Three critical actions in the journey towards race equality at work

Business in the Community (BITC) is striving to create a fairer world to live and work in. Data shows that one in five people of working-age in the UK are from a Black, Asian, Mixed Race or other ethnically diverse background, which is why it is unacceptable that only one in 10 senior positions are held by ethnically diverse employees.

Ensuring race equality in the workplace isn’t only the right thing to do, but it can also positively impact businesses in many ways. That’s why, in 2018, BITC launched the Race at Work Charter, encouraging employers to publicly commit to prioritising race equality at work by taking action against seven commitments.

The Race at Work Charter survey, conducted once every three years by BITC, asks employers to outline their progress against these commitments. The 2023 survey was completed by almost 250 organisations, representing 1.2 million UK employees.

Sandra Kerr: "Ensuring race equality in the workplace isn’t only the right thing to do, but it can also positively impact businesses in many ways."

It is crucial that employers are breaking down barriers to work and progression across all areas of their business, from recruitment to increasing access to development opportunities and good quality work.

This is fundamental to tackling race inequalities in workplaces and ensuring that their workforce is representative of the UK population across all levels of their businesses. And while progress is being made in these areas, there is still more work to be done.

The 2023 Race at Work Charter survey found that eight in 10 employers support their ethnically diverse employees in leadership, progression and recruitment, increasing from seven in 10 in 2020. While the increase in support for ethnically diverse employees’ career progression is welcome, one in four ethnically diverse employees in the UK still feel that their ethnicity is a barrier to career progression.

Employers should ensure that all employees get the support they need to help them progress in their careers, as the representation of Black, Asian, Mixed Race and other ethnically diverse employees in senior roles is still too low.

Mentoring schemes

Reverse mentoring is an essential way to support people in their careers, while also educating senior leadership on what needs to change to help more people progress. That’s why I was delighted to see that the Race at Work Charter survey found that 73 per cent of employers have mentoring or reverse mentoring schemes set up for their ethnically diverse employees compared with 72 per cent in 2020. While progress is still slow in this area, it is still heading in the right direction.

Business leaders understand that they must start building more inclusive and fairer workplaces. Photograph: iStock

Accessibility, accountability and transparency are the key areas that employers should consider when building an action plan to tackle inequalities. Making roles accessible to all, holding themselves accountable on actions they have pledged to take, and being transparent with where they are on their journey are the key levers to success.

Employers should ensure that a senior leader within their organisations has the responsibility for driving the race equality agenda, and the 2023 Race at Work Charter survey found that almost all UK businesses who responded to the survey (95 per cent) have a Race Champion or Executive Sponsor for race.

Appointing an Executive Sponsor can help hold organisations to account for their actions on race and help ensure that an organisation meets their targets.

Disappointingly, however, only 53 per cent of employers have targets in place to increase the racial diversity of their boards and senior executive teams, increasing from 46 per cent in 2020. While it’s good to see some progress in this area, representation is essential to help younger Black, Asian, Mixed Race and other ethnically diverse employees start off and progress in their careers.

Bullying and harassment at work

One of the areas that needs urgent employer attention is bullying and harassment in the workplace. It is unacceptable that Black, Asian, Mixed Race, and other ethnically diverse employees are twice as likely than White employees to have experienced or witnessed racist harassment from managers, customers/clients and colleagues. And while 95 per cent of businesses have a zero-tolerance policy on bullying and harassment in place, only one in four employers have conducted a review to ensure that these policies are effective. This figure has declined since 2020, when one in three employers conducted reviews of their bullying and harassment policies.

In addition, only one in five of those businesses that do conduct a review of their policies engage their employees in the review process. Conducting reviews on policies is critical to understanding what isn’t working and what needs to be updated so that the policies in place are as effective as possible.

While having workplace policies in place on areas like bullying and harassment should be a non-negotiable, policies must actually work for the people they are designed to support and protect. Without gaining feedback and input from employees, employers risk only having words on a page, that don’t amount to much action.

It should not, however, be down to HR teams to shift the dial on race equality. All employees and stakeholders have a role to play in supporting an organisation to become really inclusive. The Race at Work Charter survey found that only four in 10 employers have objectives set for their board and senior leadership teams which include actions on race, decreasing from five in 10 in 2020. On top of that, only one in five employers set objectives on race for their line managers.

Having these objectives in place ensures that everyone understands the role they must play in helping to breakdown long-standing barriers to employment and progression that many Black, Asian, Mixed Race and other ethnically diverse people face.

Mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting is vital

Pay is another area where we know ethnically diverse employees experience disparities. Mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting is the only way for employers to truly understand if they have any pay gaps in their organisation, giving them the data they need to take action. While ethnicity pay gap reporting has not yet been made mandatory, the percentage of employers who are voluntarily publishing their ethnicity pay gap has increased from 30 per cent in 2020 to 44 per cent in 2023. It’s great to see this increase in the number of employers who are voluntarily publishing their ethnicity pay gap data, but there is still room for improvement.

The publication of voluntary guidance from the government to help employers track and publish this data is welcomed, but this needs to go one step further, if we are to truly shift the dial on race equality. BITC has been campaigning for many years for ethnicity pay gap reporting to be made mandatory, as our research found that without government intervention, it will take until 2075 for employers who currently collect data on ethnicity pay to publish it.

However, it’s not all about changes in workplaces. More and more, employers are working to diversify their supply chains, with one in four employers saying that they set targets to increase the diversity of their suppliers. Employers should ensure that they are including Black, Asian, Mixed Race and other ethnically diverse-owned businesses in their supply chains to ensure that representation is seen not only in their organisation, but also across all of its operations.

In addition, only three in 10 employers have appointed an Executive Sponsor who is responsible for ensuring that diversifying the supply chain is on their Board’s agenda. This is a big contrast from the 95 per cent of employers who have an Executive Sponsor for Race.

It is paramount that employers promote diversity not only within their own organisations, but outside too. With one in three ethnically diverse individuals stressing the importance of seeing role models from their ethnic backgrounds, it is crucial that employers are ensuring the inclusion of ethnically diverse-led businesses in their supply chains.

We need to build more inclusive and fairer workplaces

While I know progress in some areas is not being made fast enough, there has been some real progress that I’m really proud of. Business leaders understand that they must start building more inclusive and fairer workplaces, not only because it’s the right thing to do but also because it makes business sense.

More and more employers understand that they must stand by these three principles if they want to have a truly inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive: accessibility, accountability and transparency. While no one business, government or organisation can close the inequalities gap for Black, Asian, Mixed Race, or other ethnically diverse people alone, the work that is being done by employers across the UK is commendable, and I know that we’re only on the cusp of changing UK workplaces for the better.

Sandra Kerr CBE is Race director at Business in the Community (BITC)