EMPLOYER SELF-INTEREST DRIVES DIVERSITY CULTURE.
Left to Right: David Amos, Director of Workforce UCLH
Diversity culture, the adoption of positive approaches to diversity in the workplace, is being stimulated by employers exercising self-interest in an 'hour-glass' shaped employment market. Rising skills and labour shortages coupled with more conflicting demands for flexibility from both employers and employees make positive workforce diversity policies advantageous, or even crucial to success.
This view of was highlighted by Richard Worsley , Co-Director of The Tomorrow Project; a charity researching Britain’s next 20 years and the choices likely to shape them. Mr Worsley made his comments during a recent conference: Diversity, Business and the Future, chaired by Allan Bouglas, Head of Development Committed to Equality, and Ian Barr Managing Director of Astar Management. The debate over whether ‘diversity is good for business’ also featured keynote addresses by Helen Judge, Head of the Race Equality Unit at The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), and the Greater London Authority’s Equalities and Policing Director Lee Jasper.
According to Mr Worsley, “…high quality, well-paid jobs [will become] increasingly segregated from low quality, low paid jobs by the erosion of the 'middle' jobs which traditionally provided the ladders from one to the other.” The resultant ‘hour-glass’ employment market forms the context for a number of factors persuading self-interested employers to realise their diversity potential. These factors include skills shortages which create a seller’s market of choosy employees, as well as greater demands for flexibility among both employers requiring 24/7 working on the one hand, and employees wishing to reconcile home and work needs on the other. Mr. Worsley argued that such factors mean “diversity will be more effectively driven by employer self-interest than by regulation.”
David Iball of conference organisers Diverse Culture said skills shortages were compelling companies to re-evaluate working arrangements and consider their reputations. Being an attractive employer meant: “considering the needs of many employees who may want to work flexibly, which allows businesses to operate beyond standard hours. Organisations taking into account people’s differences are unlocking hidden skills and improving their reputation among both employees and customers.”
This means that in twenty years time equality will be an integral part of the way we do business in the UK , a ccording to Janet Lakhani, CEO of equality consultancy c2e, “Employers should begin now to calculate their diversity payback. A profit increase of at least 5% is realised by organisations that employ diversely. This is incentive enough to put in place the mechanisms that will ensure fair employment practices, and ensure that people with potential are given opportunity.”
The globalising economy also featured as a catalyst for workplace changes. Lee Jasper pointed out that London has nearly 2000 foreign owned headquartered companies listed on its markets, valued at nearly £2.5 trillion. It is also home to a diverse population of over 200 nationalities, speaking more than 300 languages and belonging to at least 14 different religions. But while the top half of the hour-glass job market is developing opportunities by embracing diversity, he also drew attention to challenges faced by the bottom half. “Particularly challenging is the fact that not everyone has shared in London’s success: too many groups have fallen behind and face barriers to participating in the city’s prosperity.”
Helen Judge argued that the recent re-shuffle of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office into the newly formed Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) incorporated a powerful new remit to promote equality, as well as responsibility for housing, urban regeneration, planning and local government and formed part of a battalion of government resources marshalled to address changing workplace issues.
“ The independent Equalities Review, the Discrimination Law Review and the creation of the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights will significantly change the landscape of this agenda, creating a far more coherent framework for promoting equality and combating discrimination,” she said. “This is a time when employers and employees need to be more aware than ever of the advantages of a diverse workforce. But a diverse workforce means that we have to be confident that everyone has access to the opportunities that this brings.”
The conference was organised by Diverse Culture Ltd., a training consultancy focused on unlocking the potential in diversity and avoiding costly non-compliance with legislation.
Author: Stuart Winchester
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