues.         read it… so we started to get people
                                                                                               coming forward and saying, ‘I’d quite like to
 “EBO for colleagues [comes] down to           “Through the Affinity Group we effectively      share my story’… People are writing about
 being welcoming to all and we want it to      go to all our BAME people in our organisation   their own faiths… these stories get read in
 be equally engaging for the people who        [and ask] ‘so how do we put you in a place      the company… so some of the little things
 are here – where people can simply be         where you can be a role model for the           really bring about cultural change.”
 themselves at work.”                          company?… It doesn’t matter what your
                                               seniority is, we want you to be someone
 Tracking company BAME diversity               who can talk confidently about this
 As early adopters of the recommendations      company to [BAME] people… in return
 from the Parker Review, Virgin Money          we will equip you to be able to do that.’”
 have implemented BAME diversity
 measures in a range of ways. First, they      A partnership approach to facilitate
 are tracking recruitment data; second,        BAME talent pipelines
 an annual engagement survey (94%              Virgin Money emphasises the importance
 completion rate) has for the last four        of partnership working to create BAME
 years included a diversity and inclusion      talent pipelines. As a founding member
 element; third, the company has asked         of EMpower and with their continued
 employees to complete an “About me”           support of the British Black Business
 survey which is in its second year. This      Awards (BBBA), this is prioritised
 is helping complete the employee data         through education, mentorship and
 profile in the core HR system. These          the identification of BAME role models

                                                                                                                                         15
5. FTSE 100 PRACTICES: WHAT HR
    AND D&I LEADERS ARE SAYING

What are companies doing                                      (Section 5.1), good practice                         5.1 Company performance on and
to address the under-                                         approaches (Section 5.2) and                         attitudes towards diversity
representation of BAME groups                                 resourcing (Section 5.3).                            Respondents rated their organisations’
in the management pipeline?                                                                                        performance in creating a diverse
We surveyed HR and Diversity/                                 Respondents were also asked what                     management pipeline, both in terms of
Inclusion leaders about current                               would be the one change that they                    race and ethnicity and on dimensions
activity – and found a widespread                             would identify that would most improve               such as gender, sexual orientation, age
view that business needs to do                                the career progression of BAME                       and disability. Just 17% rated current
much more to drive change.                                    managers in their company. These                     performance on race as good; 46%
                                                              responses have been highlighted                      rated it as average; and 38% rated
Our survey of HR and D&I leaders                              throughout this Chapter.                             performance as fairly poor or very
across the FTSE 100 was designed                                                                                   poor (see Figure 1). None rated their
to understand the human resource                              Twenty four companies responded to                   company’s record as very good.
management practices being used                               the survey, enabling insight into the
to promote diversity of staff, and to                        0diversity practices
                                                                               20 of nearly a quarter
                                                                                               40                  One respondent
                                                                                                                        60           stated:
                                                                                                                                          80 “The lack of 100
identify the actions undertaken to                            of FTSE 100 companies. While we                      BAME people in my company makes
support recruitment and progression                           are careful about generalising from                  me feel ashamed. It is inexplicable
of BAME employees.                                            the results, they do provide valuable                unless you accept there must be
                                                              insights into leading companies’                     discrimination in our culture.”
Findings are presented in three                               approach to the BAME pipeline
sections: company performance                                 and associated HR and diversity                      This poor rating of BAME diversity
on, and attitudes towards, diversity                          practices.32                                         performance is in contrast to gender,

                                                                  Very good                 Fairly good         Average          Fairly poor         Very poor

                                                 Gender               21%                                       63%                                  17%

                                     Sexual orientation             17%                 17%                     38%                            21%         8%

                                                     Age      4%                29%                                       63%                               4%

                                                   Race              17%                                  46%                        25%              13%

                                               Disability     4%      8%                          42%                           25%                  17%

                                                              Figure 1: Rating company performance in creating a diverse management pipeline 33

32
     See Appendix for more on the methodology
33
     Due to rounding of decimal points, percentages may not add exactly to 100 throughout

