News
Former Cabinet Minister James Purnell Calls For Business To Lead The Way In Changing Attitudes To Equality
1 April 2011
- Progression without Prejudice event hosted by Employers Forum on Age to explore discrimination in the workplace due to unconscious bias
- Companies must do what they can to attract people from different backgrounds with different abilities
Businesses play a major role when it comes to eliminating prejudice in the workplace, James Purnell, former Labour Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions, told the audience at the Employers Forum on Age and Belief (EFA & EFB) annual conference, earlier today (Wednesday 30 March).
When business is united on something, it is hard for the government to override it; attitudes are often first to change and government in turn responds, he stated.
The new look conference, entitled ‘Progression without Prejudice’, brought together over 130 employers and key commentators and was chaired by Mike Hawes, Director of HR, B&Q. Sponsors BAE Systems, BT, Deloitte and Marks and Spencer also provided their perspectives based on their own employer experiences:
Tanith Dodge, HR Director, Marks & Spencer spoke about Marks and Spencer’s work with hard to reach groups such as the homeless and women offenders and the positive effects that engaging with workers of all ages can have on business productivity.
Dennis Gissing Head of People Practice, BT spoke about the wide ranging programme of engagement that BT has to encourage young people into the workplace. This includes IT ambassadors who interact with teachers and students as well as a work inspiration programme to give young people an introduction to what the world of work is like.
Richard Hamer, Education Director & Head of Early Career Programmes, BAE Systems provided details of BAE System’s commitment to building employability skills locally and their use of apprenticeships and graduates to act as school ambassadors.
Alyson Sparks, HR Director for Resourcing, Deloitte spoke about the changes in the talent market and how Deloitte are broadening their strategy to reach young people in schools and colleges, including a gap year scheme.
Other contributions included John Carmody, Office for Graduate Opportunities, Department for Business Innovation and Skills who discussed the government’s plans to seek ways to support the creation of internships and to promote opportunities for black, asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities. The government will launch a code of practice for graduate internships later this year.
At every level in organisations, employees can face discrimination through other people’s prejudices, consciously or unconsciously, affecting their ability to progress. This results in companies and businesses losing talented people to competition because of behaviour and attitudes of which they are not aware. It is now time to unblock the talent pipeline to combat this.
Recent research by EFA revealed just some of the impact unconscious prejudices are making on the UK workplace. The research found that:
- Over a third (35%) of workers feel that they have been discriminated against when applying for a job or promotion
- One in six (16%) workers believe that this discrimination was due to favouritism
- 62% of employees believe that all, most or some of their colleagues are similar to them
Denise Keating, CEO, Employers Forum on Age and Belief, commented: “While bias and prejudice in the workplace is inexcusable, it can often be the result of preconceived ideas and opinions of which we are often wholly unaware. However, the conference today highlighted that many organisations are becoming increasingly conscious of the detrimental effects this bias can cause, and are taking steps to eliminate it from the workplace. More employers must be made aware that the discrimination which may result can have a negative effect on employees, but also on an organisation as a whole. Companies continue to lose out on highly talented people because they do not widen their recruitment pools.