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G15 bosses pledge to double proportion of BME board members
London’s largest housing associations have vowed to more than double the proportion of BME people on their boards over the next five years.
Chief executives of the G15’s 12 member housing associations – which own or manage a combined 600,000 homes – have signed a pledge to make 30% of their collective board members people from BME backgrounds by 2025, up from the current average of 14%.
The target reflects the ethnic breakdown of London as a whole, according to the last census.
It forms part of a nine-point package of measures aimed at addressing the lack of ethnic diversity among top G15 jobs and the lack of progress made through existing initiatives.
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Targeted recruitment initiatives will be used to attract BME talent and remove unconscious bias from the hiring process.
A G15 Management and Leadership Academy will be launched to aid the process, with a “talent roster” developed to track the career progression of BME staff.
Each landlord will also publish diversity data and find “reverse mentors” to help increase their understanding of the disadvantages faced by ethnic minorities.
Helen Evans, chief executive of Network Homes and chair of the G15, said: “Given that only one of my fellow 12 G15 chief executives is of BME heritage, the importance of this pledge is obvious to me.
“I’m delighted to be part of such a big step in the right direction, and look forward to seeing how each of our organisations will be enriched by the increase in diversity that we hope this pledge will bring.”
Geeta Nanda, vice-chair of the G15, chief executive of Metropolitan Thames Valley and the only person from a BME background that is boss of a G15 landlord, said: “As a collective of London’s largest housing associations, it is important that we lead the way; investing in the BME talent within our organisations and using the targets set out in the pledge as an effective way of promoting race equality in the sector and society as a whole.
“It is critical that our sector reflects – at every level of seniority – the diversity of the customers they serve and the communities in which they work. Until we do this, we will not be credible.”
Progress against the pledges and a future timeline for the initiatives will be published this summer at an event celebrating the achievements of BME staff working for G15 organisations.
Inside Housing’s Inclusive Futures campaign seeks to boost diversity among senior roles across the social housing sector.
The diversity pledge signed by G15 chief executives
London is one of most diverse cities in the world, 30% of Londoners are from BAME groups. According to the English Housing Survey, 50% of London households in social housing are headed by a non-white person – compared with 17% in England.
As a group of London’s largest housing associations, we know that the G15 play a key role to deliver diverse and inclusive communities. As housing providers, landlords and large employers, we own and manage over 600,000 homes in London and employ over 15,000 people. We know intuitively that diversity matters.
As large employers we want our organisations to reflect the communities that we work in so that the decisions we make are appropriate to the needs of diverse Londoners. As a sector we employ more people from ethnically diverse communities than many other sectors. But we know that we fall short when it comes to ethnic diversity in leadership roles. As chief executives of the G15 housing associations, we pledge to work hard to address and close this gap – particularly at senior managerial, leadership and board roles.
- We commit to be more visibly diverse at all levels of our organisations.
- We will invest in our G15 employer brand building on ‘Positive about BAME talent’ and by promoting and welcoming diversity in our organisations.
- We will attract BAME talent, including at board level, by adopting targeted recruitment initiatives to attract talented BAME applicants and by removing any unconscious bias from recruitment and selection processes.
- We will publish our diversity data so that we are open and honest on where we need to do more work and to demonstrate how we are tangibly closing the gap.
- We will collaborate to invest and support our BAME talent.
- We will launch a G15 management and leadership academy, which will invest and support existing staff so that we have a pipeline of talent staff ready for management and leadership roles.
- We will jointly work to create opportunities so that our existing talent can grow and develop. We will actively support our staff networks.
- We will develop a ‘talent roster’ for BAME colleagues, accompanied by a plan for progression, developed with the individual based on what they need to achieve further success.
- We will celebrate our achievements
- We will annually recognise BAME achievements and successes.
- We will promote talented BAME role models to encourage future influx of talent.
- We will each seek out a BAME ‘reverse mentor’ to help develop our own understanding of ethnicity and disadvantages that minorities can face, enabling us to lead our organisations more effectively and remove barriers.
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.
