HR Magazine: Is HR a hypocrite when it comes to D&I?

HR Magazine highlights and questions the lack of action taken to improve diversity amongst HR Professionals. While comedic, the ‘Sally in HR’ trope is very real with the CIPD membership survey revealing that 74% of its members are female and 88% are white. How can those at ground level place trust in the credibility of HR when affinity bias infiltrates every aspect of the business? In an industry where BAME professionals lack, the continuous disregard of biases creates a ‘leaky bucket’.

The 2019 Green Park Leadership 10,000 found the number of FTSE 100 leaders from BAME backgrounds had dropped from 9% in 2018 to 7.4%. Therefore, despite the implementation of diversity policies within the organisations, not enough is being done to target the core of the issue. Organisations like The 30% Club and Stonewall drive the progression of LGBT awareness within the workplace by providing advice and information, even still, companies have to take ownership and not over rely on external help. Ultimately, more could be done to tackle issues of race and disabilities.

Raj Tulsiani, CEO of Green Park advises that the employment of Chief Diversity Officers is an effective way to measure how well companies are doing to combat their lack of diversity. It enforces accountability beyond HR Professionals onto a specialist.

Reports such as Green Park Leadership 10,000 are hard hitting, but the reality is unavoidable; a diverse workforce is a sustainable one. A homogenous workforce cannot thrive in the world’s multicultural climate, it cannot effectively implement changes that impact these communities.

The above is a summary of an article published in HR Magazine 27/02/20. For the full article, please click here.