The report, published by the Parker Review Committee, makes a number of recommendations which aim to increase ethnic diversity within companies.
The report states that the boards of leading public companies do not accurately reflect the ethnic diversity of either the UK or the stakeholders that they represent. For example, the number of directors of colour within the FTSE 100 is about 8% of the total (compared to 14% of the UK population). Additionally, 53 of the FTSE 100 companies do not have any directors of colour.
The recommendations made by the report include:
The deadline to make comments on the consultation version of the report is 28 February 2017.
This report follows a similar review of gender diversity on boards, Women on Boards, in February 2011 and repeats many of the key themes. Although these reports predominantly focus on FTSE companies, they raise some interesting points and the recommendations should be considered by all organisations in efforts to promote diversity.
There are considerable benefits that can derive from having a diverse workforce. For example, a wide range of views, experience and expertise can be used to help drive a business forward to success and ultimately increase profit.
A practical step that employers can take to help achieve these aims is to ensure they have equal opportunities and diversity policies in place and to include equal opportunities within the recruitment process.