Written by: Vic Motune
Two leading figures discuss how far business has to go on black representation.
SANDRA KERR, National Campaign Director for the charity Business in the Community’s Race Equality campaign, is a woman driven to achieve what she sees as her most important goal — supporting Britain’s companies to embed diversity and inclusion into the core of their business.
Over the course of a distinguished career that spans more than three decades, she has been hailed as a thought-leader as well as the driving force behind several thought-provoking Business in the Community (BiTC) reports and initiatives aimed at enabling the country’s chief executives to tackle their diversity and inclusion challenges head-on.
During the past decade, a growing body of research has pointed to the fact that a diverse workforce can significantly improve a company’s ability to be innovative as well as its customer relationships.
However, some equality campaigners have claimed conversations on the issue seem to have stalled around gender diversity, and that too often, ethnic diversity and inclusivity are seen as box-ticking exercises rather than something which inspires genuine commitment.
Figures released by the Fawcett Society in February this year revealed that, while the number of women in FTSE 100 boardrooms has jumped from 12.5 per cent to 39 per cent in a decade, there was still what it called a “shocking lack of diversity,” with black and Asian women conspicuously absent from positions of power.
An earlier research report published by recruitment consultancy Green Park found that Britain’s largest companies were failing to improve the ethnic diversity of their boardrooms.
Kerr has long been aware of the failure of corporate leaders to address the lack of ethnic diversity in their boardrooms. Those criticisms helped shape one of the most important initiatives she has been involved with.
She was one of the driving figures behind the pioneering Race at Work Charter launched in October 2018 with the support of then prime minister Theresa May.
The Charter, developed by BiTC in partnership with the government, sets out a number of principles and actions for businesses to commit to, aimed at addressing ethnic disparities in the workplace.
Following its launch, a number of high-profile organisations signed up to the charter, including NHS England, Standard Life Aberdeen, Norton Rose Fulbright, Saatchi & Saatchi, KPMG, RBS, the civil service, WPP, EY and the CIPD.
Since its launch, corporate support for the charter has grown significantly.
“It launched with 85 employers, a mixture of public and private sector organisations. As of today, we currently have 914 employers who have signed,” Kerr tells The Voice.
“Having employers who are transparent, who are publicly putting themselves on the line to say ‘we need to do the work on this issue’, is a good first step in addressing issues of diversity in the workplace.”
Richard Iferenta, partner and vice chair at KPMG, recalls that there was little hesitation in the company deciding to sign up to the Charter. “KPMG is a very people-focused business, very much into living its values, and that includes trying to address issues like race at work,” he says. “But if you look back, you will see that we were one of the leaders around the gender equality agenda.
“I’m not saying we’re perfect, but we do aspire to do the right thing and implement and share best practice. So it’s not surprising that when the Race at Work Charter was launched we signed up. Its objectives were clear. And signing up sent a clear message that we are always focused on people.”
Iferenta continues: “We have a mantra which says ‘we are a magnet for talent’. Being a magnet for talent is not just about the black people and theethnically diverse people, it’s about everyone.
“These days, many young people want to see that diversity in a business because they want to know that it is a fair place to work. So, for us, the Charter is very inspirational and we have stood by it.”
But despite the impact the Charter has made, young black professionals are frustrated at the pace of change.
The tragic death of George Floyd in May 2020 prompted public pledges from some of the UK’s top corporate leaders about the need to better address racial inequality in the workplace.
In an interview with The Voice in October last year, Ashleigh Ainsley, co-founder of Colorintech, a non-profit organisation focused on Diversity and Inclusion in the technology industry, claimed that many corporate leaders had taken little action on pledges to tackle race inequality issued at the height of 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests.
Figures from the This is Black Gen Z report, the largest ever survey of Black Generation Z members in the UK (people born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s), found young people expect to experience discrimination in the workplace as they begin their careers.
The report found that only 31 per cent of 2,000 black Gen Z members between the ages of 16 and 25 who were surveyed felt able to be their authentic selves at work, compared to 66 per cent of their white counterparts. Just 29 per cent of this group felt satisfied with their chances of securing a promotion compared to 52 per cent of white Gen Z members.
