Consumers, Employees

The case for being proactive with positive action on gender equality is the best birthday present Opportunity Now could have. After all, companies should not need a business case for stopping doing the wrong thing. In any case, diversity is not about stopping discrimination. While that remains a significant factor, it's only part of the picture. Paying different wages for the same job has been illegal since 1970 and the overwhelming majority of large employers don't overtly discriminate. Less visible and more prevalent is the effect of slower career progress and lower responsibility levels from child care 'gaps'. More subtle and harder to tackle are the gender stereotyping of jobs men and women traditionally do, and the pay differential between say nurses and oil rig workers. Thankfully, the business case model shows that at least on the former and partly on the latter, it can pay an individual employer to take action. What lessons can Race for Opportunity draw, as it celebrates its fifth anniversary? It would be easy to get downhearted. On race, blatant discrimination undoubtedly is still widespread. And if it's hard enough getting the place of 50% of the workforce fully valued, how much more difficult the 5% from minority ethnic communities? First, simply stick at it. Persistence pays. Second, identify, prove and publicise the business case for taking positive action. Here globalisation is helping, with major companies increasingly internationalising their supply, manufacturing and sales. For them, cultural diversity has a real business case. Finally, a postscript about women and business start-ups. This has long been a part of companies' community programmes, going back to the late 1970s and Mrs Thatcher's 'enterprise culture'. Now adding a diversity angle, through proactive help for women or black people, can achieve a two-for-the-price-of-one benefit.

Corporate Citizenship Briefing, issue no: 61 - December, 2001