Business in the Community launches results of UK’s biggest race and gender benchmarking survey

Top 10 private and public sector organisations in race and gender progression published

Today, Opportunity Now and Race for Opportunity, the gender and race campaigns from Business in the Community (BITC), published four unranked lists of the Top 10 best performing private and public sector organisations on the two protected characteristics of ethnicity and gender. The lists are the culmination of the UK’s most comprehensive Benchmarking Survey into how organisations are performing on gender and race equality, diversity & inclusion in the workplace.

In total, 67 public and private sector organisations submitted comprehensive workforce metrics and case studies across 30 key areas, including, career progression, recruitment, supplier diversity, and senior management and board representation. All submitted data is confidential, but BITC publishes the Top 10 performing public and private sector organisations in four unranked lists:

Top 10 private sector organisations for ethnicity 
• BT plc
• Enterprise Rent-A-Car
• Ernst & Young
• Eversheds LLP
• KPMG LLP
• MITIE Group Plc
• National Grid
• Nationwide Building Society
• PwC
• The Royal Bank of Scotland Group

Top 10 private sector organisations for gender:
• BT plc
• Citi
• Enterprise Rent-A-Car
• Ernst & Young
• Eversheds LLP
• KPMG LLP
• National Grid
• Nationwide Building Society
• PwC
• The Royal Bank of Scotland Group

Top 10 public sector organisations for ethnicity:
• Crown Prosecution Service
• Genesis
• HM Revenue & Customs
• Home Office
• Leicestershire Police
• Ministry OF Defence
• Ministry of Justice
• National Audit Office
• Ofcom
• Royal Air Force
 
Top 10 public sector organisations for gender:
• British Army
• Civil Nuclear Constabulary
• Crown Prosecution Service
• Genesis
• HM Revenue & Customs
• Home Office
• Leicestershire Police
• Ministry of Justice
• Ofcom
• Royal Navy

Stephen Howard, Chief Executive of Business in the Community, said: “My congratulations to these organisations demonstrating a clear strategic commitment to achieving racial and gender equality, diversity and inclusion. The BITC Gender and Race Benchmark Survey 2012 is an invaluable tool for informing performance improvement, articulating achievements to stakeholders inside and outside the business and enhancing brand reputation. They should be commended for attaining our industry respected mark.”

Helen Wells, director of Opportunity Now, said: “Inclusion in the Top 10 Benchmarking Survey lists is absolutely the diversity standard all organisations will aspire to attain.” 

Sandra Kerr OBE, director of Race for Opportunity, said: “For organisations committed to diversity, equality and inclusion in the workplace, the Benchmark is a clear signal of which organisations are delivering best practice.”

Business in the Community will publish a detailed report on 11 December, which will include the best practice trends in gender and race progression in the workplace.

Each participating organisation receives a confidential feedback report that includes: a ranking; a confidential score and banding of Platinum, Gold, Silver or Bronze; a detailed peer comparison report; and, a detailed gap-analysis report identifying successes and areas for improvement. 

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For further information please contact Rebecca Gregory, Communications Officer, Opportunity Now. T: 0207 566 6670 | M:07803 027 973 | E: rebecca.gregory@bitc.org.uk

Editors Notes

The Benchmarking Process: The Benchmark Survey is formed of two parts: the Diversity Impacts Survey is a submission of workforce metrics covering women, men and BAME employers, and the Diversity Inputs Survey is a submission of supporting documentary evidence and statements.  The Top 10s have been determined from those organisations that complete both the Impacts and Inputs surveys for a given protected characteristic. Organisations that benchmark simultaneously across both protected characteristics were eligible for inclusion in all relevant Top 10s. The process is led by Benchmarking Manager, Tom Legge, and all Benchmarking submissions were double reviewed by Business in the Community’s team of diversity experts.

About Business in the Community
Business in the Community stands for responsible business. With a membership of over 850 companies, engagement in 10,700 organisations internationally and an employee reach of 14.7 million, Business in the Community is raising the benchmark for responsible business practice. We offer our members practical support to help them transform their businesses and integrate responsible practices into their operations.  And we ask our members to work in partnership with us to help transform communities and tackle serious social issues where business can make a real difference.  Business in the Community is one of the Prince’s Charities, a group of not-for-profit organisations of which The Prince of Wales is President. www.bitc.org.uk.

Opportunity Now is the gender campaign from Business in the Community and Race for Opportunity is the race campaign from Business in the Community. For more information about Business in the Community’s work on diversity and inclusion please visit: www.bitcdiversity.org.uk.