British Retail Consortium: retailer action on diversity and inclusion must drive tangible outcomes
While retailers are far more focused and active on diversity and inclusion than ever before, this isn’t yet translating into meaningful change, according to a new report by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and The MBS Group.
Involving the responses of 48 retailers, covering about 40% of the retail population and 1.2 million employees, this reveals that 93% have implemented a strategy to improve diversity and inclusion across their business, and many have expanded these plans in order to focus on areas such as social mobility and disability.
The report looks at gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, social mobility, and age.
66% of retailers have no specific targets in place to track progress on D&I. Almost 30% of boardrooms remain all white, and gender diversity on leadership teams is still below the FTSE 350 benchmark of 40% (37.8%).
The industry also lacks disabled role models, with only 17% of retailers able to identify one disabled leader in their organisation.
Other key statistics of the report include: ethnic diversity board representation has improved by five percentage points to 10% since 2021 but 30% of retail boards remain all-white (4% are all-white in FTSE 100).
Gender diversity board representation has improved by over five percentage points since 2021 to 37.8%. However, this still remains well below an equal gender split.
80% of retailers are focusing on disability in their D&I strategies compared to 50% in 2021.
More individuals are comfortable to identify as trans, non-binary and gender fluid in the workplace.
65% of businesses now include social mobility in their D&I strategies, compared to 20% in 2021.
64% of businesses could identify at least one senior leader from the LGBTQ+ community, compared with 47% in 2022 and 27% in 2021.
In 2021, alongside the first edition of this report, the BRC launched its D&I Charter.
Over 80 retailers are now signatories and have pledged to improve D&I in the retail industry by focusing on six areas - oversight, recruitment, progression, reporting, inclusivity, and responsibility.
The report also analyses where the barriers lie in improving D&I. Issues cited include lack of data, insufficient resources, and the potential backlash from some employees.
Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive at the British Retail Consortium, says: “I’m so encouraged to see so many retailers gearing up their D&I activity and the breath it covers across all diversity characteristics, but the progress we’ve made so far hasn’t sufficiently shifted the dial.”
“I know this will take time, but equally, we must not rest on our laurels. While the will is there, until every individual - no matter their background – feels they can reach their true potential in the workplace, we are failing. It’s time to double down on assessing the impact of activities.”
“We need to continually assess if what we’re doing is working, and if it’s not, what else can be done. Nonetheless, I am confident that we can deliver the change we aspire for, and I am excited to see the industry rise to the challenge.”
Elliott Goldstein, Managing Partner at The MBS Group, says: “I’m hugely encouraged to see that more and more retailers are prioritising diversity and inclusion.”
“Almost all retailers – 93% – now have a coordinated D&I strategy in place. However, it is equally clear that there remains a long way to go until retail leadership properly reflects the customers it serves – and despite the high level of inclusion activity, change is not happening fast enough.”
“Our advice is for retailers to take a step back and re-evaluate the impact of their D&I activity. Just as with any commercial objective, leaders need to know what is working, where investment is effective - and tweak the plan accordingly. I’m confident that with deliberate and urgent action, we will see progress.”
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