Workplaces have business and moral imperatives to diversify

Labour Party Conference: Improving workplace diversity is essential from a moral standpoint and to address the UK’s productivity problem. “Since the financial crisis we have experienced a massive slump in productivity, and there is no end in sight,” said Rushanara Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, speaking at a fringe meeting at the Labour Party Conference. “How employers and institutions address the workforce is clearly another dimension to the productivity challenge.” Both Labour and the unions are working up policies to increase diversity and equality in the workplace. But Kate Bell, head of economic affairs at the Trades Union Congress, said policy was just one part of the issue. More important, she said, were enforcement and educating workers about their rights. Mary Bright, senior manager at Aviva Insurance, said that employers were also searching for ways to increase diversity, as an aid to staff retention and productivity. “The business imperative is just as important [as the moral one],” she said. “Companies in the top quartile for diversity are 30% more likely to succeed. For me, it’s simple: a diverse team will understand its customers better. You are going to make better decisions.” Aviva as a company offers flexible working as standard, six months of equal pay for new parents, a carers policy and workplace MOTs and passports – tools to ensure staff are cared for and that any allowances follow them from post to post. Real estate, like other sectors of the UK economy, is struggling to shed its pale, male and stale image. Among other things, there have been criticisms that the regeneration of entire communities cannot be brought about by a board of men that have no stake, experience of knowledge of the area and the community they are rebuilding. “If we rely on fishing in a pool of white, middle-aged men to lead us, we are really limited in our options as a business,” said Bright. Ali said there was an ethic pay gap of 17% in London, while black graduates were twice as likely to be unemployed when finishing university. “What we need to see is a concerted effort to address the inequalities in the world of work,” she said. “If we do not address these structural inequalities, then we are condemned to poorer productivity.” To send feedback, e-mail alex.peace@egi.co.uk or tweet @EGAlexPeace or @estatesgazette