“I acknowledge the frustrations of young people who ask ‘How long will it be before things change?’” says Kerr.
“I’m definitely not saying that the issues are resolved. What I am saying, though, is that when you look at the fact that we now have over 900 employers on the Charter who are willing to at least acknowledge there is a problem, means we can then start to shape those discussions and the actions that follow. And that’s my job to share evidence and insight on the importance of improving diversity in their companies.”
While acknowledging the big impact George Floyd’s death had in encouraging chief executives to sign up to the Charter, Kerr says the decades-long journey which led to its creation might not have happened without the support of one high-profile ally.
“The involvement of Prince Charles in this area has been vital,” she says.
“Back in 1995, he convened a meeting of senior business leaders to address the issue of ethnic diversity and equality in the workplace. At the time, many companies were concentrating on the issue of gender equality.
“But it was a concern of Prince Charles who said ‘we need to look at this. We needto include a wide range of people and use everyone’s talents’.
“That intervention from such a high-profile figure was vital. If you get an invitation from The Prince of Wales to talk about an issue, it goes straight to the top of the agenda,” added Kerr. “Suddenly, business leaders wanted to become knowledgeable about ethnic diversity, and that meeting helped to kick start Business in the Community’s race equality campaign. Without his intervention, I think it would have taken many more years to get the issue on the agenda.”
Kerr has won several plaudits for her work in championing equality in the workplace with BiTC. In 2019, she was awarded a CBE for her services to equality and diversity.
But far from dwelling on any past accolades, she is focused on a goal she is passionate about — the introduction of mandatory ethnicity pay-gap reporting. Since 2017, organisations with more than 250 employees must report on their gender pay gap. Reporting has helped organisations tackle pay disparities between men and women in similar positions.
Kerr and other equality campaigners believe a similar move toward ethnicity pay-gap reporting will give businesses a powerful tool for reducing and eventually eliminating pay gaps based on race and ethnicity.
“In five years’ time, I’d like to see all of the Charter members publishing their ethnicity pay gaps and their action plans to resolve them, but also for the government to introduce them on a mandatory basis,” she continued.
“You can’t keep saying ‘Oh, we’re working on it’. An ethnicity pay-gap report means that companies now have to be accountable because it is a public document.
“This will help drive some of the changes that are needed and help companies across the country realise they need to have a diversity of leaders at the top table, to help to influence policy, to help to market to diverse customers and clients and to help better serve them.”
AS WELL as the high profile meeting in 1995 with business leaders Kerr says that another key way the Prince of Wales has influenced efforts to improve diversity in the workplace is through his Seeing Is Believing programme.
Established in 1990 by HRH The Prince of Wales brings high-level business leaders together to focus on the unique challenges faced by these local communities. It also encourages them to think about training and job opportunities for disadvantaged young people in these areas.
The Prince’s Seeing is Believing programme has played a vital role in shaping BITC’s approach to engaging young jobseekers from disadvantaged communities.
“In 2013, we led a Seeing is believing programme based on the model that Prince Charles created” says Kerr. “We invited senior business leaders from across a range of our companies to Brixton Job Centre where they heard first-hand about the experiences of young black jobseekers. It was a two hour meeting which also provided an opportunity for the business leaders to share things like what they expected from a cv, the experiences they could use to apply for positions, or what the interview process might look like.
“For the people who attended it was crucial opportunity to hear firsthand from employers about what they were looking for in potential recruits. Many of them didn’t have family members, or role models who worked in those industries who could tell them that a particular job was available and that you might be a good fit.
“We organised that programme as a pilot with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and 120 young people And very quickly 70 of them ended up getting jobs.
We ran another pilot in 2018. It’s now DWP policy. It’s a central part of how job centres engage young people from all ethnicities. But it was born in Brixton and inspired by an initiative created by Prince Charles.
This article was printed in The Voice‘s special September 2022 edition which is guest-edited by HRH The Prince of Wales.
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The Voice Newspaper is committed to celebrating black excellence, campaigning for positive change and informing the black community on important issues. Your financial contributions are essential to protect the future of the publication as we strive to help raise the profile of the black communities across the UK. Any size donation is welcome and we thank you for your continued support.
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