We recently attended the Race for Opportunity Awards. Aside from the chance for some of us to get dressed up for the evening, it’s a great opportunity to see the way things are changing, and what other organisations are doing well in this area. And, we’re delighted to have won an award ourselves, in the Innovation category, for our Diversity Scorecard.
One of our founding values is “Our doors are Open”. We are an inclusive business that tries to reflect the local communities where we operate. The Diversity Scorecard was created to improve recruiting percentages of women and BAME people, with a focus on management positions, identifying more diverse suppliers and to give our directors better clarity on company expectations for diversity and inclusion.
It helps our local business units to identify the scope for offering more roles that help address the ongoing diversity and inclusion issue. Diversity is embedded within Enterprise already, and has been for some time, but we are really proud to have had this recognised with this award.
Here’s a few key stats to give you an idea of how we’re doing as a business in relation to our own diversity. Of our entire UK workforce, specifically those who are from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds account for:
- 22% of year to date recruits
- 17.5% of our entire UK workforce
- 14% of our UK based Managers
Currently the unemployment rate among ethnic minority candidates is 13%, compared to the overall figure across the UK of 7.9%. So the work that Race for Opportunity does in highlighting the issue and recognising those that are taking demonstrable steps to improve it, is really valuable.
For those who aren’t familiar, the awards champion those organisations that are making a difference to recruitment and employee progression in the diversity sector.
It was heartening to see the great work that many organisations are now doing in this area. In the category for our award alone, there was outstanding competition from HSBC, Bartle Bogle Hegarty, the Gay Women’s Network and Ashurst LLP City Law.
I’m really proud to be part of such an inclusive company and would like to say thanks and a massive well done to everyone involved.