Equality progress needs to happen across the board
POSITIVE news this week about gender equality in corporate Britain.
The final report by the Hampton-Alexander Review, a target-driven initiative to increase the representation of women at the UK’s largest companies, has revealed there are now no longer any allmale boardrooms in the country’s 350 biggest firms.
Women now make up 34.3% of FTSE 350 board positions, up from 21.9% in 2015.
This is clearly welcome news, and while, as the report says, there is still a long way to go – with only 29.4% of women in leadership positions and only four companies with female CEOs and Chairs – these are firm and positive steps in the right direction.
It’s a clear demonstration of what happens when organisations act with real intent.
Years ago, the cry from the City when society started chipping away at the old boys’ network was that they couldn’t find enough women, or the culture of the city wasn’t the right fit and many women wouldn’t be able to cut it.
But setting clear targets and acting with intent has forced change.
So why can’t the same be done for ethnic equality?
The 2017 Parker Review into boardroom racial diversity set a target of all FTSE 100 boards to have at least one non-white member by 2021.
Well here we are and, unlike progress on gender equality, an interim report says businesses are “way off course”.
A report from the Green
Park consultancy earlier this month found there are no black chairs, chief executives or finance chiefs in Britain’s largest firms.
Trevor Phillips, Green Park’s chair, said a “vanilla boys’ club” was to blame, and as a result, talented black people did not stay on because they felt they had little chance of reaching the top.
When anyone mentions quotas, people start reaching for the smelling salts and critics complain the approach means you won’t get the “best” person for the job.
But the reality is jobs aren’t solely given out based on the best candidate – selection can be very subjective and arbitrary.
Built-in assumptions are made based on where a person went to school or university. Something as simple as someone’s name determines what opportunities they are given.
We are deluding ourselves if we think we live in a meritocracy.
As with gender equality, things only happen if organisations really want change or are shamed into doing it. Months after firms posted black squares on their social media feeds, what’s really changed?
Nowadays it’s rightfully shameful for a company not to have any senior women.
The same embarrassment should be felt when it comes to a lack of racial diversity, class diversity and other forms of exclusion.
Companies and organisations should go out of their way to be inclusive. Why isn’t that a no-brainer?
And if quotas are the way, then so be it.
It’s taken decades for women, who make up 50% of the population, to be invited to the party. Let’s not make other disenfranchised groups wait as long.
Firms should go out of their way to be inclusive...it’s a no-brainer