Race for Opportunity Benchmarking Results for 2009

Race for Opportunity (RfO) has now published its 2009 Benchmarking Report. “Transparency at the Heart of Diversity”, the only investigation of UK organisations’ attitudes to and action on race that describes the trends and challenges on ethnic diversity.

The RfO Network continues to identify the pre-requisite for success as leadership from the top, acknowledging that race diversity needs to have the same priority as any other business strategy

The 2009 Benchmark

The 2009 benchmark is based on information provided to RfO by 44 members who completed the full survey and 35 who provided additional workforce data. The combined workforce of the organisations evaluated is 1.5 million and represents 4% of the UK’s total working-age population. Our congratulations go to BT, who were ranked No.1 overall best performer on race diversity. Congratulations also to Thomson Reuters as best newcomers.

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.

The Top 5 Trends:

The top 5 trends that RfO network employers engaged on in 2009:

• Over 90% of RfO network employers monitor the ethnicity of job applicants using the 2001 Census categories.
• Over 90% make sure that employment agencies, recruitment consultants and head-hunters are aware of the organisation’s policies and objectives on race.
• 90% of employers are committed to understanding and engaging ethnic minority customers, clients and service users.
• 90% of network employers ensure that their community involvement activities benefit ethnic minority people alongside other stakeholders.
• Over 90% of network employers communicate their commitment to race to existing and prospective suppliers.

Sandra Kerr, National Director of Race for Opportunity, says “What really sets these organisations apart from their peers is the commitment to monitoring and reporting on their workforce profiles. Without this information tackling race inequality is impossible. I strongly urge those organisations who consider themselves to be progressive employers, but are absent from this index, to start monitoring and contribute to next year’s benchmark.”

Top performers in 2009

1. BT
2. Pearson
3. Ministry of Defence (MOD)
4. Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR)
5. Home Office

Top 5 overall performers for the Private Sector in 2009 are:

1. BT
2. Pearson
3. Royal Bank of Scotland Group
4. Arriva
5. Ernst & Young

Top 5 overall performers  for the Public Sector in 2009 are:

1. Ministry of Defence (MOD)
2. Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR)
3. Home Office
4. West Midlands Police
5. British Army