CEO Letter on Disability Inclusion
Participate in the Disability Equality Index (DEI), the leading corporate benchmarking tool for disability equality, which is administered by the non-profit organizations, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and Disability:IN;
Share important information on disability inclusion that details its impact on business performance; and
Ensure that you’re aware of increasing investor interest in understanding how companies are inclusive of people with disabilities
Synchronised Collective Action
Leadership
For too long, disability inclusion has been missing from the leadership agenda. We’re galvanising business leaders to break down system barriers once and for all.
Our Valuable 500 companies will take Synchronised Collective Action by participating in our future leaders programme, Generation Valuable, to foster disabled talent within the C-Suite of tomorrow.
Reporting
Disability data is excluded from annual reports and global indices. As a result, disability is not considered by companies and investors when evaluating performance.
Our Valuable 500 companies will take Synchronised Collective Action by reporting against five harmonised Disability Inclusion KPIs within their Annual Reports and Accounts (ARAs), Sustainability Reports, materiality assessments, and investor dialogue:
Workforce Representation: What percentage of the company’s workforce identifies as disabled/living with a disability?
Goals: Which goals has the company defined specific to disability inclusion and how are business leaders measured against these goals?
Training: Does your company provide disability inclusion training for its managers and employees?
Employee Resource Groups (ERGs): Does your company have a disability-specific Employee Resource Group (ERG) in place with an executive sponsor?
Digital Accessibility: Has your company undertaken a review of the accessibility of its digital platforms and content? If not, does the company have a plan to undertake a review over the next calendar year?
Representation
In media and advertising, people with disabilities are hugely underrepresented, and often content is inaccessible to the many diverse audiences within the community.
We will be launching our Synchronised Collective Action for Inclusive Representation later this year following research we are commissioning with the disability community and our Valuable 500 companies.
Standards of Conduct For Business
Tackling Discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, & Intersex People
At All Times:
1. RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS.
Businesses should develop policies, exercise due diligence, and remediate adverse impacts to ensure they respect human rights of LGBTIQ+ people. Businesses should also establish mechanisms to monitor and communicate about their compliance with human rights standards.
In the Workplace:
2. ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION.
Businesses should ensure that there is no discrimination in their recruitment, employment, working conditions, benefits, respect for privacy, or treatment of harassment.
3. PROVIDE SUPPORT.
Businesses should provide a positive, affirmative environment so that LGBTIQ+ employees can work with dignity and without stigma.
In the Marketplace:
4. PREVENT OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS.
Businesses should not discriminate against LGBTIQ+ suppliers, distributors or customers, and should use their leverage to prevent discrimination and related abuses by their business partners.
In the Community:
5. ACT IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE.
Businesses are encouraged to contribute to stopping human rights abuses in the countries in which they operate. In doing so, they should consult with local communities to identify steps they might take — including public advocacy, collective action, social dialogue, support for LGBTIQ+ organizations, and challenging abusive government actions.
Race At Work Charter
Appoint an Executive Sponsor for race.
Capture ethnicity data and publicise progress.
Commit at board level to zero tolerance of harassment and bullying.
Make clear that supporting equality in the workplace is the responsibility of all leaders and managers.
Take action that supports ethnic minority career progression.
Support race inclusion allies in the workplace.
Include Black, Asian, Mixed Race and other ethnically diverse-led enterprise owners in supply chains.
If Not Now, When?
Audeliss & INvolve
Diversifying the face of our organisations:
Setting targets for diverse candidate slates for every position and holding recruiters accountable for presenting diverse shortlists. More specifically, setting targets on Black talent in our candidate slates.
Measuring:
Investigating the specific challenges and barriers faced by Black talent in our organisations, starting to track ethnicity data and conduct focus groups or listening sessions to properly understand the experiences of our Black and minority colleagues.
Joining us on our journey of learning:
Educating ourselves on the experiences of Black people in the workplace and in society at large.
Starting the conversation:
Being vulnerable with our people. Admitting we haven’t done enough and that the work is just beginning.
Elevating Black voices:
People know discrimination and racism are a lived, every day reality now – but do they know what forms it takes every day in the workplace? We must start these conversations. We will also do more to celebrate Black leaders and talent in our organisations and the wider business community.
Committing to specific actions:
We’ve posted on our corporate Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn but now we must show what our organisations look like truthfully and what more we are doing to change it.
Change The Race Ratio
Our four commitments to change:
Set and publish targets for racial and ethnic minority representation on boards:
Our campaign provides a platform to show commitment to the Parker-Tyler review and a peer group for business leaders to work together to understand the actions needed to increase representation in the boardroom.
Set and publish targets for racial and ethnic minority representation at an executive level and minus-one pipeline:
Action on board representation alone won’t deliver the change we want to see; we must also increase racial ethnic minority representation at leadership and talent pipeline levels.
Publish a race action plan and ethnicity pay gap report within two years of joining:
Transparency sends a message that you’re serious about progressing racial and ethnic minority representation. Reporting on your ethnicity pay gap encourages greater action and accountability on the inclusion of racial and ethnic minority talent throughout the talent pipeline, including in senior roles.
Create an inclusive culture that allows talent to thrive:
Your culture is more than your workforce. We encourage signatories to put processes in place that enable them to reflect the communities they serve and attract, retain and promote racial and ethnic minority talent.
Social Mobility Pledge
Outreach
We will work to reach out to schools or colleges to provide coaching through quality careers advice, enrichment experience and mentoring to people from disadvantaged backgrounds or circumstances.
The simplest approach for businesses to reach out to schools or colleges is to work through one of the large number of great social mobility organisations – such as Sutton Trust, Big Issue, Speakers for Schools, Inspiring the Future, the Careers and Enterprise Company, Princes Trust, to name a few.
Access
We will work to provide structured work experience and apprenticeship opportunities to people from disadvantaged backgrounds or circumstances.
The gap between what young people want and what’s on offer is huge; a study in North East England showed that 83% of young people there actually thought work experience should be
compulsory as part of the education offer. We ask employers to plug that gap and provide work experience either directly or through another body (e.g. local authority or charity).
Recruitment
We will work to adopt open employee recruitment practices which promote a level playing field for people from disadvantaged backgrounds or circumstances.
This could include a ‘name blind’ approach to considering applications which involves replacing names with numbers or adopting contextual recruitment practices such as how you consider the league table performance of academic institution attended, location of home by reference to socio-economic mapping or an individual’s academic performance relative to the average at their place of study.
30% Club
Commit to at least 30% female representation on their boards and executive leadership teams because this is the critical mass at which minority voices become heard. Our ultimate goal is parity.
Women in Finance Charter
Commits firms to supporting the progression of women into senior roles in the financial services sector by focusing on the executive pipeline and the mid-tier level;
Recognises the diversity of the sector and that firms will have different starting points – each firm should therefore set its own targets and implement the right strategy for their organisation; and
Requires firms to publicly report on progress to deliver against these internal targets to support the transparency and accountability needed to drive change.
Armed Forces Covenant
It is a pledge that together we acknowledge and understand that those who serve or who have served in the armed forces, and their families, should be treated with fairness and respect in the communities, economy and society they serve with their lives.
The covenant focusses on helping members of the armed forces community have the same access to government and commercial services and products as any other citizen.
This support is provided in a number of areas including:
Education and family well-being
Having a home
Starting a new career
Access to healthcare
Financial assistance
Discounted services