This autumn will mark seven years since publication of the Parker Review – a government-commissioned report assessing diversity across company boards and outlining recommendations for improving representation at the top of organisations. The review came amid increased recognition that diversity in senior leadership can lead to greater organisational success. Diverse leaders bringing a variety of knowledge and perspectives to the table, reducing the risk of harmful group think.
The Review recommended setting diversity targets for FTSE100 and FTSE250 boards, implementation of measures to support development of a leadership pipeline among minority groups and enhanced transparency and disclosure to ensure effective measurement of progress. Nearly all FTSE companies now have at least one director from an ethnic minority background on their board, but progress at the executive c‑suite level remains much slower.
Here in the capital, our communities have an increasingly diverse make up, with 46% of Londoner’s being from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, compared to 14% of England as a whole. London continues to be the most ethnically diverse region in the United Kingdom, and our workplaces should reflect this diversity with pride.
Earlier this year, BusinessLDN announced a strategic partnership with Change the Race Ratio aimed at accelerating ethnic minority representation in business leadership. Our inaugural mission statement secured more than 100 signatories. Last month, we held an event giving BusinessLDN members the opportunity to meet with Richard DeNetto, Chief Executive Officer, Change the Race Ratio and find out more about our campaign. Attendees also heard from our host, Harriet Lunney, UK Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lead, JLL, as well as Richard Akerele, Founder, East London Connect.
The discussion covered reflections on the power of diversity to improve performance before moving onto the importance of having diverse role models. We also looked at the impact of diversity in leadership for individuals outside of the workplace.
Richard Akerele highlighted his organisation’s work in helping young people from minority backgrounds to achieve their full educational and career potential. He spoke about taking a group of young people on a trip to meet senior business leaders from similar backgrounds and seeing how those young people were able to relate to individuals who understood their perspectives. It’s vital to ensure that people from all backgrounds and walks of life have role models they can look up to if we want to attract varied perspectives to our workforces. Businesses should be mindful of this fact when hiring and promoting within their organisations.
We then discussed facilitating the right culture in the workplace, where employees are confident to call out behaviour where necessary. Mental Health First Aid England found that one in three employees experience inappropriate and discriminatory behaviour in the workplace, with the majority (72%) of Black respondents reporting such behaviours.
These include not getting credit for work done, negative assumptions, sarcastic comments, and the mispronouncing of a person’s name. These actions can lead to a decline in a person’s mental health, and often makes them feel pushed out of their role within an organisation. Attendees emphasised how important it is to constructively challenge such behaviour, which can be a product of subconscious bias. There needs to be widespread understanding, especially amongst leaders, of the need to address these issues in the moment and show support to colleagues.
Instilling that understanding throughout all organisations is essential to ensuring that, in another seven years’ time, we’re not still having to discuss new ways to improve diversity on boards, with all the benefits that doing so brings.