How well are we doing?
The way forward
According to Trevor Phillips, Chair, Equality and Human Rights Commission, whilst Britain has changed in terms of diversity, the workplace has not moved enough in parallel.
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"...While the working population has become more diverse, in many important ways the rules that govern our working lives have remained - our working practices have not evolved to keep place with the rapid changes in wider society"[1] |
But our research shows that some workplaces are ahead of the game and that more generally, things are beginning to change. Equality and diversity policy and practice is taken very seriously by businesses and there are some very good examples of how businesses have incorporated new approaches to ensure everyone is treated equally, with the same opportunities. Clearly, given that inequality remains within the workforce (age, disability, gender (including transgender), race, religion or belief and sexual orientation), there is still more to be done. There is also a need to take the debate further and also to focus on cohesion in the workplace.
Our research shows that the workplace provides a great opportunity to address cohesion issues. People are 'forced' to work together and therefore need to have some level of understanding of each other. This is not to say workplace tensions do not exist and never will, however if we harness the potential the workplace can bring to cohesion, this is not only beneficial to businesses but can also impact positively on wider society.
With communications making the world seem a lot smaller and the impact of globalisation, the way we do business is fundamentally changing. There has been an increase in the number of markets that can be accessed, the outsourcing of departments abroad has become more widespread and the movement of people working across the world has meant that all businesses have had to become much more culturally literate. It has encouraged organisations to look at their core values and adapt them to these changes.
There is now a need to adapt current policy and practice to reflect the cohesion agenda rather than sticking to previous approaches to equality and diversity. Flexibility and adaptability to the marketplace will become key to pursuing cohesion practice, both within the workforce and by more generally working with difference and building commonalities to ensure that business and societal goals are in harmony.
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"Companies must respect values and differences and reflect these in order for employees and customers to be able to recognise themselves in the company. These values include cultural and religious values. This is becoming core business for companies and will for many require a change in business approach" [2] |
1. An Equal Future, The Guardian, 3rd October 2009
2. The Business of Muslim Integration: The Formation of Islamic Civil Society in Non-Muslim Countries, Jeffrey Schwerzel Lecture at St. Ethelburga's on October 27 2004