16
Agree       Neither agree nor disagree      Disagree

  A person’s race or ethnicity has no impact on                                71%                                          17%          13%
        their career prgression in my company

          My company is taking active steps to
              improve race and ethnic diversity                                71%                                     4%          25%
          throughout the management pipeline

     Senior leaders actively champion race and                           54%                                17%                   29%
    ethnic diversity in the management pipeline

                                                  Figure 2: Attitudes towards company performance on BAME diversity.

where 84% reported that their                     have fewer than five per cent BAME
organisations’ performance was fairly             at senior management level, and
or very good.                                     83% report they have this low level at
                                                  board level, indicating another area for
These results are fully supported by              improvement.
our discussions with HR and D&I
leaders throughout this project. Many             One respondent noted: “[We are]
told us that the “gender agenda” was              below the average for the UK working
at a more advanced stage of action,               population and [diversity] declines
with many feeling that they were just             as the seniority increases. There
beginning to work on BAME diversity               is definitely a lack of proportionate
– which may prove more complex.                   BAME representation from middle
For one such company, see our Virgin              management upwards. This is visible
Money case study, page 15.                        across all business areas in our
                                                  company.”

Data on the management pipeline                   Geography and the location of the
83% of respondents reported their                 company’s workforce is also a relevant
company needed better quality data to             factor for some: “We don’t have
improve race and ethnic diversity. Data           representation even in locations (like
collection on BAME is an on-going                 London) where you might expect
challenge for FTSE 100 companies,                 a higher proportion. It’s shockingly
not least to be able to map the current           bad. And [that] does seem to be
representation of BAME employees                  exacerbated by the fact that [our
in the management pipeline. One                   sector] is not necessarily a career
respondent explained: “We started                 of choice at the best of times. Our
voluntarily collecting diversity data a           reputation as an industry is poor.”

                                                                                                            83%
couple of years ago and have had a
low response. So although we hold
data, we don’t have sufficient to be
able to split by management level so
these are estimates of the proportions                                                                  OF RESPONDENTS
at those levels.”                                                                                   REPORTED THEIR COMPANY
                                                                                                     NEEDED BETTER QUALITY
Based on what data they do have,                                                                    DATA TO IMPROVE RACE AND
respondents reported that BAME                                                                          ETHNIC DIVERSITY.
representation in their companies
was particularly low at senior levels
(see Figure 3). 54% reported they

                                                                                                                                               17
Less                    Between            Between              More              Don’t know
     than 5%                 5% and 10%         10% and 20%          than 20%          / not sure
                                                                                                                Box A: What one
100%
                                                                                                                change would most
 80%
                                                                                       83
                                                                                                                improve the career
                                                                                                                progression of BAME
 60%                                                            54                                              managers in your
                                          50
               42                                                                                               company?
 40%
                                                                     29                                         “Representation targets or
                    25              25
 20%    17                                     17                                                               objectives across all line
                         8   8                           8                8        8                        8   management (not just senior
                                                                                             4    4
                                                    0                         0                         0       managers)”
            Junior                     Middle                      Senior                        Board
          management                 management                  management                       level         “Targets across all grades, like
                                                                                                                we do in the gender space”
Figure 3: Percentage of BAME employees across the management pipeline in the UK (based on data
available or estimates)
                                                                                                                “Understanding the current
                                                                                                                picture through data collecting
Monitoring and reporting on                                  targets stated that they planned to                and linking data to show pay,
performance                                                  set progression targets in the next                performance, potential and
Reflecting the challenges of collecting                      12 months. For some this was their                 engagement levels of BAME
good quality data, we found a                                ‘One Change’ (see Box A).                          compared to others”
declining scale of action with respect
to how BAME data is used (see Table                          Targets were often aspirational, for
3). While 79% collect and hold some                          example: “We have put in place
employee data – albeit perhaps                               aspirational targets which ensure
limited or poor quality data – only                          that we have representation on
54% then monitor and track diversity.                        development programmes which
Only 21% report publicly on race and                         are in line with UK averages. Our…
ethnicity and set progression and                            programmes are essential for those
representation targets. In contrast 75%                      moving between grades. Cohorts
set progression/representation targets                       should not go ahead if they are not
for gender. This result is reflected in                      representative, making managers look
the case studies in which companies                          for talent harder. We have also hosted
stated that targets were difficult to set                    BAME-only colleague development
before appropriate data were collected.                      events.”

