Achieving race equality through recruitment

PA has a proud Black, Asian and minority ethnic heritage, and its ‘everybody is unique’ ethos – which is all about recognising and celebrating uniqueness – is certainly not “just words”. However, this week is all about addressing race, and we still have some way to go to achieve race equality in all parts of our organisation.

While it’s true that the ethnic backgrounds of team members broadly reflective of the ethnic backgrounds of our customers, this is not the case when we consider the ethnicity of those in more senior positions. Around 40% of all our team members are Black, Asian or minority ethnic, but this proportion falls to 30% among our leadership team and 25% among our executive management team. Our median ethnicity pay gap stands at 8.7%.

“I now work closely with our communications team and individuals across PA to share job adverts via their own social media channels, as being able to see others who are happy to represent an employer is important to potential employees”

In a recent Inside Housing article on racism and housing, our chief executive, Dilip Kavi, recalled speaking at the Housing conference in September last year. During his session, he asked delegates: “Since [the Black Lives Matter protests], can any of you give me examples of things you have done in your organisations?”

“There was pin-drop silence,” he stated.

In May 2020, there was a lot of talk about racial equality, but this hasn’t always been followed up with actions. My appointment as PA’s first EDI recruitment co-ordinator is one of the steps PA has taken to achieve greater equality – a key commitment within our corporate plan.

I got started by conducting different benchmarking exercises to find out exactly what was happening within our organisation. Were we attracting applications from people with diverse backgrounds? Were these applicants getting through to the interviews? Were they then being appointed? What happened next, did they stay and progress within PA?

Armed with this data, it was possible to start making the changes needed. One of the first things I discovered through speaking to new recruits is the importance of seeing people with similar backgrounds to themselves thriving within an organisation.

I now work closely with our communications team and individuals across PA to share job adverts via their own social media channels, as being able to see others who are happy to represent an employer is important to potential employees.

I also spoke to hiring managers about the demographics of their teams. Were they representative of the rest of PA as well as our customers and communities? If not, what were the gaps and how could they word their job descriptions and share their vacancies in ways that would lead to applications from people with more diverse backgrounds?

“I firmly believe that attracting people from diverse backgrounds to work at PA Housing, as well as promoting and retaining current members of the team, is key to achieving greater race equality within the organisation”

I’m pleased to say that we’re making great progress. Around 30% of applications currently being shortlisted for roles with salaries of £30,000 and above are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, and the same proportion are being successfully recruited into these more managerial and senior positions.

In the meantime, my colleagues within HR at PA Housing are finding new ways to upskill Black, Asian and minority ethnic colleagues, so that when senior level roles become available, they feel ready to make the leap. For example, the team is about to launch PA’s own in-house talent programme, which is all about encouraging and supporting aspiring managers.

We currently have two recent recruits from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds who are completing Gatenby Sanderson’s Leadership Now housing programme, which involves a series of bespoke workshops, one-to-one coaching, peer conversations and profiling exercises over a period of up to four months.

Half of all recent internal promotions have been given to Black, Asian and minority ethnic colleagues. Having been promoted myself to diversity business partner, my role now expands beyond recruitment. However, I firmly believe that attracting people from diverse backgrounds to work at PA Housing, as well as promoting and retaining current members of the team, is key to achieving greater race equality within the organisation.

Research conducted by Race Equality Matters for Race Equality Week found that more than half (55%) of those it surveyed were unable to name a good ethnic minority employer. Meanwhile, three in four would not consider their organisation to be inclusive.

I like to think that PA’s team members wouldn’t be among them, but it’s important that we, like everybody else, continue to do more. By this time next year, I hope we’ll have plenty more to share that demonstrates that we are all about #actionnotjustwords.

Saarah Bunglawala, diversity business partner, PA Housing