Shaw Trust: Diversity award for trend-setting scheme
Thursday, 25, Jan 2007 12:00
PRO-ACTIVE Shaw Trust’s ground-breaking ethnic employment scheme, which helped to earn the national charity a coveted diversity award, looks like being a trend setter.
The two-pilot Careers Visits innovation, which doubled Black Minority Ethnic (BME) applicants at a stroke, is to be rolled out as a nationwide provision, and other organisations are watching with interest.
“We have tried every which way to engage more fully with the BME community, including the usual routes of advertising, but the Careers Visits’ scheme, where people were invited in to see what we do and the sort of projects and jobs on offer, were a resounding success,” said Di Barber, National Equality & Diversity Adviser for Shaw Trust.
“We are the the leading provider of employment and independence services for people disadvantaged in the labour market by disability, ill health or social circumstance - so naturally we want to ensure that our own employment doors are wide open to everyone.”
Shaw Trust, which has also recently been named as one of Britain’s Top Employers, has just received a QED/JCP award for employer diversity. The QED-UK's Employer Diversity Project, endorsed by Jobcentre Plus, and sponsored by Bradford and Bingley, establishes Shaw Trust as achieving the highest standards of good practise in terms of diversity management. Some 250 businesses from public, private and voluntary sectors are registered on the QED/JobCentre Plus benchmark, but only 27 gained an award.
“What was once unique in diversity management is now ubiquitous, and so we wanted a challenging benchmark for our own employment practices,” said Di.
“The JobCentre Plus/QED Employer Diversity benchmark provided this and we are very proud indeed to be singled out for special mention in terms of our Equality and Diversity Action Plan.”
The Trust, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, developed its Plan through a cross-business working party, led by Chief Executive Ian Charlesworth and HR Director Hilary Isham. “The work we do means that we know the advantages to be had from making your recruitment as diverse as possible, both in human terms and in business terms," said Ian Charlesworth.
"We see it every day in the businesses we work with. Our clients deserve the best people to help them, and fully engaging with all the communities we serve is the only way to guarantee that we find the best."
Positive action included the two Careers Visits’ trials in Birmingham and Middlesbrough, where the Trust were recruiting to staff two major new projects. In both cases BME job applications doubled and, as an added bonus, user applications increased for both new projects.
“It raised awareness like nothing else we’ve tried. We had more applications from BME community than from anywhere else, and the research we did, and the contacts we made, were a huge boon when it came to marketing the Birmingham project itself,” commented Teresa Lloyd, Shaw Trust Operations Manager for the West of England and Scotland.
Karen Stubbings, Shaw Trust WSI Area Manager Teesside, agreed: “We were reaching people, both with employment and project opportunities, that we normally wouldn’t have been able to engage with. Even if they weren’t interested in the Middlesbrough New Ways to Opportunities project, they have now heard of Shaw Trust and are aware of what we can do.
“In addition, we had phone calls from other organisations interested in our approach to diversity which is great. It works for us and we’re happy to share innovations with others.”
In addition to promoting best employment practices, it makes sense for employers to ensure that they are reaching all potential employees. It is predicted that over half the growth in the working age population will come from British ethnic minorities, many of whom are already in their third or fourth generation (Cabinet Office 2003: Ethnic Minorities and the Labour Market 2003).
The Shaw Trust Careers Visits programme is being rolled out from January 2007 to April 2008 and National Equality & Diversity Advisor Di Barber is expecting some effective results which, she says, are long overdue.
“Shaw Trust’s BME staffing is 5.9% compared to 8.7% in the economically active population. We have a much higher proportion in some regions, but not in others and we want to ensure that we get closer to 8.7%,” she explained.
“In addition, we will continue to critically scrutinise and continually improve our employment practices, as all good employers should.”
• Our photograph shows a delighted Di Barber, Shaw Trust's Equality and Diversity Advisor, collecting a certificate of recognition from Lord Ahmed of Rotherham at a prestigious ceremony celebrating employer diversity in UK businesses held in the House of Lords. Also pictured are: (third from left) Mohammed Ali OBE Director of QED and Gerry Sutcliffe MP.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. For further details, please contact Shaw Trust’s PR Manager Julian Burnell, on 07976 602754. Or you can email crucialpr@shaw-trust.org.uk
2. Shaw Trust is featured in ‘Britain’s Top Employers 2007’.
Companies were judged by the Corporate Research Foundation’s independent research team for the Guardian’s annual survey.
3. The charity has recently broken new ground by raising staff retirement age from 60 to 67 and on-going Life/Work Balance measures include a drive to eliminate out-of-hours emailing to reduce unnecessary work pressure.
4. Shaw Trust is a national charity, formed in 1982, which helps people with disability or disadvantage to find work and achieve independence. We do this not only by delivering government programmes, but also through our own self-funded initiatives, and by campaigning to change attitudes at all levels.
5. Shaw Trust has grown into a world-renowned £68 million international organisation, which over the years has supported more than 140,000 disabled and disadvantaged people.
6. Across the UK more than 1,000 staff now oversee a diverse range of more than 120 projects. We work with nearly 50,000 clients a year.