MANY UK firms have improved their attention to diversity and inclusion, according to a latest annual review by .
However, on other aspects, such as age, socioeconomic position, and sexual orientation, firms seem to be lagging behind – and are not addressing gender inequality very much.
The 87 major firms in the UK were examined for the DIAL Global Diversity Review 2023, including Alfa, Barclays, Britvic, Havas, KPMG, Pfizer, Royal Mail, and others.
The yearly evaluation examines equality, belonging, diversity, and inclusion in major UK corporations.
The DIAL Global Diversity Review, formerly the McKenzie-Delis Foundation Review, encompasses ten distinct diversity features like ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, mental health, disability, socio-economic background, nationality, religion, and parenthood.
It is revealed that nationality, mental health, and religion were the three highest-scoring features among the ten, most companies excel on.
However, just 34 per cent of businesses claim to have 50/50 representation of men and women at the top, signalling a plateau in gender parity at the executive level.
And even when they do reach senior leadership positions or boards of directors, women still make up only two out of every five members, placing them in the minority.
The last three features on the list were age, socio-economic status, and sexual orientation.
These three factors were ranked lowest in the same study from 2022.
The report conducted by Diverse Inclusive Aspirational Leaders highlighted “positive progress” in a number of areas, with 84 per cent of participating companies now employing a chief diversity officer or a position of a similar nature.
There has also been a notable rise in the number of companies with at least one senior leader who is classified as coming from an ethnic minority background.
The ratio of leaders from ethnic minorities to whites is remains 1:4, nevertheless, even when there is representation at the top.
Leila McKenzie-Delis, chief executive of DIAL Global, said: “This year’s review showed some promising improvements that UK businesses are making progress in DIBE (Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Equity), which we are delighted to see. However, when looking closely at each of the ten facets, you can see this effort is not being distributed equally.
“Businesses are recognising now that tracking and measuring DIBE seriously ensures a more successful business performance, whilst also allowing them to see their reputation amongst current and prospective employees, customers and shareholders improve.”
Seven out of nine (78 per cent) of the participating firms claimed to have outreach initiatives that specifically target students from schools in lower socioeconomic areas or backgrounds.
Nevertheless, fewer than half (49 per cent) claimed to gather and keep track of information on the socio-economic status of their workers.
The annual review is commissioned to broaden the awareness and understanding of visible and invisible segments of diversity and better understand how organisations are reporting, measuring and taking action to become more inclusive and diverse employers.
Subscribe for our weekly news letter here!
You can unsubscribe us at any time
