Diversity Revolution

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Workplace diversity is just a PR stunt, claim employees

Workers are rubbishing their employers efforts to promote fairness through diversity as a stunt to grab headlines, alleges new research.

Around half of employees consider workplace diversity strategies as filling a tick box to look good for marketing and PR, says the Adecco Group’s report ‘Unlocking Britain’s Potential.’

The dispiriting results of the survey showed workers have a jaundiced opinion of diversity programmes:

  • 27% felt the campaigns failed to change workplace culture
  • 29% of employers confessed they aim to recruit ‘certain types’ of workers
  • 20% of workers felt their organisation ignored marketing to specific sections of society
  • 22% considered a diverse workforce could not supply the skills needed by the organisation

Despite the disappointing response to the survey, many employers and workers are confident that diversity has an important role in the workplace.

Seven out of 10 employers believe they are more likely to succeed by operating a fairer and more tolerant workplace.

This reflects in the 44% of workers who would rather move to an employer with a diverse workforce.

The report is part of a campaign by consultancy and recruitment group Adecco to look at workplace diversity as a tool for promoting better productivity and improving competition in world markets.

Chris Moore, director of the ‘Unlocking Britain’s Potential’ campaign,  said:”The business case for investment in diversity has never been clearer. A diverse workforce will widen Britain’s talent pool, have a direct impact on employee engagement, and strengthen relationships with customers.

“Our research suggests that we are far from achieving the radical change in outlook required to genuinely promote the need for a diverse workforce in UK businesses.

“While it is encouraging that the case for greater female representation in the boardroom is attracting such prominence, this is only a small but important part of the debate around boosting diversity in the workplace.

“Diversity is a question of encouraging and increasing social mobility – finding ways to ensure that potential British talent, from any and every background, is not overlooked.”

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Do you remember? Pregnant mothers’ moan about Olympic ticket blunder for babies

… And the gold medal for Olympic bureaucracy goes to the blundering organising committee for demanding mums pay for seats for their yet to be born children if they have a ticket for an event and want to take baby as well.

Ticket rules for the Olympic Games say every baby attending an event must have a ticket for a seat somewhere in the venue, even if they are sitting on their mother’s lap.

As the tickets were on sale 15 months before the starting pistol is fired for the first event, it’s difficult to see how many mums could predict they would need the extra seat – and don’t think about mums who have had twins.

Now, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has indicated the ticket policy may be discriminatory against mums, which threatens to throw the whole Olympics ticketing process in to disarray.

Mums don’t know whether to buy a ticket for their babies – who have to go with them if they are being breast-fed – or whether they are allowed in if they share their seat with mum.

Many mums are concerned they will have to miss their chance of a lifetime to attend a blue-riband Olympic event because of the rule, says web site Mumsnet, which has been inundated with posts about the ticket debacle.

A London 2012 spokesman said: “Of course, we understand that some new mums may want to take their babies to events they have tickets to and we will look at what we can do when the remaining tickets go on sale in April.”

The EHRC has challenged the Olympic ticket organisers to prove they can justify the rules for mums and babies.

“A business must not do something which has a worse affect on you and on other people who share a particular protected characteristic, such as gender, than it has on people who do not share that characteristic. Unless the business can show that what they have done is objectively justified, this will be what is called indirect discrimination,” said a spokesman.

Under the rules, pregnant mums do not have to buy additional tickets.

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Smile..even when it’s not World Happy Day!

world happy day

Smile…it’s World Happy Day!

Smile. World Happy Day, is a reason to be cheerful despite what may be going on in some darker corners of the world.

To celebrate thousands of people will try to spread a little good cheer by sharing their views on Happy, a short movie examination of the emotion from Oscar nominated director Roko Belic.

The film is listed for screening at 600 venues across 60 countries on every continent.

Happiness does make life better, says Belic.

If you are happy, you are likely to live longer, enjoy better health, care for your environment and are less likely to involve yourself in crime.

Happy people also bring big benefits to their communities by helping others and finding more creative solutions to problems.

“Our goal is for people all around the world to come together, on the same day, start the conversation about happiness and begin to live happier, more fulfilling lives,” said Belic.

Action for Happiness, a movement passionate about creating a happier society is showing the film in the UK. The group has 20,000 members who take practical action to make happier communities, families, schools and workplaces.

