UK firms publish diversity data: CMI
Major UK businesses must publish data about the diversity of their workforces, according to a report by professional management group the CMI and the British Academy of Management. The study concentrates on ethnic diversity within management below board level and emphasises that increased diversity will be particularly important following Brexit, which raises “the prospect of reduced access to overseas talent”. Although 12.5% of the UK’s population is from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background, such workers hold just 6% of high level management posts.

Britain’s biggest businesses must take action to improve the diversity of their workforces and publish a breakdown of their black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) employees, a new report has urged.

The report by the professional management body the CMI and the British Academy of Management focuses on ethnic diversity at management levels below the boardroom and highlights the importance of the issue following the vote for Brexit.

“While uncertainty persists about the outcome of negotiations with the EU, employers in all sectors have to face up to the prospect of reduced access to overseas talent. That makes it imperative that we think about how we can do better at making the the most of everyone’s abilities,” the joint foreword by CMI chief executive Ann Francke and BAM president Professor Sir Cary Cooper said.

About 12.5% of the UK population are BAME but they hold just 6% of top management jobs. A government-backed report by businesswoman Ruby McGregor-Smith, published in February, said that £24bn could be added to to UK economy each year if minorities were able to progress through their careers at the same rate as their white counterparts.

That report by McGregor-Smith, a Conservative peer and former chief executive of the facilities management company Mitie, was published shortly after a government-commissioned review by businessman Sir John Parker concluded the should be a voluntary target for FTSE 100 companies to have least one non-white director by 2021. At the time, the proportion of non-white people on FTSE 100 boards was around 8%.

Both these reports were published before the election but Margot James, a business minister, endorsed the recommendations.

The latest report sets out a seven-point plan for business leaders to adopt, including “breaking the silence” on diversity, including training on the subject as a requirement for career progression and setting targets for progression of BAME individuals.

More information is needed at companies about the make-up of their workforce as 83% of the human resources managers surveyed for the CMI/BAM report said they needed better data. One respondent said: “The lack of BAME people in my company makes me feel ashamed. It is inexplicable unless you accept there must be discrimination in our culture.”

It was not the case for gender, the report said, where respondents said they were making more progress. In 2011, a report by Mervyn Davies highlighted the lack of women in top jobs and recommended that that FTSE 100 companies should double the proportion of women in boardrooms to 25% by 2015. While the target was exceeded it was largely though non-executive roles.

Some 79% of the respondents were collecting and holding some employee data, but only 54% of them tracked the data and only 21% reported publicly on the subject and set targets.

Business executive Pavita Cooper, who has worked in senior roles in the banking industry, will chair a new body, CMI Race. She said it was time to “reboot the conversation about race and ethnicity”.

The report found managers were nervous to talk about race and ethnicity for fear of causing offence. It discusses which language to use and settles upon using the term BAME, while the Parker review uses “people of colour”.