The Struggle to Employ Ethnic Minorities is Real!
Sep 04, 2022Attention CEOs and HR professionals!
Are you struggling to attract ethnic minority employees?
It’s a common concern, but don’t worry, I’ve got you!
Dear HR pro,
This post is for you if the call out to employ ethnic minorities is being met with rolling tumbleweed.
Did you know:
- Only 30% of people from the Bangladeshi, Black Caribbean and Black African groups live in households with enough to cover one month of income, compared to 60% of the rest of the population?
- The U.K. employment rate for Pakistani/Bangladeshi people is 56% compared to 77% for their White British counterparts?
- 1/3 of employees in the U.K. have no co-workers from a non-white ethnic group?
- Racially marginalised employees are more likely to say discrimination contributed to not achieving their career expectations?
- 8% of Black African graduates are over-qualified for their roles?
Here’s what this means for your company. Unless the company’s location/reach has nearly a 100% white population, this directly impacts your organisation because…
- Based on the level of low income amongst ethnic minorities, there is likely to be a strong motivation to gain and stay in employment.
- However, knowing there is a possibility they may face racism, they are more likely to be on high alert to discrimination ‘red flags’ that might lead to a working life of misery.
- There are many qualified, in some instances, over-qualified ethnic minorities who are not given adequate opportunities to reach their full potential. They could be helping your business to thrive!
In my experience, a huge barrier is a lack of know-how and a fear of engaging in matters concerning race.
So let me help you out, I’m generous like that.
Here are a few actions your company can take to gain traction. Award your company a strawberry for each action it is already taking.
Audit the website
- Check it is speaking to ALL people and not just people who look like the leaders
- Make links to JOBS ridiculously obvious
- Create a ‘day in the life of’ video of an employee who is genuinely happy to be filmed.
- Showcase your antiracism policy
Develop comfortability and confidence to talk about race and racism
- Train staff in how to be antiracist
- Make antiracism a standing item in team meetings
- Develop a race focused Employee Resource Group to enable a safe space to discuss challenges
- Create a library of books and resources on antiracism, accessible to all
Gather data. Record...
- The number of ethnic minorities – at ALL LEVELS
- Levels of pay based on ethnicity
- Ask about any experience of racial discrimination during exit interviews
- Who applied for jobs based on ethnicity
Analyse the recruitment process
- Ask “How can unconscious bias eliminated?”
- Standardise the entire process for fairness
- Mark all applications in the same way, at the same time
- Assign a specific person to take care of the new employee throughout the onboarding process (this is where many companies lose ethnic minority talent)
Build genuine relationships with racially marginalised groups/individuals
- Invite them to company events
- Sponsor/attend their events
- Subcontract/use ethnic minority businesses/suppliers
- Attend racially diverse networking events
Your company works hard to ensure it offers the best, now it’s time to step up in the area of diversity recruitment (and retention).
If when you went through the above audit, your punnet felt rather light, let us at Strawberry Words lend your company a helping hand.
Sign up to your ‘Ethnicity Employee Audit’, where we take a deep dive and locate the missed opportunities to be the award-winning diversity employer. Drop me a DM and let’s work this out together.
Or sign your employees up to our antiracism training course.
Whatever you do, I wish you bags success – trust me I do!
All the best
Rebbecca your ‘creating cultural harmony’ guide x
P.S. If strawberries aren’t your thing, collect croissants. I’ll have an almond milk latte with mine when we meet.
Talking about racism can seem difficult and uncomfortable. This CPD accredited course provides a foundational education on racism to help to increase racial literacy which includes building confidence to speak about and deal with issues concerning race. It provides a language through which meaningful conversation can take place (particularly in the workplace).
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