HTL and retail sectors fall short of FTSE benchmark for gender diversity

• Aparna Sreevalsan
• 7 November, 2023

HOSPITALITY, travel, leisure (HTL), and retail sectors in Britain have yet to meet the FTSE benchmark of 40 per cent women on boards and remain far from achieving a 50/50 gender split, according to a latest study.

Progress has been made in increasing the number of women in leadership roles. However, the pace of change is not as rapid as desired, the report says.

Diversity in Retail (DiR) has released its annual report, shedding light on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) within the HTL, and retail sectors.

It offers insights into progress, challenges, and areas for improvement in promoting diversity and inclusion in these industries.

Other key findings include:

• The sectors continue to lack senior leaders who openly identify as disabled. Only a small percentage of companies could identify leaders with disabilities in their top three levels.
• Most companies have identified senior LGBTQ+ role models within their organisations and maintain active LGBTQ+-focused Employee Resource Groups. However, some employees still do not feel comfortable disclosing their sexual orientation.
• Leadership teams in these sectors have become more ethnically diverse over time, although the rate of change is slowing. There remains a significant gap in leadership teams reflecting the communities they serve.

Tea Colaianni, Founder and Chair of DiR, said: “The research shows that although change is happening, we must remain vigilant and resolute in our determination to address areas where progress might be stalling or where diverse representation might have fallen behind.”

DiR has introduced the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Maturity Curve in collaboration with Oxford Brookes Business School, offering an industry-backed framework to assess progress in EDI.

Companies can use this tool to benchmark their EDI efforts, identify gaps, and develop action plans for improvement.

Colaianni added: “It is also crucially important that we continue to measure progress and impact and that is why we have created our EDI Maturity Curve which enables businesses to understand the progress they are making and the impact of their work compared to other organisations in the sector.”

* Diversity in Retail (DiR) is a collaboration community formed to increase D&I across the Retail sector.