#TalkAboutBlack (TAB), part of The Diversity Project, has seen growth across all its initiatives by raising awareness on social media, increased event attendance, and building up individual brands across the campaign, according to its 2023 Impact Report.
Since its launch in 2020, the campaign has seen progress in all of its four long-term objectives. The first was raise and discuss topics around race in the UK workplace. The report detailed all of its programmes – the Catalyst Education Programme, City Hive, Black Leaders Programme, TABOO, The Skills Workshop and EnCircle – have recorded large growth. For example, the TABOO campaign has seen nearly 10,000 (9,887) post impressions on its social media account, and EnCircle has grown its mentee community from 400 to 1,400 on LinkedIn.
The second objective was to remain relevant to a Black professional audience. In the TABOO campaign, data was gathered from satisfaction surveys. Examples of this include commentary from Lindsey Stewart, director of investments at Morningstar, who said: “I thought the whole premise of the debate was interesting, balancing up how merit plays a role in selection and hiring and career progression decisions versus ones ethnic background or racial background.”
Third, the campaign aimed to engage in discussions with a diverse audience, with an aim to foster allyship by seeking the views of people with different perspectives and experiences. This has been evident in many sessions the programmes held. For example, its Black History Month event, where 139 attendees engaged in the issue of race in the workplace. A significant proportion of attendees were allies, as 100% surveyed left the event feeling motivated to enact change.
Finally, TAB aims to push the financial industry to agree on targets to reduce the ethnicity pay gap. Progress on this goal was evidenced by the number of new organisations and internal employee networks operating in the workplace. The campaign continues to expand across its programmes, such as The Skills Workshop that returned for a fourth year with a new focus on sustainability and impact. As a result, 92% of past participants said they would consider a career in finance after the sessions.
Baroness Helena Morrissey, chair of The Diversity Project, said: “The Skills Workshop has made a great impact to date, introducing over 26,000 students – many of whom are from underrepresented backgrounds – to the investment and savings management industry.
“It is a great opportunity for our members to show young job seekers that they are committed to inclusive recruitment and to showcase their firms and their culture. The Diversity Project continues to strive towards creating an industry with the right talent to deliver strong outcomes for our clients and which reflects the society we serve, in turn helping to future-proof the sector.”
