2009 Benchmarking Report - Transparency at the Heart of Diversity

The RfO research report ‘Race to the Top’, published at the start of this year, highlighted the lack of ethnic minority representation at management level in the UK (1 in 15) and concluded that at the current rate of change this gap was likely to widen further in future years unless action is taken now.

This year’s report has focussed on people and employees in the workplace and in particular the actions and interventions required around transparency, measuring and monitoring which has never been more important, as the UK population becomes more and more racially and culturally diverse.

In 2009, 44 member organisations participated in the benchmarking exercise; 24 from the private sector and 20 from the public sector. In addition, a further 35 organisations submitted data on the demographic make-up of their workforce making a total of 79 organisations who have provided workforce monitoring data. The workforce population of the organisations who have participated in this report represent 4% of the UK’s total working-age population.

This report is primarily focussed on what employers in the UK are doing or need to do. It focuses on the strengths and good practices of employers and identifies areas where challenges remain.

These are difficult times and we are pleased that so many UK employers have decided not to take their eyes off the business imperative for race diversity and inclusion despite the downturn and particularly where they are making their decisions affecting employees so that they are leaner and fitter for the economic recovery when it returns.

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