Engaging staff by setting targets for                        Another respondent stated: “We aspire
progression and representation at                            to have 18% BAME representation
different levels in an organisation is an                    in our… manager population with
essential requirement for organisations                      a staging target of 14% by 2018…
to take BAME equality seriously.                             and 10% BAME representation in our
Encouragingly, almost half (47%)                             senior manager and departmental
of those who do not currently have                           director population by 2020.”

                                                                          Sets
                        Collects /
                                           Monitors / tracks          progression/           Reports
                     holds employee
                                            diversity (%)            representation         publicly (%)
                        data (%)
                                                                       targets (%)
 Race and
                              79                        54                    21                   21
 ethnicity
 Gender                       71                        67                    75                   71
 Age                          92                        50                    4                    8
 Disability                   58                        25                    0                    4
 Sexual
                              54                        21                    4                    8
 orientation

Table 3: Data collection, monitoring, targets and reporting.

18
CASE                  SCHRODERS
STUDY

 Rafael Campos Valdez is newly                       them challenge the way things are run
 appointed as HR Business Partner –                  within their departments. Rafael says that
 Diversity and Inclusion at Schroders.               manager buy-in is key to the success
 He looks after everything related                   of any diversity and inclusion initiative.
 to diversity and inclusion within                   He identifies very positive engagement
 the company. Schroders’ Group                       from managers around diversity and
 Chief Executive, Peter Harrison,                    inclusion within Schroders. Employee
 took on the role in April 2016 and                  empowerment is also seen as vital at
 the diversity agenda is a priority                  Schroders to lead change. This is led
 in ensuring that the company is a                   through engagement with employee
 progressive, inclusive organisation.                resource groups. Rafael runs a committee
 Rafael states the importance of the                 of all employee network chairs and also
 work on inclusion and diversity not                 meets them regularly on a one-to-one
 being labelled an HR-only project.                  basis. Additionally, each network has a
 He believes the key to the success                  GMC sponsor who will meet with them
 of implementing the inclusion and                   to discuss issues and provide a link for
 diversity agenda at Schroders is                    the network to senior levels within the
 involving the whole business.                       company.

 Data capture, developing targets                    “The only way for real change to occur
 Since 2016, Schroders have developed                within a company is by having a pincer
 a diversity capture option on their HR              approach, support from the very top
 database that allows employees to self-             and from a grass-roots, employee-led
 declare diversity data (ethnicity is one of         angle… This is the approach we have
 the options). As data are gathered, Rafael          taken at Schroders and I can see changes
 will be able to overlay ethnicity data with         occurring… A lot of time, organisations
 talent mapping data. This will provide              create staff networks but don’t equip them
 information of what the management                  with the tools, voice or resources to make
 pipeline looks like – from here Rafael              real change… We’re empowering our D&I
 will be able to amend the Diversity and             leaders to help Schroders become more
 Inclusion strategy to reflect the new               diverse and inclusive.”
 talent pipeline insight gained. He plans
 an active campaign to raise the profile of          Training
 the importance of data capture. However,            When people become managers in
 Rafael emphasises that lack of data                 Schroders they are provided with training.
 should not preclude companies from                  This includes an element specific to
 taking action on diversity and inclusion,           inclusive leadership, covering managing a
 and it has not prevented him from                   diverse workforce and being line manager
 moving forward diversity initiatives within         to a diverse team. While specific diversity
 Schroders.                                          training is important, Rafael is looking to
                                                     embed diversity and inclusion education
 “Organisations should stop using lack of            across their suite of management training
 data on ethnicity as an excuse to not start         offers.
 taking action…Whilst data is critical for
 understanding our workforce, tracking               “It’s more like a sprinkling across all of our
 progress and running analysis to find               offerings, instead of ‘go on diversity for
 trouble areas, it is not critical to shifting the   one day’ and then you don’t hear about
 dial on ethnic diversity... We have a Muslim        diversity again for a year… We do have
 association that has consulted on our new           e-learning around diversity in the workplace
 prayer room… These are the kind of things           and discrimination… that’s important, but
 you can do without these figures.”                  when it comes to engaging employees,
                                                     [to say] this is what a good manager looks
 Manager and employee empowerment                    like, it’s [diversity and inclusion that is]
 Each General Management Committee                   actually core business, I think changes the
 (GMC) member has a diversity and                    conversation more.”
 inclusion objective and Rafael works
 closely with the GMC members to help

