News on 15 January 2001

UK bosses will prioritise diversity and equal opportunities over the next couple of years according to a survey by the Industrial Society. However, less than half (45%) of the responding organisations have strategies in place for achieving this.

The survey showed that monitoring of potential discrimination is most likely to take place at recruitment, followed by promotion and then at exit stage. Participation in training is least likely to be monitored for discrimination issues.

It was also indicated that corporate emphasis on diversity had not prevented employee dissatisfaction with workplace equal opportunities - 41% of the organisations had been involved in the industrial tribunal cases regarding diversity/equality issues.

The main barriers to diversity in organisations were organisational culture (46%), the attitudes of line managers (42%) and business pressures on line managers (41%). Moreover, only 46% say that senior managers have a working knowledge of their company’s equal opportunities policy and 18% think their senior managers have extensive knowledge.

Angela Ishmael, the Industrial Society’s specialist in the area, says that the commitment to diversity needs to start from the top: "Our research shows that companies are making diversity an increasing priority, but our findings also reveal that the rhetoric has yet to translate into reality. Good intentions are simply not matched by sustained commitment in practice.”

"Valuing diversity in the workplace is about providing an environment that promotes good working relationships and values difference. It’s about adopting best practice management styles and needs to start with an organisation’s leader if it is to succeed," she added.

www.indsoc.co.uk