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Zero tolerance: five steps the sector should take to tackle discrimination
As an Inside Housing investigation reveals shocking stories of discrimination, Tom Murtha sets out steps housing organisations can take to tackle the problem
“I am fearful that we will repeat the failure of previous initiatives going back 40 years – unless we address the problem within.” I wrote this in an article for Inside Housing in January.
The “problem within” I was referring to was racism and discrimination in housing. I was criticised at the time and told that I was upsetting sector leaders as the claim was untrue. Now, thanks to the excellent work of Jess McCabe and Inside Housing, we know that racism, sexism and discrimination does exist in housing with “problems reported across all forms of discrimination covered in the Equalities Act 2010”, and beyond.
I am not surprised by the findings in the report. I have witnessed and dealt with numerous incidents in my career.
Both as a chief executive and as a chair, I have disciplined and dismissed a number of senior managers for racist and sexist behaviour.
“The sector has been at best complacent about the issue and at worst in denial.”
I have campaigned against all forms of discrimination since the 1970s. In recent years, my claims that it still exists in the housing sector have been largely ignored.
I believe that for some time the sector has been at best complacent about the issue and at worst in denial.
Now there is clear evidence that discrimination exists, which is both structural and personal. How else do you explain the shameful lack of BME leaders in our sector?
The issues are directly linked, as the editor of Inside Housing said in a recent editorial.
How do we begin to overcome it? There are no easy answers as discrimination exists throughout society. I no longer believe that we can change people’s views, but we can change how they act in the workplace.
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We must openly accept that there is an issue and that discrimination exists in our organisations.
For far too long we have been afraid to meet this head on. We have used phrases like subconscious bias as a camouflage for deeper issues.
At a recent diversity conference, I challenged the audience to define where subconscious bias ends and racism and sexism begins?
We must ask all of our leaders to sign up to eradicate discrimination in all of its forms and to report fully and openly on it. I have always believed that the involvement of an independent body to enforce this is required.
In my view, the only time the housing sector took the issue seriously and made real progress was when the regulator and the audit commission was involved.
Here are five things the sector should do to help tackle the problem:
1. We must make it clear in all of our organisations that we have an inclusive culture and that anyone who acts in a way contrary to these values will be disciplined or dismissed. I believe that organisations should have a zero tolerance approach with policies in place to enforce this.
2. Netflix recently dismissed its chief communications officer after reports that he had used a racially offensive word. We should have similar policies in place and enforce them.
3. We should introduce independent and anonymous whistleblowing policies. Independent because research has shown that in many organisations people are uneasy about using internal structures for fear of reprisal and because perpetrators are often line managers or senior staff. People have to trust whistleblowing procedures. They will only do this if they are seen to be effective and appropriate action is taken.
4. We should ask our boards to hold the chief executive to account for successfully delivering a truly inclusive and non-discriminatory environment. This should be a major priority and part of performance regular reviews at all levels in our organisations.
5. Training and development will continue to have a role to play. But we have had many internal and external training programmes in my career. Action is required to back up training and development.
These actions are not new, we first began talking about them 40 years ago. The sector has ignored the issue for too long.
This report should be a wake-up call for real action. Just because we claim to have a social purpose and strong values, it does not make us immune to an evil that effects all society and is growing in our post-Brexit world.
Unless we take strong action now, discrimination in housing will be exist in another 40 years. Is that the legacy those who work in housing today want to leave to the next generation?
Tom Murtha, founder member of Social Housing Under Threat and a former housing association chief executive
Inclusive Futures
Inside Housing’s Inclusive Futures campaign aims to promote and celebrate diversity and inclusion.
We are pledging to publish diversity audits of our own coverage.
We are also committed to proactively promoting positive role models.
We will do this through the pages of Inside Housing. But we will also seek to support other publications and events organisations to be more inclusive.
Our Inclusive Futures Bureau will provide a database of speakers and commentators from all backgrounds, for use by all media organisations.
We are also challenging readers to take five clear steps to promote diversity, informed by the Chartered Institute of Housing’s diversity commission and the Leadership 2025 project.
THE INCLUSIVE FUTURES CHALLENGE
Inside Housing calls on organisations to sign up to an inclusive future by taking five steps:
Prioritise diversity and inclusion at the top: commitment and persistence from chief executives, directors and chairs in setting goals and monitoring progress.
Collect data on the diversity of your board, leadership and total workforce and publish annually with your annual report. Consider gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, age, and representation of tenants on the board.
Set aspirational targets for recruitment to the executive team, board and committees from under-represented groups.
Challenge recruiting staff and agencies to ensure that all shortlists include candidates from under-represented groups.
Make diversity and inclusion a core theme in your talent management strategy to ensure you support people from under-represented groups to progress their careers.
INSIDE HOUSING’S PLEDGES
We will take proactive steps to promote positive role models from under-represented groups and provide information to support change.
We pledge to:
Publish diversity audits: We will audit the diversity of the commentators we feature. We will formalise this process and publish the results for future audits twice a year.
Promote role models: We will work to highlight leading lights from specific under-represented groups, starting in early 2018 with our new BME Leaders List.
Launch Inclusive Futures Bureau: We will work with the sector to compile a database of speakers, commentators and experts from under-represented groups. The bureau will be available to events organisers, media outlets and publications to support them to better represent the talent in the sector.
Take forward the Women in Housing Awards: Inside Housing has taken on these successful awards and will work to grow and develop them.
Convene Inclusive Futures Summit: Our new high-level event will support organisations to develop and implement strategies to become more diverse and inclusive.
