The Race at Work Charter

As with many organisations across the UK, Phoenix wants to recruit from the widest pool of talent and to help them progress as we see it as key to our future.

The Race Disparity Audit’s Ethnicity Facts and Figures website and the BiTC Race at Work Survey highlight that ethnic minority staff still encounter significant disparities in employment and progression. The McGregor-Smith review highlights that greater progress and positive outcomes are now needed to ensure all organisations benefit from the wealth of diverse talent on offer.

With this in mind, Phoenix is proud to be a signatory of Business in the Community’s Race at Work Charter.

The Charter

The Charter comprises of 5 principal calls to action for leaders and organisations across all sectors. Signing up means taking practical steps to ensure that workplaces are tackling barriers that ethnic minority people face in recruitment and progression and that organisations are representative of British society today. By signing, Phoenix Software are committed to:

1. Appoint an Executive Sponsor for race
   Executive Sponsors for Race provide visible leadership on race and ethnicity in their organisation and can drive key actions such as setting targets for ethnic minority representation, briefing recruitment agencies and supporting mentoring and sponsorship.
2. Capture ethnicity data and publicise progress
   Capturing ethnicity data is important to establishing a baseline and measuring progress. It is also a crucial step towards an organisation being able to report on ethnicity pay.
3. Commit at Board level to zero tolerance of harassment and bullying
   The Race at Work Survey revealed that 25% ethnic minority employees reported that they had witnessed or experienced racial harassment or bullying from managers. Commitment from the top is needed to achieve change.
4. Make clear that supporting equality in the workplace is the responsibility of all leaders and managers
   Actions can include ensuring that performance objectives for leaders and managers cover their responsibilities to support fairness for all staff.
5. Take action that supports ethnic minority career progression
   Actions can include embedding mentoring, reverse mentoring and sponsorship in their organisations.

To learn more and get your organisation involved, visit https://www.bitc.org.uk/race-at-work-charter-signatories/