                                                                                                      19
Improved business performance                                 75%                       Lack of diverse role models                         67%
Greater understanding of customer/                                                            Gender diversity is a higher
                                                           50%                                                                              42%
 reflecting a diverse customer base                                                              priority in the company

            Improved business culture                33%                               Difficulty of acquiring reliable data              33%
                                                                                              on race and ethnic diversity
            Greater access to different                                        Difficulty of what language/terminology to
                                                    29%                                                                               29%
           perspectives/points of view                                         use when talking about race and ethnicity
     Reflecting local communities/local                                            Perceptual, cultural or communication
                                                   25%                                                                               25%
                         labour market                                                                             barriers
      Because it is the right thing to do          25%                                   Stereotyping and preconceptions            17%
                                                                                                      of roles and abilities
             Improved reputation as an                                                       Lack of senior leaders to act
                                                 21%                                                                            13%
                   employer of choice                                                            as mentors or sponsors
       Improved ability to respond and       13%                               BAME employees find it harder to access          13%
           change through innovation                                            values career/development experiences
            Better communication with       4%                                        Resistance to change from middle         8%
                          customers                                                                          managers

 Improved brand among customers             4%                               Lack of commitment from senior leadership         4%

                                                                                        Exclusion from informal networks
          Increased product innovation      4%                                                         of communication        4%

                   Increased legitimacy 0%                                                                           Other     8%

Figure 4: Top five business drivers for improving BAME pipeline.             Figure 5: The biggest challenges in promoting race and ethnicity
                                                                             in the pipeline.

Business drivers for BAME diversity                    Intriguingly, the priority given to
There were clear business drivers                      gender was the second most widely-
for taking BAME diversity seriously.                   cited challenge. While lessons
Asked to pick the top five drivers,                    can be learned from the progress
improved business performance                          made on gender, this suggests that
was most often cited, supporting                       management time and resources have
the argument that diversity is good                    been dedicated to driving change on
for business (see Figure 4). This was                  gender – or even that some businesses
followed by improved understanding                     may be complacent that their efforts
of a diverse customer base, benefits to                on gender means they have ‘done’
the business culture as a whole, and                   diversity. (Indeed, BAME people also
access to different perspectives and                   have a gender and yet, because BAME
points of view.                                        data is not often connected to gender
                                                       data, organisations are often unable
Notably, only a quarter reported that                  to say whether BAME men and BAME
action was driven by a social justice                  women fare differently from non-BAME
imperative, i.e. that ‘it is the right thing           men and women. These issues of
to do.’ This raises the question that if               intersectionality represent a further
there is no business imperative, then                  level of challenge for companies. In
no action to improve inequalities may                  discussion, some recognised the
be likely.34 It is clear that senior leaders           challenge – but often lacked well-
need to keep making the business                       developed solutions.)
case for diversity to tackle inequalities.
                                                       These top challenges were followed
The biggest challenges in                              by the difficulty of acquiring reliable
promoting race and ethnic diversity                    data, the difficulty of what language/
in the management pipeline                             terminology to use, and perceptual,
In line with the findings from the                     cultural or communication barriers.
qualitative interviews and case studies,
a lack of BAME role models was
ranked as the top challenge facing
companies in promoting race and
ethnic diversity, cited by 67% as shown
in Figure 5.

34
     Noon 2007

20
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