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 Equality and diversity in the workplace projects

“The final report ETHNOS produced for us was insightful, accurate and professional. They have helped the PROUD network to highlight the priority needs of our ethnic minority staff, an outcome which is already being used to assist the Lord Chancellor’s Department in achieving equality in the workplace. Their recommendations were clear, practical and easy to understand. I would recommend them to any organisation.”

Rob Neil
PROUD Network Coordinator
Lord Chancellor’s Department

In partnership with GHK, ETHNOS evaluated the impact of the diversity of the Children's Workforce (in terms of gender, race, religion, age and sexual orientation) on the effectiveness of the Workforce's services for children, young people and families. The evaluation sought to establish whether there is a relationship between workforce diversity and positive outcomes; what is the nature of any such relationship and how it works in practice; to what extent workforce diversity can drive positive outcomes; to what extent workforce diversity, in the form of a mismatch between workforce and community diversity, acts as a barrier to positive outcomes; how diversity mismatches can be manifested in poorer outcomes; and what policy responses can be put in place where workforce diversity does constitute a barrier to positive outcomes. These aims were achieved through an extensive literature review, national data analysis, and in-depth case studies which included an analysis of local workforce data, a series of qualitative interviews with key local authority and project staff, and interviews and sociometric maps with service users and service "avoiders".

HOME OFFICE

Views and attitudes of minority ethnic staff at the Home Office

The Home Office was keen to understand the needs and experiences of its minority ethnic staff. It commissioned ETHNOS to assess the views and experiences of black and Asian staff towards the Home Office. We conducted a postal survey of over 2000 black and Asian staff who are members of a support network for staff from minority ethnic backgrounds. The survey gathered views on such matters as:

• work satisfaction
• career development and progression
• diversity, discrimination and racism in the workplace
• the role of the ethnic minority support network
• communications within the organisation

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

Survey of minority ethnic staff for the Lord Chancellor’s Department / Department of Constitutional Affairs (now Ministry of Justice)

The LCD (now Ministry of Justice) commissioned ETHNOS to survey members of PROUD, a network supporting the LCD’s black and minority ethnic staff. ETHNOS used a postal survey to assess the members’ work satisfaction, career development and progression (e.g. appraisal and promotion procedures), perceptions of workplace diversity and discrimination, as well as internal communications. A series of recommendations were made to help the organisation achieve greater equality.

The survey was subsequently repeated to assess any changes in relation to the baseline data gathered through the original survey, as well as to measure the attitudes of minority ethnic staff in relation to proposed organisational changes.

IMPROVEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (I&DEA)

Mapping of BAME career progression and leadership development in local government

The I&DEA supports improvement and innovation in local government. As part of their effort to promote equality and diversity among local authorities, they commissioned ETHNOS to provide an overview of BAME career progression and leadership development in local government. Through a combination of primary and secondary research, ETHNOS identified that, despite some progress in the overall representation of BAME staff in local government over recent years, BAME under-representation in local authorities is acute:

• BAME people make up 11.8% of the population in England but only 6.5% of LA staff
• BAME under-representation is found in all types of local authorities, although London boroughs have a more diverse workforce and have
made the most progress on diversity and equality
• all BAME communities are under-represented, although the problem is more severe for Asian people in London and for Black people outside
London
• BAME under-representation is especially severe in the higher echelons of local government, in strategic posts and across generic corporate
functions. It is also severe in some service areas, such as Planning, Building Valuation or Environmental Services, for instance.

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

Overcoming barriers to workforce diversity

The Environment Agency tasked ETHNOS with identifying the reasons for the low recruitment rates of people from minority ethnic communities within the Agency. The Agency wanted to explore the attitudes of existing ethnic minority staff and of people from ethnic minority backgrounds in the general population towards: a) environmental issues in general, and b) the Environment Agency in particular.

Through focus groups and consultation events, we produced a series of recommendations in relation to recruitment, career progression and retention that the Agency could consider to increase the diversity of its workforce. ETHNOS also tested recruitment materials to establish perceptions of a potential recruitment campaign. Both strands of work informed the development of a wider strategy by the Diversity Group at the Environment Agency.

GOVERNMENT EQUALITIES OFFICE

The routes to power of ethnic minority women

Ethnic minority women are under-represented in positions of power and senior decision-making authority. This is true across the public, private and voluntary sectors, as well as in politics. The specific reasons for this under-representation are not well understood beyond generalisations about all women or all people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Importantly, the experiences and insights of those ethnic minority women who have managed to negotiate their way to the top are rarely heard.

ETHNOS was commissioned to provide a better understanding of the reasons why ethnic minority women are so under-represented in positions of power by exploring the experiences of ethnic minority women who have succeeded in making their ways to the top. We interviewed the most senior ethnic minority women in Britain and explored in depth with them: the motivations behind their achievements; the professional trajectories they followed; the barriers and challenges they met along the way; the strategies they employed to overcome and handle these; the added value they bring to organisations; and their suggestions on how to support more ethnic minority women into senior decision-making roles.