IWD originated in the early 1900s and now celebrated each year on March 8, International Women’s Day brings together governments, women’s organisations, corporations and charities through talks, rallies, networking events, conferences and marches.
The commitment to the original aim – to achieve full gender equality for women around the world has made positive gains but far from equal. Therefore, celebrating the social, political and economic achievements of women while focusing global attention on areas requiring further action on International Women’s Day could not be more important.
The theme for International Women’s Day this year is #EachForEqual – which looks to celebrate women’s achievements, to raise awareness against bias and to act for equality.
Representing the underrepresented is the mission of our executive search business. We are incredibly fortunate to engage with, represent and have the honour to meet incredible men and women who have achieved great successes in a world that does not want them to succeed. These individuals are known for not only being brilliant but for also using their voices, their skills and their platforms to help showcase other diverse individuals, ensuring greater and fairer opportunities for the diverse people that come after them.
To us, these people are Lions – resilient, inspiring and unapologetic – and we’re so excited to be launching a new series that profiles these exceptional individuals following International Women’s Day.
The Lion’s Share is a new interview series, with diverse leaders who have excelled in their fields to become globally renowned Lions of Industry. We are inviting the Lions to share their stories and disseminate their wisdom to inspire others.
We hope this series can further illuminate the incredible work of brilliant, diverse leaders. The first in the series will be shared Monday 9th March.
Our year has began with a bounty of activity, and as we hurtle into February I’d like to spotlight a few key themes throughout January.
We spent our first day of the new year on a farm with our Charity Partner Key4Life. We unpacked and pieced together the emotional resilience toolkit, used on the rehabilitation programme for the young men in judicial custody. It was an incredibly moving experience as some of the young men recently released, joined us to share stories of their extremely difficult background, unfortunate choices and how the programme has helped turnaround and in some instances save their life. A very powerful day. An apprenticeship, work placement or employment is life changing for these young men and we are proud to support.
We have also met with numerous clients this month, ranging from 20,000 employee population size down to >500. All whom share the same interest in understanding how to effectively talent scout. Talent leaders who made investment in pipelining and market mapping often found low conversion rate when it came to a live vacancy and we were able to share insights, best practice and lessons learned to increase greater success of conversion.
This month could not be bought to a close without also reflecting on the recent travesty of Vanessa Nakate. The 23-year-old Ugandan activist had appeared with other prominent climate activists, including Greta Thunberg, Loukina Tille, Luisa Neubauer and Isabelle Axelsson on a panel at Davos. These are the words of Vanessa, after she addressed a tweet to the Associated Press asking why she had been cropped out of a photo they posted.
“When I saw the photo, I only saw part of my jacket. I was not on the list of participants. None of my comments from the press conference were included,” she said. “It was like I wasn’t even there.”
Some media outlets went as far as to remove her name as a speaker on the panel. In response to the claims of erasure, Associated Press announced an expansion of their diversity training programme worldwide to address the issues raised by Vanessa Nakate. Whilst “more training” is often seen as the solution in cases like this, unfortunately if we are to evolve our understanding of inclusion and the value and importance of diversity, we must go further than simple training modules; no matter how eye opening they may be.
We know that people operate within their own perception biases. They are attracted to people who look, act, and think like them. If companies do not proactively focus on diversification, they end up with teams of people who think and act alike. So, when you start to dig under the fabric of the Associated Press as an organisation, it’s not too difficult to see why maybe the voices of Black, or non-white, contributors may be marginalised: on a board of 17 people, there is one non-white Non-Executive. Furthermore, on an Executive leadership team of 7, there is only one leader who is non-white.
The harsh reality is, if this was a shortlist of candidates on paper it would appear fantastic as there are four females. However, through nothing more than inherent bias, the ethnically diverse woman would not have made the cut for consideration, removing the opportunity of selection to interview.
Too often we accept a socially acceptable picture of diversity as progress, but we should be asking who is still being cropped out and why. We can’t have real discussions around discrimination within our recruitment processes without making those responsible for procuring shortlists accountable for minimum-viable-outcomes.
If January is anything to go by 2020 is going to be an illuminating year for greater expectations, outcomes and responsibility from those who attest to champion and empower diversity.
Many of us are feeling proud of the initiatives, events and thought-provoking conversations held throughout Black History Month, and rightly so. However, I wanted to ensure time was taken to consider the journey which remains ahead of us.
As of this time, most would acknowledge that conversations about racial equality are inconsistent. There are still difficult conversations to be held around inequality faced by Black people at a macro level, outside of the comfort zone of Ethnic Employee Network Groups. A few recent figures to highlight this:
Racially diverse people are losing out on £3.2bn a year in wages compared to non-ethnic colleagues.
Racially diverse people are more likely to be diagnosed and admitted for poor mental health conditions but experience the poorest outcomes from treatment and are disproportionately detained.
Less than a third of businesses (31 per cent) publish their ethnicity pay gap, despite 63 per cent of employers saying they monitor it. It remains unchanged for almost 7 years.
Black African women have a mortality rate four times higher than white women in the UK.
Racially motivated hate crimes increased by 37% in one recent year.
Around 13% of the working age population are racially diverse, yet we hold just six per cent of top management positions.
For many years now, it has been illegal to discriminate against anyone because of their race or ethnic group. However, the above depicts clear barriers to equality for certain people based on nothing more than the colour of their skin or the pronunciation of their name. This must change.
What can you do to support this change?
Mitigate bias – We have partnered with organisations who have taken progressive steps in removing bias from senior leadership through to executive profiles. This was achieved by removing prospective candidate names and education history from all longlist reports and pairing this with mandatory diverse interview panellists. Whilst this approach doesn’t fix underlying cultural issues within an organisation, it does allow for a significantly more unbiased view on a candidate profile based on skill and suitability over status and ‘fit’.
Adopt the Rooney Rule – In 2003, the American NFL published a policy that stated, “for every open vacancy a candidate from an ethnic-minority background must be interviewed”. You can demand a more diverse candidate slate from your search partners.
Extend diversity metrics beyond gender – While female representation is regulated for FTSE organisations, ethnic-diversity should and can also be measured.
Become a Sponsor – This role is just as important, if not more so than a Mentor. Sponsors take an active role in elevating an individual’s profile within the organisation. You would ideally be in a position to endorse or assign your diverse Future Leader or Rising Star as a lead on notable projects. This would not only allow access to wider parts of the business but, when delivered with a successful outcome, would help position the conversation for a pay rise or promotion. As a Sponsor and Career Champion, you give voice to the underrepresented person, in the room, they continue to seek representation in.
We have had an incredible time this Black History Month, celebrating culture, heritage and brilliance, alongside everyone else. But I can’t help but recognise the disconnect between intent and action and demand more from the activity.
My hope for BHM next year? It’s simple. Black History Month is to be better utilised as a catalyst for progress. I hope that the recognition of Black history and contribution is better used as a business case for furthering Black equality, for furthering positive action towards the pay and opportunity disparity experienced by Black people and for furthering the proportional representation of Black and Ethnic Minority people in the workplace at all levels.
Until such time, the celebration of Black History does just that, keeps us focused on the past. Christina Brooks, Co-Founder & CEO – Ruebik
