Highlights – 9 April

The UK has made solid progress when it comes to the impact of the legislation requiring gender pay gap reporting, but persistent inequalities continue to hamper businesses and economic growth. 

It’s still less than a year since we released our report into equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at work, Walking the Walk? Managers, inclusivity and organisational success. EDI initiatives have come in for heavy criticism since. In a recent LinkedIn poll, we asked the CMI community how to ensure organisations remain open and fair. Here’s what you had to say.  

Which brings us to our new research report, Filling in the Gaps: A plan to move the needle on gender wage disparity. This publication provides exclusive insights, employer recommendations and policy solutions to help organisations take real action to make pay fair. 

The topic is certainly resonating. Ann Francke OBE CMgr CCMI, CMI’s chief executive, was invited on to LBC to spread the word, while the Financial Times (FT) asked Ann to share her views on the widening gender pay gap in key Whitehall departments (a pertinent finding of the research, given one of its aims is to help policymakers with ideas for changes). You can read some of the report’s key takeaways in this week’s newsletter. 

Call for evidence

EDI isn’t just about gender. We recently sponsored the Black Leadership Group’s annual conference, which brought together five generations to reflect on shared challenges and set tangible anti-racist goals. Here’s what we learned. 

CMI was also quoted as part of the UK government’s call for evidence to help shape its draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. The government hopes the bill will remove barriers to opportunity, create a more inclusive UK workforce and boost household incomes across the country. 

“This is a welcome step in improving conditions for people working across the UK economy, breaking down barriers and creating workplaces where everyone can thrive,” said Ann.

Opening up about lockdown

Ann also appeared in the FT in a feature reflecting on the lasting effects of Covid-19 lockdowns. To Ann, one positive from all the upheaval was that the new era of remote working sparked an increased level of trust in teams. 

“When employees feel trusted, they take greater ownership of their work, collaborate more effectively and innovate with confidence,” she said. On the downside, “we’ve lost the refreshing honesty of ‘Zoom life’” – whether that’s kids making cameos in meetings or barking dogs. 

Everything is connected

There has certainly been a lot to contend with in the five years since the pandemic arrived. As our recent Chartered Manager of the Week Markus Lung CMgr FCMI, general manager of Hong Kong pharma group Vita Green, put it: “We must embrace change if we want to improve.”

That sentiment would no doubt be echoed by Professor Sreevas Sahasranamam of the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, whose blog was shortlisted for this year’s Management Publication of the Year award. It won the Sustainable Futures category. With his writing, Sreevas is finding an ever-larger audience for his work at the intersection of entrepreneurship, innovation and policy. 

Indeed, everything is connected. That’s the gist behind systems thinking, a powerful tool for seeing how all aspects and actions of a given organisation have far-reaching effects. In this week’s newsletter, May Ho CMgr FCMI, an educator and entrepreneur, recalls how a trip to Antarctica – and the plight of the local krill – reinforced how sustainability needs people to “think beyond the organisation”. 

“It’s about truly understanding the impact,” she told us. 

The same goes for equality at work too. 

Best,

Matt Roberts CMgr FCMI

Director of membership and professional development, CMI

Image: CMI