Employers must embrace diversity at all levels, says CIPD

The
CIPD is urging employers to embrace diversity at every level of business,
following a damning Government
report on ethnic minorities.

The
Performance and Innovation Unit’s interim report on ethnic minorities and the
labour market discovered
that staff from ethnic minorities found it harder to win
promotion than white colleagues.

The
research showed
that while minorities had little problem getting started in professional roles,
moving up the career ladder was proving a problem.

Diana
Worman, the CIPD’s diversity adviser, said organisations must adapt to 21st
century demands: "This
means recruiting from a much wider range of backgrounds in order to broaden and
strengthen the capacity to meet rapidly changing customer needs," she said.

"According
to the report, individuals from ethnic minorities will account for half of the
growth in population of working age over the next 10 years. So organisations need
to incorporate diversity into their people management strategies as a matter of
some urgency."

The
full report will be finalised in the summer and will lead to recommendations for
government policy.

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www.piu.gov.uk/2001/ethnicity/main.shtml

By Ross Wigham