More than half (56%) of employers in the UK do not have a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination within the workplace.

This is according to new research commissioned by Winckworth Sherwood, which defined this absent zero-tolerant approach as not disciplining or dismissing managers that discriminate.

Surprisingly, two in five (39%) employers have no form of diversity and inclusion strategy and 20 percent are not taking any steps to improve diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&) whatsoever.

In addition, almost half (47%) of those employees surveyed believe their employer could do more to improve diversity and inclusion, and one in four employees believe their organisations are affected by bias.

Despite recent high-profile efforts by many sectors, there remains much work to be done to help bolster employment DE&I in the UK.

 

DE&I

The benefits to be gained by employers from encouraging greater DE&I have been discussed at great length during the past few years.

This includes fostering innovation to attracting and retaining key talent, and ultimately protecting against any potential legal claims deriving from bullying, harassment or discrimination.

 

Does working from home have an impact on an organisation’s DE&I?

Over a third (38%) of HR professionals surveyed consider that those working from home all or most of the time are disadvantaged compared to those who work in the office all or most of the time.

The risk of “invisibility bias” affecting those working from home more often threatens to disproportionately impact women and those with disabilities unless employers are alive to this issue and take pro-active steps to ensure parity of treatment between home-workers and office-workers.

Every two in nine employees surveyed believed that their leaders were not equipped to lead a multi-generational workforce and the top bias that employees felt organisations have in the workplace is age (against those workers aged over 55).

Promoting an environment of harmonious working between five different generations in the workplace will be key in organisations’ future success.

Report co-author Louise Lawrence, Partner in the Employment team at Winckworth Sherwood, said: “For all the encouraging advancements made by employers in recent years to combat discrimination and promote greater inclusion, diversity and equality in the workplace, there is clearly more that needs to be done.

“Our research findings serve as important reminder that initiatives launched to address issues such as diversity and inclusion represent a continual process of improvement rather than short-term fixes and employers need to consider the post-pandemic challenges that lie ahead.”

Report co-author, Harriet Calver, Senior Associate at Winckworth Sherwood, added: “We have seen employees’ attitudes to work, and the work-life balance, change dramatically during the past two years and our report clearly shows that there is a need for a large proportion of employers to adapt to this change.  Amidst the “great resignation”, employees are likely to remain more loyal to their employers if they feel they are valued and their voices heard.  We look forward to continuing our work with clients across multiple sectors to help them attract, retain and diversify their talent pool.”

These are just some of the challenges employers face and the changing dynamics within the workplace mean employers need to respond and adapt accordingly.

 This sheds light on the steps UK employers could take to combat the apparent shortfalls in equality, diversity and inclusion within their respective organisations and address employees’ concerns.

 

 

 

 

Amelia Brand
Amelia Brand

Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.