ITN publishes its Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) pay gap today alongside tough targets and an action plan to improve recruitment, representation and progression throughout the business.
One of the first media organisations to choose to make its BAME pay gap public, ITN has a mean BAME pay gap of 16.1 per cent (median: 20.8 per cent) and mean BAME bonus pay gap of 66 per cent (median: 50 per cent).
ITN has published its figures as part of a report laying out initiatives to both increase BAME representation at all levels of the company and reduce the pay gap, with a focus on raising the number of BAME people in senior decision-making management and editorial roles.
You can read the full 2018 ITN BAME Pay Gap Report here.
Targets include a 50 per cent reduction in the BAME pay gap by 2022, with BAME employees making up 20 per cent of top 20 earners. The company also committed to increasing representation of black, Asian or other minority ethnicity people from 15 per cent to 20 per cent within the same period.
A key initiative, effective immediately, includes the policy for at least one BAME candidate to be interviewed for every role.
ITN CEO John Hardie said:
“As one of the first media organisations to publish its BAME pay gap, ITN is committed to being a diverse and inclusive place to work. We have made positive progress in terms of BAME representation in recent years but we have more to do to get where we want to be.
“To close this pay gap, we must work harder to increase the proportion of BAME people at every level of ITN, particularly in the senior decision-making management roles. We have set challenging targets, including halving the BAME pay gap by 2022, alongside an action plan to improve representation and remove barriers to progression.
“I am confident that these initiatives will significantly improve the overall diversity of ITN and the pay gap itself, creating a culture where everyone can flourish.”
Other diversity initiatives at ITN include provision of unconscious bias training for all managers, reverse mentoring, a company-wide staff diversity and inclusion forum and an apprenticeship scheme focused on ethnically and socially diverse candidates.
Suki Sandhu, CEO and Founder of Audeliss and INvolve, says,
“We are delighted to see ITN leading the charge on banning all-white shortlists across all future roles at the organisation. Beyond the clear moral argument, a diverse and inclusive workforce benefits both business’ bottom line and the wider economy. We need more companies to put their money where their mouth is and actively work to effect positive change.
“Shortlist quotas can sometimes be a contentious issue. But, in order for us to achieve true equality in the workplace, we don’t need to lower the bar or our expectations. As ITN is demonstrating, it’s about levelling the playing field – ensuring that diverse communities are getting access to the best opportunities, and that companies are getting access to the best talent pool.
“However, the reality is if we really want to see a significant shift in attitude, changes must be made at the top. Currently there are very few ethnic minority business leaders in the UK, particularly in the FTSE 100. Whilst we can’t just inject diversity into every level of our businesses overnight, we can work harder to celebrate diverse role models who are leading UK businesses to provide role models for our future leaders.
“To bring about change internally businesses need to be building diversity and inclusion into everything they do – recruitment, training, policy and culture. A token ethnic minority hire onto a leadership team isn’t the answer. On top of recruiting from a diverse pool we need to be reviewing diversity at every level of our businesses and tracking staff retention, taking active steps to address any shortcomings. As well as ensuring policies and mandatory training is inclusive and non-discriminatory – for example unconscious bias training for all which can really help shift perceptions and therefore culture.”
Rebecca joined the HRreview editorial team in January 2016. After graduating from the University of Sheffield Hallam in 2013 with a BA in English Literature, Rebecca has spent five years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past she has been part of the editorial teams at Sleeper and Dezeen and has founded her own arts collective.
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