Diversity: the new equal opportunities?

Diversity: the new equal opportunities?

Everyone is different, but should we ignore these differences and create a level playing field, or should diversity be embraced and encouraged? Pf’s Assistant Editor Diana Spencer examines the current Diversity trend and how these ideas are influencing UK businesses.

The beginning of Barack Obama’s presidency this month almost seems to herald the dawn of a new era. As the child of a black Kenyan father and white American mother, Obama is the first African American President of the United States. His election was hailed as a victory for the black community in America and seen as the ultimate culmination of the civil rights movement. Many are welcoming his time in office as the start of a new age, one in which differences, whether of race, gender or anything else, are no longer relevant to how you are treated and what you can achieve.

Within the context of the business world, these ideals are encapsulated by the concept of ‘Diversity’, a term that is familiar in the US, but is becoming more significant in the UK. Diversity consists of both visible and non-visible factors, including those covered under discrimination legislation, but also personal characteristics, such as background, culture, personality and work-style. According to this principle, an organisation that accepts, values and encourages individuality will be ultimately the most productive and successful.

The same but different

Although on initial introduction, diversity appears to be just another American buzzword, closer examination reveals how important this concept could be to business success. More and more companies, including those within the pharma industry, are beginning to realise the importance of moving beyond the discrimination regulation demanded of them by law and encouraging a culture that embraces difference. Adopting these ideas means that there is no single way of treating employees, as each has their own personal needs, values and beliefs. It is also becoming increasingly recognised in the UK, to the point that many companies have employed diversity managers to lead policy in this area.

From the 1970s to the 1990s, legislation was introduced covering equal pay, sex and racial discrimination, as well as discrimination on the grounds of disability, sexual orientation and religion. These came under the heading of ‘Equal Opportunities’. However, this was criticised in America in the early 1990s as not taking into account all disadvantaged groups or the diversity within those groups. Research also began to show that culturally diverse workforces were more creative and contributed more effectively to the organisation.

Diversity poses a greater challenge to an employer than simply meeting legal requirements, as it requires the company to treat each employee in a way that is tailored to their needs. The Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) says “the starting point for good diversity management is valuing and celebrating ‘difference’ as an asset because everybody is different and unique: everybody has strengths and weaknesses”.

In this way, diversity is an extension of equal opportunities.

“Diversity varies to equal opportunities as it is more about both the visible and invisible differences between people,” explains Sarah Bater, AstraZeneca’s Head of HR Shared Services and co-coordinator of the company’s recent project to raise awareness of diversity. “It isn’t about the number of different groups an organisation employs, but rather about making the most of all employees – harnessing differences to create an environment in which everyone feels valued and talents are fully utilised.” For those companies willing to go the extra mile, embracing diversity can bring a variety of benefits. The business cases for adopting a diversity policy include people issues, market competitiveness and corporate reputation.

Diversity in the UK

The CIPD commissioned a survey in 2006 to investigate diversity practices in UK companies, which revealed employers’ personal attitudes to diversity policies, what practices have been put in place and how well they are working (see report Diversity in Business for more details).

The survey found that most employers are still focusing on legal requirements rather than using diversity to enhance the business. Indeed, the top key drivers for diversity given by respondents were ‘legal pressures’, ‘to recruit and retain the best talent’, ‘corporate social responsibility’ and ‘to be an employer of choice’. ‘Legal compliance’ was clearly the strongest motivator, with almost a third of employers ranking it as the most important reason for developing diversity policies.

However, reasons such as ‘because it makes business sense’ and ‘to improve business performance’ were also in the top ten, revealing that UK employers are becoming more aware of the competitive advantages of embracing diversity, even though this is still not a mainstream business issue in the UK.

The study also found that while 93% of the organisations claimed to have a formal diversity policy, many barely cover the issues required by law.

The report concluded that ‘UK plc is failing to reap the benefits of managing diversity’ and that very few grasp the positive business implications of integrating diversity into their operational activities. Even having a diversity policy did not indicate that the company fully understood the wide-ranging importance of diversity beyond simple management practices.

“More and more companies are beginning to realise the importance of moving beyond the discrimination regulation demanded of them by law and encouraging a culture that embraces difference”

Embracing difference

Since the publication of this report, however, it seems that employers are beginning to gain an appreciation of the importance of diversity and pharma sales is one industry that is embracing this change.

A few statistics Only 50% of disabled people of working age are in employment, compared to 81% of non-disabled people (www.edf.org.uk) About a third of disabled people have been unable to accept a job offer because of the inaccessibility of the built environment (www.edf.org.uk) Unemployment is twice as high among people from ethnic minorities, even though there are relatively more Chinese, Indian and Black African graduates than white graduates (www.cipd.co.uk) In the last 10 years, the employment of the over-50s has risen by almost 25% (www.cipd.co.uk)

In the US, many pharma companies are top performers in the area of diversity. Five pharma companies feature in DiversityInc Magazine’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity: Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Novartis and Abbott.

In the UK, pharma companies are also excelling in certain areas of diversity management. One example is Procter & Gamble, the only healthcare company to feature in campaign group Stonewall’s list of top 100 gayfriendly Employer’s for 2009 according to its Workplace Equality Index. This ranking was based on criteria ranging from implementation of effective equality policies to practical demonstration of good practice in recruitment and mentoring and how they engage with lesbian and gay staff, customers and service users.

Another example of a pharma company demonstrating a firm commitment to diversity is AstraZeneca, a recent new member of the Employer’s Forum on Disability (EFD) gold group. However, disability is not the only branch of the diversity tree being addressed by this company.

“Respect for individuals and diversity is one of our four key values within the UK marketing company and demonstrates our belief that we will gain creative strength and energy from a diversity of backgrounds,” explains Sarah Bater. “Actively promoting diversity can lead to a better place to work, equal opportunities to develop and progress, cost savings, more effective team-working, improved productivity and better service delivery.”

As a company that has realised the business advantages of a more diverse workforce, AstraZeneca is a prime example of how an organisation can fully engage with diversity. Not only are its diversity principles built into both its company values and recruitment practices, but AstraZeneca has also ensured that this is an issue that is fully understood by every employee. Each member of the UK marketing company staff must complete and pass an e-learning module on diversity and attend training in this area, a full day’s training for management and half a day for other employees. Line managers are also provided with a comprehensive diversity guide.

Sarah explains why AstraZeneca has prioritised diversity in this way: “In today’s market, the competitive advantage of a company is now more than ever dependent on the quality of the people it employs.

The workforce as we know it is undergoing fundamental change and therefore embracing diversity means adopting strategies that will encourage a more diverse workforce to give its best. This brings benefits for the team, the manager and also the organisation as a whole.”

The extra mile

Meeting discrimination legislation ensures that a company employs, pays and promotes each employee according to their abilities and that no group is at a disadvantage. Diversity takes this on to the next stage and demands that every employee is treated as an individual and is allowed to express their uniqueness in their chosen career.

Although an enormous challenge for a company, the adoption of diversity principles brings enormous benefits, not just for the employees but also the company’s bottom line, as a more diverse team can offer a greater variety of skills and experiences and this generates greater creativity and achievement.

Medical sales attracts a wide variety of people from different backgrounds and situations, so it is vitally important that the pharmaceutical industry engages with these differences. In a market that is more competitive than ever before, where many companies are failing to meet the challenges of the economic downturn, attracting a diverse workforce and harnessing this diversity to meet business objectives could make the difference between success and gNHS & Industry failure.