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ISSUES: Racial & Ethnic Discrimination
Chapter 1: Racism & discrimination
Race at Work
Executive summary from the Business in the Community report.
The voices of 24,457 individuals
cannot be ignored
This
Race at Work
report provides us
with greater understanding of the issues
around this under-representation of
ethnicminorities in theworkplace and at
senior levels. In this report we share the
experiences of 24,457 ethnic minority
and white employees aged 16 and over
and currently in employment in the UK
(England, Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland). The participants took the race
at work survey via a YouGov panel
survey (6,076 respondents) and a public
open survey (18,381 respondents).
In theUK today, Black, AsianandMinority
Ethnic (BAME) people are under-
represented at every management level
in the workplace. One in eight of the
working age population is from a BAME
background, yet only one in ten are in
the workplace and only one in 16 top
management positions are held by an
ethnic minority person.
1
British people
with a BAME background are more likely
to enjoy their work but are less likely to
be rated as top performers compared to
their white counterparts.
2
BAME people are more likely to enjoy
their work and have far greater ambition
than their white colleagues. 64% of
BAME and 41% of white employees in
the panel survey said it is important
that they progress. This is amplified
in the open survey with 84% of BAME
employees and 63% of white employees
saying it is important to progress.
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Racial harassment and bullying
within the workplace is prevalent.
30% of those employees who
have witnessed or experienced
racial harassment or bullying from
managers, colleagues, customers or
suppliers report it has occurred in
the past year alone.
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Many UK employees do not feel
valued or inspired. Many employees
do not have access to career role
1
Race at the Top
, Business in the
Community, June 2014
2
Gender and Race Benchmark 2014:
Performance and Appraisal
, Business in
the Community, 2014
models, nor are they inspired,
feel supported or valued by their
managers. This is felt most keenly
by people from an ethnic minority
background; BAME employees are
less satisfied with their experiences
of management and progression
than white employees and just over
half of the open survey respondents
feel that they are working as part of
a team. The lack of role models in
the workplace is particularly stark
for Black Caribbean (11%) and Other
Black group (7%) employees, with
Chinese and Mixed race employees
lacking role models both inside and
outside of the workplace.
Ö
We are not comfortable talking
about race at work. UK workplaces
might be comfortable talking
about age and gender, but are less
comfortable talking about race. It is
clear employers need to have more
confidence to address the issue of
race at work and aim to understand
how it has an impact on the
individual and their opportunity to
reach their full potential.
Ö
Getting on the fast-track is an
unequal business. Interest in taking
part in a fast track programme is
significantly higher among BAME
groups, jumping from 18% of
white employees who would take
part to 40% of BAME employees.
However, this is not reflected
by greater access to fast track
management
programmes
or
inclusion in succession planning
for all ethnic minority groups. The
leadership pipeline of today needs
to be populated with sufficient
BAME talent to ensure that senior
management of the future reflects
an increasingly diverse working age
population.
There is some good news
There is some evidence that workplaces
are responding to a high demand for
mentors from BAME employees. Access
to a sponsor is important when any
group is under-represented at senior
levels and there is some evidence
that BAME people are more likely to
have access to a sponsor than white
employees. Where these relationships
exist, BAME people respond positively –
they feel valued and actively supported
in their career progression.
5 November 2016
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The above information is reprinted
with kind permisison from Business
in the Community. Please visit
for
further information.
© Business in the Community 2016