Mark Williamson, director of Action for Happiness said: “Happy is a wonderful film that had people laughing out loud, moved to tears and spontaneously applauding when we screened it in London recently.

“World Happy Day is a unique global event where people in local communities all around the world will connect and be inspired to help build happier lives and communities.”

Groups affiliating with Action for Happiness are springing up all over the country, with activities, events and workshops aimed at making people feel better ranging from laughter clubs to meditation.

“Small things can cause big positive changes, so choose one of our 10 actions and make it happen,” says the group’s web site.

For more information about the Happy movie and Action for Happiness go to [link http://www.actionforhappiness.org/ ]

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A smile and kind words makes work a better place

A smile is all it takes to make the work place better, according to a new study.

Someone just being nice with a smile and a few kind words is enough to improve the way many people feel, says the Feel Good Factor Index published by PruHealth.

Although spending time with family and friends ranks highest, doing a kind deed for some else, job security and being recognised for achievements at work are all important for someone’s wellbeing.

The study reinforces the view that most people are at their happiest when they have the right work-life balance.

The survey asked more than 2,000 people what made them happy – top of the list was spending time with family and loved ones (56%), followed by sharing in their achievements (36%).

Someone being nice or smiling took third place (27%).

The other results were:

  • Taking a walk on a nice day (24%)
  • Getting a good night’s sleep (24%)
  • Doing something for someone else (17%)
  • Job and financial security (17%)
  • Time with pets (13%)
  • Nights out (13%)
  • Keeping fit (12%)
  • Finding a money saving deal (11%)

Dr Katie Tryon, health and wellbeing expert at PruHealth, said: “It would be great if everyone could smile at someone today and get the warm glow from knowing you’ve made someone happy.

“It’s really important for our physical and mental wellbeing to feel good, and as our index shows there are many inexpensive ways to get that feeling, including taking time out to go for a walk.”

The over 55s had the best outlook on life – with 62% opting for a ‘glass half full’ approach and only 12% confessing they were pessimists.

Many of the people surveyed admitted they succumbed to guilty pleasures, with one in four disclosing they enjoyed slobbing in front of a movie on the TV while munching a pile of chocolate.

The findings showed the biggest treat was time off work on holiday.

This article  is filed under: Gender,  Discrimination, Diversity, emotional intelligence, Leadership, Minorities, women, mothers faimly work-life balance
Do you want more than what Equality Training or Diversity Training Courses can deliver? See Diversity at Work in the workplace http://www.diversityleaders.org/our-services/training-a-events
For more content Diversity Leaders Magazine http://paper.li/diversitylead/1308375628 Key topics : Leadership, Discrimination, Diversity

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New discrimination help service

Extra help is on the way for people suffering discrimination in the form of a new government advice service.

The Equality Advisory and Support Service will give advice and support focussing on helping the vulnerable and disadvantaged to find early and informal solutions to their problems without recourse to legal action.

The free service will be open to everyone – and will include high accessibility standards especially for those with disabilities and for people who do not speak English.

Initial contact for advice on discrimination will be by the web or telephone.

Independent advocacy support will be offered to consumers who need legal help to issue a claim that cannot be resolved informally or through alternative dispute resolution. The government has also confirmed legal aid will continue for discrimination cases.

The decision by the Home Office’s Government Equality Office to run the support service follows lengthy consultation in 2010.

The consultation asked whether the government should fund a support service for discrimination victims and should the service be run by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The responses confirmed the service was needed but the EHRC should not be funded to run it.

“This was because of government’s commitment to ensuring access to justice and, in particular, to helping people to resolve their problems informally before the point a claim is made and even before it is necessary to access formal alternative dispute resolution,” said a spokesman.

“The review also concluded that the government should not fund the EHRC to deliver this service. Therefore, government has decided that it will commission a new service from a private sector or civil society organisation or a combination of both.

The service expects to handle around 40,000 telephone calls and 20,000 emails a year requesting various levels of advice.

No timescales have been announced for the opening of the service.

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Does diversity management measure up to the talk?

 

Many organisations talk about the benefits of diversity management in terms of better working conditions, improved productivity and increased profits – but few have actually collected data to prove the point.

