Opportunity pays. By introducing a gender equality programme, a medium-sized company employing 500 people could save £66,000 in the first year and £141,000 thereafter, according to the businessled equal opportunities group, Opportunity Now. Its report, Equality and Business Excellence – The Business Case, published on November 22, includes a six-step calculation of possible savings, with examples showing the benefits that integrated gender equality strategies can offer, such as lower recruitment costs and higher employee commitment. The report follows the launch on October 22 of Opportunity Now’s Diversity Change Model. This forms the basis of its latest benchmark index, now in its fifth round, which measures diversity programmes among the group’s 350 business members. Contact Kate Price, Opportunity Now, on 07867 784 824 (http://www.opportunitynow.org.uk)
M&S wins on boardroom diversity
Marks & Spencer has the most wellbalanced senior management team in the UK, with women representing a quarter of its directors, according to research led by the solicitor-general, Harriet Harman MP. Logica, Legal & General and AstraZeneca are also commended in the survey of female representation on FTSE 100 companies’ boards. The research – published on November 26 with Cranfield School of Management and the Industrial Society – shows that the UK’s largest 20 companies have the highest proportion of female directors. However, over two-fifths (43%) of FTSE 100 companies still have no female board representation; only 10 of a possible 1,166 executive directorships are held by women; and only one FTSE 100 company has a female chief executive, namely Pearson. Contact Val Singh, Cranfield, on 01234 754 348 (http://www.cranfield.ac.uk)
Closing the pay gap
A national award for companies that recognises best practice for equal pay and equality is one of the new measures in the government’s most recent attempt to redress gender inequalities in the workplace. Announced on December 5, the measures build on the Kingsmill Review and include: . developing new reporting requirements for larger companies on training or recruitment; . encouraging companies to conduct employment and pay reviews covering all aspects of women’s employment; . spreading best practice through ‘fair pay champions’. The equal pay taskforce, led by Denise Kingsmill, deputy chairman of the Competition Commission, found that on average women working full time earn a fifth less than their male counterparts. But direct discrimination only accounts for around a third of this gap; the majority is due to unequal family responsibilities hindering career progression and to occupational segregation. Contact Amanda Dyson, Women and Equality Unit, on 020 7273 6488 (http://www.womens-unit.gov.uk)
Unequal entrepreneurs
A report by the Industrial Society suggests that economic discrimination is encouraging women to set up their own businesses, although they still face barriers to success, such as sexual stereotyping by banks. Unequal Entrepreneurs, released on October 18, calls for such measures as:
. a women’s business charter; . improved access to finance for women;
Volvo is starting a one-year cross-sector pilot programme in January to promote diversity in the workplace. The pilot serves as a model for other antidiscrimination programmes spearheaded by a consortium of six international companies, including Ford and the South African companies, Eskom and Sanlam. The initiatives build on a report in August, Discrimination is Everybody’s Business, which acted as an ‘invitation to joint action’ by Volvo for companies to address business-related diversity issues, such as gender discrimination and racism. Contact Kaarina Dubee, Volvo, on 00 46 31 321 2969 (http://www.volvocars.com)
Happy fifth birthday
Race for Opportunity, BITC’s business led network on race, celebrated its fifth anniversary on October 30. Membership has grown to 170 employers, with six local coalitions working with minority ethnic communities and 75 organisations actively targeting undergraduates from minority communities. Contact Annie Hughes, RfO, on 020 7820 1796 (http://www.raceforopportunity.org.uk)
news in brief
The advocacy group, Employers’ Forum on Disability, issued a guide on November 13 to recruiting people with disabilities, containing instructions for employers, based on Centrica’s experiences working with the Employment Service on the New Deal. Contact Susan Scott-Parker, EFD, on 020 7403 3020 (http://www.employersforum. co.uk)
MFI won the Special Award at the Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation’s EASE Awards for its commitment to enabling employees and customers with disabilities to achieve equality of employment and service. Other category winners at the awards, held on October 24 in association with Unum, include Halifax, Sainsbury’s and Virgin Atlantic Airways. Contact Justine Jewell, MFI, on 020 8913 5244 (http://www.mfi.co.uk)
Editorial Comment
The case for being proactive with positive action on gender equality is the best birthday present Opportunity Now could have. After all, companies should not need a business case for stopping doing the wrong thing. In any case, diversity is not about stopping discrimination. While that remains a significant factor, it’s only part of the picture. Paying different wages for the same job has been illegal since 1970 and the overwhelming majority of large employers don’t overtly discriminate. Less visible and more prevalent is the effect of slower career progress and lower responsibility levels from child care ‘gaps’. More subtle and harder to tackle are the gender stereotyping of jobs men and women traditionally do, and the pay differential between say nurses and oil rig workers. Thankfully, the business case model shows that at least on the former and partly on the latter, it can pay an individual employer to take action. What lessons can Race for Opportunity draw, as it celebrates its fifth anniversary? It would be easy to get downhearted. On race, blatant discrimination undoubtedly is still widespread. And if it’s hard enough getting the place of 50% of the workforce fully valued, how much more difficult the 5% from minority ethnic communities? First, simply stick at it. Persistence pays. Second, identify, prove and publicise the business case for taking positive action. Here globalisation is helping, with major companies increasingly internationalising their supply, manufacturing and sales. For them, cultural diversity has a real business case. Finally, a postscript about women and business start-ups. This has long been a part of companies’ community programmes, going back to the late 1970s and Mrs Thatcher’s ‘enterprise culture’. Now adding a diversity angle, through proactive help for women or black people, can achieve a two-for-the-price-of-one benefit.
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