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Can mentoring solve housing’s diversity problem?
In the context of a serious lack of diversity in senior housing roles, mentoring black and minority ethnic staff is becoming a priority. Jane Fae looks at the programmes available. Illustration by Getty
Can mentoring solve housing’s diversity problem? #inclusivefutures #ukhousingWe look at whether mentoring can help improve the diversity of #ukhousing leadership teams
This year, Inside Housing has been talking a lot about diversity in top housing jobs.
We’ve researched the challenge as part of our Inclusive Futures campaign: 6.8% of board members and just 4.5% of executives identify as black or minority ethnic (BME), compared with 14% of the working-age population across the country and 40% in London and Birmingham. Housing consultant Ade Aderogba puts it bluntly: “There is a black ceiling when it comes to getting to the top. [Black people] can get to housing manager but not CEO.”
But what about solutions? If you look at any sector in the economy in which BME people are under-represented, one of the most common strategies that companies reach for if they want to redress the balance is mentoring.
The reasons are clear. Informal networks play a big role in helping people advance in their careers, but often those opportunities get offered, consciously or unconsciously, to people who look like the ones already in positions of power and influence.
A formal programme of mentoring should, in theory, work to bring forward talented BME people.
There are many benefits to mentoring.
"Opportunities get offered, consciously or unconsciously, to people who look like the ones already in positions of power and influence."
At the most basic, the focus may be on tangible technical skills. However, the consensus from those who have experienced it is that the true value lies in the intangibles, such as helping people to see themselves as others see them and to adapt to the next stage in their careers.
Consultancies and organisations provide mentoring, and many housing associations have long made mentoring, in some form, available to staff.
Ann Santry, chief executive of 55,000-home Sovereign, is a qualified coach. She feels like mentoring doesn’t need to come from within the housing sector necessarily, so potentially BME staff could also usefully tap into mentoring programmes elsewhere.
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“Questions tend to be the same in every business, about the environmental rather than the technical side of a job: less about what type of IT system [and more about] how do I work with people to deliver the system I need? I have not noticed anything specific to housing,” she says.
But is it enough to be sending BME people on generic mentoring courses? From the perspective of the individual mentee, the general verdict seems to be “it depends”.
Alison Muir, director of Thamesmead and South region operations at 55,000-home Peabody, has been both a mentor and a mentee in recent years. She has ended up mentoring only BME staff. “I suspect there is an element there of role-modelling. I suspect also that some degree of perceived cultural overlap can sometimes make it easier to have certain conversations with me,” she says.
The longest-established mentoring programme is run by the Housing Diversity Network (HDN), which has existed in its current form since 2005. The consultancy runs two mentoring programmes, one focusing on staff and the other on board mentoring, as well as a tailored programme for individuals. This year HDN has 241 mentors and 241 mentees across all programmes.
The aim of the programme is to tackle the institutionalisation of discrimination, shifting the culture within an organisation so that individuals are more competent to address issues.
According to Raj Patel, chief executive of HDN, around a third of the network’s mentees identify as BME.
Mentees are matched to mentors from another housing or related organisation. Frank interaction is encouraged so that change goes beyond knowledge, and impacts self-awareness, personal growth and value changes.
It does not seek to match candidates to BME mentors; the aim is for a relationship that fits.
“There is a black ceiling when it comes to getting to the top.” - Ade Aderogba, housing consultant
More recently, the Leadership 2025 programme was set up following an initiative from Gina Amoh, chief executive of Inquilab Housing Association, in response to the lack of diversity in top housing jobs, as revealed by Inside Housing and highlighted in research by the Chartered Institute of Housing.
This programme, supported by housing associations L&Q and Optivo, and consultancy Altair, is an intensive nine-month leadership development programme, available exclusively to senior leaders from BME backgrounds working in the housing sector. Mentees are enrolled at the Roffey Park Institute and given mentoring by senior executives within the housing sector.
The first cohort of six candidates, recruited through a rigorous selection process, started in November 2017. Initial expectations were that there would be an even gender split: in fact the first cohort ended up with one man and five women.
The mentors’ tale
Ann Santry, chief executive, Sovereign
“I recently coached an individual who was stuck in a job and feeling really frustrated. The issue was his self-presentation: he came across as too jokey, lacking in seriousness and using humour a bit too much in an inappropriate way.
“I worked with him to focus on what he really wanted to do, helped him to represent himself in the organisation and ultimately he moved into a role that was much more suitable for him.”