Swiss multinational banking giant Credit Suisse has tried to measure the impact of diversity on profits by examining the mix of employees, working conditions and financial performance of large businesses.

“Leading companies across the world today devote considerable resources to promoting gender diversity and better working conditions. Conventional wisdom suggests that improved diversity and working environment have an impact on profitability,” said Christine Schmid, head of banks and financial services research and Juliette Lim-Fat, head of thematic and derivatives research at Credit Suisse, writing in the Gulf News.

A key measure was how many women participated in senior levels of decision making.

Credit Suisse reviewed data gleaned from the most recent annual reports from the largest listed companies in Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland.

The Nordic countries rated high on the number of women in senior management, with some countries insisting large companies have boards comprising at least 20% women.

German DAX 30 companies have established a voluntary quota for senior women managers this year and will publish the quotas for different management levels.

The bank also scrutinised the performance of companies that scored high for diversity from 2008 to the end of March, 2011.

Scandinavian countries again topped the lists for companies with women making up at least 10% of senior management and 20% of the total workforce.

A specific result of including more women at senior decision making levels was identified as the effect on the Scandinavian banking sector during the downturn.

Overall, Scandinavian countries had less economic problems than most – although Credit Suisse noted this could also be due to less exposure to US markets and a more ‘defensive’ financial outlook.

This article  is filed under: Discrimination, Diversity, Women, Leadership

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Unfair bosses and recruiters don’t do the job for minorities

 

Recruitment agencies and employers are failing jobseekers from minority groups, according to a new study.

Few black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) candidates feel recruitment consultants put themselves out to aid their careers – and when they have a job a glass-ceiling holds back their ambition to progress.

Despite more than 10% of the UK workforce coming from an ethnic minority background and over 20% of the emerging workforce coming from an ethnic minority background, huge numbers allege unfair treatment at work.

The report Breaking Down Barriers report released by Race for Opportunity, alleges that around 75% of Bangladeshi, Caribbean and Pakistani employees feel they were unfairly treated by recruitment agencies.

Once they have a job, many BAME employees believe they need to move employers to advance their careers because they are held back from promotion.

The makes three recommendations to employers:

  • Encourage BAME managers to show leadership and to mentor others
  • Pay, train and value BAME staff the same as any other race or employee
  • Urge recruiters to ignore race and to treat job candidates on merit

The report interviewed 1,500 workers from eight ethnic groups and found hopes for career advancement varied between them.

African and Indian staff were the most ambitious.

However, while around 70% of white British workers felt they would progress their careers with their current employers, more than half of their BAME colleagues believed they would have to move on for promotion.

“This has to be a serious concern for businesses that are failing to engage, retain and progress their employees on an equal basis” says the report.

The survey also asked BAME workers to disclose the perceived barriers to career ambitions.

The resounding response from six out of 10 Pakistani, African and Chinese workers was they lacked support from their line managers.

Many others cited lack of training – with a third of Caribbean, Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani workers said they had not been on a training course at all in the last year, compared with white British workers who said they had been on more than two.

Download the full report (Opens in new window) [LINK: http://www.bitc.org.uk/document.rm?id=13138]

What is diversity? See http://www.diversityleaders.org/our-services/what-is-diversity

Do you want more than what Diversity Training can deliver? See Diversity at Work in the workplace http://www.diversityleaders.org/our-services/training-a-events

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Give your views on how equality is working

 

Equality and diversity managers have their chance to influence government policy as part of David Cameron’s red tape challenge to slimline bureaucracy.

The government is seeking views on how equality legislation is working – and what, if anything, can be changed to improve the law.

The Equality Act 2010 is umbrella legislation that replaced nine major statutes and around 100 sets of regulations aimed at making diversity management easier for business and public sector organisations.

Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone said: “The Equality Act is here to stay. Fairness and opportunity for all remain at the heart of government. But there is always more we can do to ensure that business is not being strangled by red tape.

Unnecessary rules

“This government is committed to economic prosperity and reducing unnecessary rules and regulations. We want to hear from individuals, businesses, public sector organisations and voluntary and community organisations about how the act is working in practice.

“We want to know whether the act could be simplified, better implemented, or if certain provisions should be dropped or amended, or whether it should be kept exactly as it is.”

