Financial services employees have expressed how they are more dissatisfied with their employers than ever in the wake of the UK race riots, calling messages of support “knee-jerk” and “formulaic”.
Meanwhile, they highlighted firms have taken very little action since the BlackLivesMatter (BLM) movement four years ago to address the topic of racial equality in the workplace.
See also: Understanding the current climate of racism in the UK: What corporate firms can do
Reboot, supported by Opinium, conducted a survey of 260 UK financial services employees in August and September in the wake of the UK race riots and rising anti-immigration sentiment.
Almost three quarters (74%) said their firm has taken action, but this was mainly through internal communication.
For example, more than half (56%) said their company released an internal statement of support, and slightly less than half (47%) said their company provided more flexibility to work remotely or travel at different times.
Reboot also reported respondents felt their firms’ responses amounted to little more than a “knee-jerk” reaction, with such responses ending within a week. Further, they said most of the comms were “formulaic” and directed staff to employee assistance programmes, often run externally to the company.
Less than one in 10 (8%) said their firm issued an external expression of support, and many felt there were barriers to doing so themselves. For example, respondents were concerned about reputational risk and causing harm to future career growth prospects – ethnic minority respondents cited this problem more so than their white peers.
Noreen Biddle Shah (pictured), founder of Reboot, explained little has changed in the industry over the past four years: “Unfortunately, 70% of our respondents think that since the initial BLM movement’s launch – which is when we founded Reboot to tackle the topic of race in the workplace – many organisations have done very little in the past four years to make material changes. Action and advocacy from the top is needed to drive greater racial equality in the financial services – and currently, words are not translating into progress.”
However, she welcomed the government’s commitment to introduce ethnicity pay gap reporting.
“We hope with their almost 100 days in power, there will be more information on how (not if) this will be implemented, and as a priority.”
Meanwhile, baroness Helena Morrissey, chair of the Diversity Project, added the industry has a long way to go to help employees who feel concerned about racism. “Actions speak much louder than words, yet the reality is that many firms are unsure about how to communicate with their employees about these issues, let alone take the right actions.
“A recent Diversity Project webinar acknowledged the importance of language and the need to check corporate communications with those in affected communities – and not shy away from spelling out the issues; the importance of checking in with colleagues rather than staying silent for fear of ‘saying the wrong thing’. It is fine to admit ignorance or uncertainty along with a desire to learn.”
“At a macro level,” added Sachin Bhatia, head of UK pensions & EMEA consultant relations at Invesco, “geopolitical instability, a rise in populism and financial pressures have driven ESG fatigue as well as anti-immigration sentiment. Marginalised groups in the UK are feeling the brunt, particularly where diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are either being scaled back or handled with extreme caution.
“Reboot’s annual report is due in Q4 and it will be based on responses of 700 professionals in the UK financial services industry. We are hoping this will help us unravel more of the issues.”
