A high proportion of ethnic minorities working within the financial services industry are experiencing discrimination and it is a cause of concern that some businesses are not dealing with this effectively, according to a survey conducted by Reboot and Coleman Parkes.
This is the second successive year of the Race to Equality in UK Financial Services report by Reboot – a campaign group of senior financial services professionals working to maintain the dialogue on race and ethnicity in the workplace.
The survey is based on 800 people working in financial services roles with a minimum of ten years’ experience in the industry.
The latest findings show that seven out of ten or 68% of ethnic minorities have experienced discrimination at work in the last year and eight out of 10 or 82% have suffered unwelcome comments based on their background.
In addition, a quarter of survey respondents believe that racial jokes are still tolerated where they work suggesting discrimination in the workplace is still rife.
The report also showed that ethnic minority employees do not feel comfortable reporting discrimination to their human resources (HR) departments.
For instance, almost half who have faced discrimination, have raised issues with their HR team and of those, three-quarters felt HR was not very effective at addressing these issues.
In addition, 52% who have experienced discrimination note they have come under greater scrutiny by managers and colleagues while 48% state they have been treated differently for speaking up.
This is having a direct impact on businesses with 49% of those respondents’ experiencing discrimination over the last year having to take time off work and 56% sought counselling to help recover from all the negativity in the workplace.
“Given my professional background, there is a call to action for all HR professionals to come together, educate themselves and create safe channels for staff to approach them, and for matters to be taken seriously when raised,” said Dimple Mistry, co-chair Race and Ethnicity Workstream at Diversity Project and Reboot Ambassador.
She added,” I recognise this is a journey that does not stop, this requires us all, no matter what your background, to come together to consciously work towards creating a truly inclusive industry and workplace cultures that enable professionals from an ethnically diverse background to feel a strong sense of belonging and thrive wherever they are.”
Hannah Grove, Reboot Advisory Board Member and Non-Executive Director, said, “We simply cannot afford to allow these findings to persist. We all need to challenge ourselves to do better, to be allies that speak up and act, and to change the narrative.
These stark findings are bad for society and business and mean that we’re perpetuating systems and practices that keep a significant talent pool from achieving their full potential.
The cost of status quo is way too high and success – or failure – will impact us for generations to come.”
Respondents also noted that career progression was not the same with 44% reporting the speed was slower while 32% noting that they do not have the same opportunities as their white peers.
In addition, a lack of senior representation is preventing ethnic minorities progressing at work and prompting them to switch jobs. For instance, four out of ten are likely to search for a new role in the next six to 12 months, with one in 10 of these respondents blaming their organisation’s discriminatory culture for a potential move.
This is something that appears to be on financial services firms’ radars as 46% of leaders recognise that the lack of ethnic minority role models within their organisation hinders career progression.
“This year’s results are concerning – from the amount of discrimination ethnic minorities are experiencing, the lack of representation in senior roles, to a continued discomfort to speak about race in the workplace,” said Noreen Biddle Shah, Founder of Reboot.
She added, “We need to understand the issues raised in the latest report so that we can work together to drive positive change and create more inclusive working environments for people working within the financial services industry.
It is fair to say most individuals believe in a fair and diverse workforce, but the systems in which they operate are flawed and we need to find a way to make real changes and measure the impact. We also need allies and leaders to speak up to help normalise what is still sadly so taboo.”
Progress is being made, with as many as eight out of ten people feeling the company they work for is actively promoting an inclusive and diverse working culture.
However, 58% feel leaders prioritise tackling gender as they are still uncomfortable tackling race issues.
