Only 45% of food, grocery business have strategies on diversity and inclusion in place: study
Most companies, the report claims, do not collect complete data around ethnic diversity.
Whilst the vast majority of companies in the food and grocery industry believe they are better performing today than they were five years ago on diversity and inclusion, fewer than half of businesses have adopted a coordinated strategy on the topic.
According to a new report on diversity and inclusion by IGD, The MBS Group and PwC, the median gender pay gap within the industry is lower than the UK economy as a whole (6.8% versus 9.6%). However, less than 10% of the companies surveyed are prepared for ethnicity pay gap reporting if it is introduced in the coming years.
The research, which analysed data acquired from over 200 companies and conversations with more than 100 chairs, CEOs and HR directors, also revealed that an average of 27.6% of Board-level roles are occupied by women.
This drops to 22.2% at the Executive Committee level, whilst 35.9% of Direct Reports (into the Executive Committee) are women.
Despite being ahead of the FTSE 350 cross-industry average at the Executive Committee and Direct Reports levels, the report notes that the 27.6% average will unlikely reach the Hampton-Alexander target of 33% by the end of 2020.
“The food and grocery industry can be proud of the progress it has made to date changing the dial in diversity – but with just 22.2% of Executive Committee members being women, it is clear that as a sector there is still some way to go,” The MBS Group managing partner Elliott Goldstein said.
The percentage of Board members in the food and grocery industry from a BAME background is lower, at 11.4% - close to reflecting the UK working age population at large (12.5%).
This falls to 5.7% at the Executive Committee level and 7.1% of Direct Reports.
Most companies, the report claims, do not collect complete data around ethnic diversity.
When asked to consider their wider senior leadership teams, 27% of interviewees were able to identify an openly LGBTQ leader within their business.
15% of interviewees, meanwhile, were able to identify someone with a physical disability, although no one was identified at the Executive Committee level, despite 19% of the working age population having a disability.
Across a sample of more than 50 companies the average age of Board members in food and grocery is 57 years old, slightly below the average across the FTSE 350 of 60 years old whilst at 54, the average age of Executive Committee members is in line with the FTSE 350.
82% of Executive Committee members are British, with the report noting a “strong bias” towards EU nationals (13% versus 5% of nationals of non-EU countries) for the remaining member slots.
“The progress that has been made in gender equality and the wide range of initiatives already in place to nurture female talent is particularly encouraging. But there are other levers of diversity beyond gender that can also help to create a diverse workforce – age, ethnicity, LGBTQ, social mobility and disability, amongst others. The research shows there is much more to do in these areas, to help businesses unlock new sources of talent for the future,” IGD CEO Susan Barratt said.
“What’s clear from businesses that are making the strongest progress on diversity is that this requires the same board-level direction, organisation-wide push, understanding of the data and regular reporting, intervention and incentives that would be applied to any other strategic priority,” PwC UK people and organisation consulting partner Jon Terry added.
