🔎 The Issue

Employment inequalities typically refer to pay gaps, differences in promotions and opportunities, increased incidents of bullying, discrimination and harassment, and unconscious bias in recruitment processes, leading to higher rates of burnout.

These inequalities are strongly linked to differences in protected characteristics such as gender, race, ethnicity, religion/belief, disability, sex, sexuality, age, relationship status, neurodiversity, etc. Individuals with one or more marginalised traits have been reported to experience a greater level of disadvantage generally in society and in recruitment processes. Meanwhile, employment inequalities are directly linked to health inequalities, where those who experience disadvantage are more prone to burnout, stress, mental health illnesses such as depression, and overall diminished health. These health inequalities are worsened by climate change, including poor air quality and extreme weather conditions.

🏆 The Goals

1. Identify and remove barriers that currently reduce inclusion and access to opportunities for underrepresented groups in the SME.
2. Ensure that salaries are equal for employees in the same role, with pay based on experience and performance rather than personal characteristics.

<aside> 💡 What does it mean in practice?

This means that SMEs have standardised checks, procedures and assessments to remove bias and discrimination from decision-making processes in recruitment, promotion, pay grade and other professional opportunities. It also means that workers are fairly rewarded, heard and represented, secure and able to progress in a healthy, inclusive working environment where rights are respected.

</aside>

💓 The Reason

A good work environment is significant because it impacts everyone’s ability to meet their own and their family’s needs, while it can foster empowerment, growth, fulfilment, and facilitate a sense of contribution to one’s local area. SMEs play a vital role in providing security and well-being for people. Meanwhile, work practices that do not provide safe, inclusive and fair outcomes for employees can negatively impact mental health and wellbeing. The Equality Act 2010 places legal obligations on businesses, including SMEs, to ensure fair and equitable treatment of prospective and current employees. SMEs may unknowingly breach the Act due to a lack of awareness and performance measuring, particularly, as many SMEs do not have easy access to expertise in human resource management or employment law. Adapting towards the Act to avoid unintentional breaches of human rights can prevent the risk of criminal offence charges and claims while assisting in creating a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace.

🥇 The Benefits

💓Wellbeing contribution

There is often a huge personal cost to those suffering inequalities in addition to any costs faced by the organisation. Action in the workplace contributes visible and tangible steps towards a more fair and equitable society.

🫂 Performance and employee retention

Diverse, inclusive, and equitable companies of all sizes see increased productivity, creativity, innovation and employee retention. Employees trust their organisations and believe they can bring their authentic selves to work. This can in turn, increase team performance, decision-making ability, and collaboration.

💰 Financial

Companies with more diverse management teams have higher innovation revenue and better financial performance than non-diverse teams. For instance, companies with the most gender-diverse leadership are 48% more likely to outperform the least gender-diverse companies.

✅ Risk management

Companies that successfully and proactively engage with diversity challenges and have strong diversity policies are more likely to avoid reputational, liability, regulatory, and financial risk while avoiding unnecessarily losing talent from their teams.

🫣 Future preparedness

Companies that support efforts to reduce employment inequalities and have a no-tolerance standard for disadvantaging any employees will be better prepared to adapt to potentially stricter regulations in the future.

💹 **The Measure

Use these questions to assess your SME’s journey towards removing inequalities in the workplace:

• Does your SME have clear goals and targets for diversity, including what actions should be taken to achieve them and how to measure them?
• Does your SME’s recruitment and employment policies include effective mechanisms to avoid unconscious bias and ensure fair recruitment processes? This may include measures such as blind CV reviews or diverse interviewer boards.
• Does the organisation have processes to review and assess the SME’s diversity policies and actions?
• Does the SME have procedures and activities for employees and employers at all levels to learn what constitutes discrimination and non-inclusive behaviour?
• Does the SME research and use auditing services to get more detailed feedback on the areas of diversity management?

<aside> 💡 Did you know?

</aside>

Measurement is key to showing progress toward the SME’s goal of creating a more inclusive workplace. Although statutory requirements for equality, inclusion and diversity only apply to larger companies, setting targets and measuring progress within the SME can contribute towards achievable benefits. Therefore, it is worthwhile for SMEs to establish their targets and measurement procedures.

💪 **The Tasks

Throughout the employment lifecycle:

• [ ] Set clear targets and action points to ensure diverse, inclusive, and equitable outcomes.
• [ ] Implement policies and procedures that allow employees to report and record violations or suspicions of harassment, discrimination, and unfair financial, psychological or physical treatment of employees while protecting those who report such abuses from retaliation.
• [ ] Train staff, particularly managers, to raise awareness of human rights concerns and diversity, equity, and inclusivity. The company's leaders should serve as role models, because senior leadership greatly impacts fostering an inclusive culture.
• [ ] Enabling workers to meet their basic living costs and deliver wider benefits such as sick pay and pensions. Strive to pay workers according to a real living wage.
• [ ] Enable flexible work arrangements to provide increased accessibility for all employees to work according to their preferred schedules.

One step further:

• [ ] Benchmark your SME against other diversity-attuned organisations in the same sector or industry to compare and seek inspiration.
• [ ] Consider conducting an impact assessment on the SME’s use of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• [ ] Work towards external certifications in diversity efforts.

Attraction & Recruitment:

• [ ] Within the recruitment process, craft job descriptions with inclusive language, remove jargon and simplify language.
• [ ] Consider eliminating a referral process to reduce bias and create a more even playing field.
• [ ] In the interviewing process, consider employing a diverse hiring committee that evaluates candidates on key job qualifications and uses double-blinded CV review to assist in removing bias from the selection process.
• [ ] Consider a wide range of company benefits (such as healthcare, childcare vouchers, flexitime, cycle to work, pension etc.) and training opportunities at the start of the employment.
• [ ] Consider drafting a fair recruitment guideline to reduce bias and ensure standardisation. Get inspiration here or from similar sources.

📑Resources

Inclusive recruitment

A guide to Fair Work - Welsh Government