For more about the red tape challenge and how to respond, go to http://www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/home/index/

One major change was implemented by Home Secretary Theresa May when she scrapped gender pay reporting measures under section 78 of the act. The government is urging businesses to publish the data voluntarily instead.

Meanwhile, Director of People and Policy at BT, Caroline Waters, has taken up the post as equality champion tasked with mediating the easing of legislation between the government and industry.

Deadline for consultation

The clocking is also ticking on government consultation about reforming the Equality and Human Rights Commission, with the deadline for submissions is June 15, 2011.

The consultation and forms for response are available for download from http://www.equalities.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=1789

EHCR has already published a short response – promising a more detailed document will follow.

The EHRC view is that the government is right to examine the early progress of the commission, but some of the current proposals for change may run counter to equality policy and a broader approach to deregulation and decentralisation.

Do you want more than what Diversity Training can deliver? See Diversity at Work http://www.diversityleaders.org/our-services/training-a-events

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BBC slammed for diversity failings

The BBC needs to switch on to the real world instead of portraying Christians as ‘derogatory stereotypes’ and marginalising older women.

This indictment of the broadcaster’s diversity policy is even more damning as the main critics are viewers and the BBC’s staff.

Many believe the organisation goes too far in representing minority views, with positive discrimination affecting recruitment and too much time spent concentrating on ‘tokenism’ and diversity ‘box ticking’.

The results of a diversity study carried out by the BBC were leaked by the Daily Mail. The report was compiled form a survey of 4,500 people.

The research repeatedly slammed the BBC over depictions of Christians on TV.

Derogatory stereotypes

Many respondents claimed the BBC was anti-Christian and poorly represented Christianity.

“Christians are specifically mentioned as being badly treated, with a suggestion that more minority religions are better represented despite Christianity being the most widely observed religion within Britain,” said a quote from the report.

Others said:

  • “As a Christian I find that the BBC’s representation of Christianity is mainly inaccurate, portraying incorrect, often derogatory stereotypes.”
  • “Seldom do we find a Christian portrayed in drama, and when we do, it is usually a “weak” person or a “bigot”

A recurring criticism was soap storylines lacked pro-Christian themes but often showed the faith in a poor light.

Doomed to fail

In many ways, the BBC is doomed to fail whatever minority group or religion is portrayed in programmes, as the content often generates complaints from other minorities or faiths.

The study also highlighted that many viewers were concerned at the treatment of older women, who were often shown as feeble and unable to lead a normal life.

Others moaned that the organisation is tainted politically as left-wing or too liberal..

A BBC spokesman said: “We have strict editorial guidelines on impartiality, including religious perspectives, and Christian programming forms the majority and the cornerstone of our religion and ethical output.”

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Dual discrimination rules scrapped in Budget

Dual discrimination rules scrapped in Budget

Scrapping dual discrimination rules was among a raft of measures to cut red tape for business announced in the 2011 Budget by Chancellor George Osborne.

The rules were introduced by the Equality Act 2010 but remained on the statute book waiting to start on April 6.

Dual discrimination regulations would have let people who felt they had a discrimination case under two ‘protected characteristics’ to launch a combined claim. The characteristics include race, religion, belief, gender and sexual orientation.

Groups and charities working with minority individuals slammed the move.

Richard Hawkes, chief executive of disability charity Scope said: “This Budget won’t help the government to deliver on its commitment to support disabled people. It is undermining the Equality Act by delaying the dual discrimination clauses. This shows questionable support of disabled people in employment and in everyday life.

Businesses get a free pass from new rules

“The Equality Act is hugely important to disabled people and has already been through a rigorous process to become legislation. Why are we hitting the pause button yet again when it comes to giving disabled people the protection and confidence they need to contribute to society?”

Consultation has also opened on the best way to remove the “unworkable” Equality Act 2010 requirement calling on employers to prevent harassment of their staff by third parties.

The Chancellor claims deregulation will save businesses around £350 million as firms with 10 or less employees were given a three-year moratorium on complying with new rules.

Alongside the Budget rule changes, the government has also indicated that a review of European Union regulations and directives considered ‘burdensome’ is under way.

This includes looking at EU proposals to give 20 weeks maternity leave and two week’s paternity leave on full pay that is likely to cost UK businesses around £2 billion a year.

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