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Inside Housing launches leadership diversity campaign
Inside Housing has launched a campaign calling on the housing sector to improve its diversity, particularly in senior and executive-level roles.
The Inclusive Futures campaign calls on organisations to take five steps to improve their diversity (see ‘The Inclusive Futures challenge’, below) including setting aspirational targets for new appointments to boards and executive teams, choosing a diverse selection of candidates for all shortlists, and publishing data on workforce diversity annually.
It comes as Inside Housing research reveals that just 36% of the sector’s board members, 34% of its chief executives and 39% of its executive team members are female, despite women making up 46% of the UK workforce.
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The picture on ethnic diversity was shown to be even more stark, with just 6.8% of board members and 4.5% of executives identifying as coming from a BME background. This is despite 14% of the working age population identifying as BME, which rises to 40% in London and Birmingham.
Terrie Alafat, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: “Housing organisations have a unique and privileged role in their communities and that means leading by example and doing everything we can to promote equality and diversity. The sector has made important progress in recent years, but there is so much more we can still do.”
Chan Kataria, chief executive of EMH Group, said: “Given the society we live in, the under-representation of women, people from BME backgrounds, people with disabilities and LGBT communities (among others) is unacceptable. This is an issue that needs to feature more highly in discussions at board level along with a clear commitment to take action.
“The Inclusive Futures campaign is a positive step in raising awareness of what we can do to promote a fairer society and ensure that our organisations truly reflect the diverse communities we serve. It is not only the right thing to do but also makes good business sense.”
As part of the campaign, Inside Housing will publish diversity audits; promote role models starting with our 2018 BME Leaders List; launch a bureau of speakers, commentators and experts from under-represented groups; take forward the Women in Housing Awards; and convene an Inclusive Futures Summit to discuss and implement new strategies. It calls on organisations to sign up by taking five steps to promote diversity.
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.
Our #InclusiveFutures campaign has got off to a great start, with @SashaDeepwell @ChanKataria @SteveStride_PH @TerrieAlafatCIH @geeta_nanda @RajHDN and @cymdsouza all signing up as ambassadors. Will you be supporting it? #ukhousing t.co/aApTMsJqRo
— Inside Housing (@insidehousing)Our #InclusiveFutures campaign has got off to a great start, with @SashaDeepwell @ChanKataria @SteveStride_PH @TerrieAlafatCIH @geeta_nanda @RajHDN and @cymdsouza all signing up as ambassadors. Will you be supporting it? #ukhousing https://t.co/aApTMsJqRo
— Inside Housing (@insidehousing) January 5, 2018