Ann Santry, chief executive, Sovereign Housing Association
“Mentoring is about helping people to find themselves – not by telling but by highlighting options. That means identifying issues that are relevant: their journey to date, their interests, their direction.
“At the same time, they need to be encouraged and supported. It is about providing insights and viewpoints that mentees may not have thought of. It is a collaborative process; it isn’t a top-down relationship.”
Alison Muir, director of Thamesmead and South region operations, Peabody
The first cohort should graduate in September 2018, and the aim is for Leadership 2025 to take on at least one cohort per year up to 2025, thereby creating a group of individuals equipped to take on the most senior positions.
The two programmes – HDN and Leadership 2025 – are complementary. The latter aims to help well-selected individuals achieve the highest leadership positions, while the HDN mentoring programme is much more focused on addressing institutional disadvantage and discrimination, by helping individuals to gain knowledge and self-awareness, as well as move on up in the sector and organisation.
Elsewhere, many organisations are starting internal schemes. In October 2017 a new group, Unify, was created to support BME staff. Offering a “middle bar” between HDN and Leadership 2025, it has mostly signposted opportunities and training, as well as promoting mentoring. However Unify is working to see if a 10-week course can be run just for housing staff, with Black on Board, a programme which aims to improve the racial diversity on governing boards of all kinds of organisations.
There is the Westminster programme, a project supported by the Speaker of the House of Commons to give UK employers practical support and guidance on how to attract and develop BME colleagues, and increase BME representation at the leadership level. And Future for London is a broader-based programme about building a diverse future for the capital.
So mentoring programmes do exist to an extent. But what evidence is there that participation leads to better opportunities for BME staff?
The mentees’ tale
“I was motivated to apply for the Leadership 2025 programme because I thought: wow, this will help my strategic thinking, challenge me and take me outside my comfort zone. Having a CEO mentor will provide a strategic perspective and help me to develop further.
“What I hope to get out of the process is support with specific situations – guidance on approach, given the mentor’s experience; to consider new perspectives; enhanced networking opportunities; and improved confidence from my learning experience, which will enable me to support others.
“Leadership 2025 is a fantastic programme in terms of the opportunities to improve individuals as a leader. On its own it’s not enough to redress the BME imbalance, but is definitely a step in the right direction.”
Alison Muir, director of Thamesmead and South region operations, Peabody, and Leadership 2025 candidate
“There were some mentoring spots available and I applied. I liked the idea of being mentored by someone in the housing sector external to my organisation. I wasn’t sure housing was right for me and if I was to move upward in the housing sector, I needed to broaden my experience and understand the sector a little better.
“I had a great experience with being mentored. The matching process was excellent: I had someone older and in a completely different part of the business. It was a completely safe space in which to explore. My mentor was able to provide a great deal of reassurance.
“The programme helped me move within the business and to move onward and upward into a completely new area. My mentor helped review my application form, met me before I applied for a new role and was totally supportive.”
Aisha Lalloo, head of corporate governance, Poplar Harca
“I absolutely loved being on the programme! I learned so much about housing, the future of housing, and other mentees’ experiences of housing. It helped me to realise that I am a powerful woman in my own right and I have the drive and ambition to succeed in anything I put my mind to.”
Samaira Razaq, assistant management accountant, Trafford Housing Trust, and HDN mentee
The jury is out. Adding skills and helping individuals to develop strategic thinking and emotional intelligence, and to understand the ‘glass maze’ of leadership must be good for their career progression.
However, as many working in this sector have observed, it is also crucial to work on the ‘demand side’. Just making individuals more employable will achieve little if organisations will not promote them. Unconscious bias, institutional racism or just a tendency to appoint people that organisations are ‘most comfortable’ with – these are issues that mentoring alone cannot counteract.
There is even a danger that BME mentoring can be viewed negatively as positive discrimination, giving people unfair advantage.
On the other hand, mentoring can send a message to all BME staff that, at a time when many communities are feeling increasingly disenfranchised and disconnected, organisations are attempting to do better.
There is also a reverse mentoring effect, as mentors develop a new perspective on more junior staff and, more specifically, on the challenges facing BME staff. As Mr Patel from HDN says: “It is an unusual mentoring programme in that mentees come aboard to gain, but we find that mentors gain as well. There is reverse mentoring even though that is not programmed in.”
Is this having the desired effect? It is difficult to say, because although assessment schemes are in the pipeline, none have yet reported back. Still, gut feeling and anecdotal evidence argue that such programmes are making some difference. Time will tell.
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.
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