Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Latest News

Training at fault in diversity shambles

by Personnel Today 22 Jun 2004
by Personnel Today 22 Jun 2004

The Commission for Racial Equality’s (CRE) damning report into race equality
in police forces in England and Wales shows that training alone is not enough
to create a culture of diversity in any business, according to HR experts.

Under the Race Relations Act, all police forces and authorities as well as
all public bodies have a statutory duty to produce a race equality scheme. But
the CRE’s interim report found that more than 90 per cent of police race
equality schemes fail to meet minimum legal requirements, including the duty to
monitor employment.

Trevor Phillips, chair of the CRE, has now threatened court action against
14 police forces and eight police authorities unless they produce lawful
schemes within 90 days.

Sir David Calvert-Smith, who compiled the CRE report, found that diversity
training gave officers little understanding of what constitutes racial
discrimination, how it can lead to an abuse of police powers and failed to
support officers challenging racism in the workplace.

Martin Tiplady, HR director at the Metropolitan Police, told Personnel Today
the Met was working hard to put systems in place to create a culture of
diversity.

"We have a long way to go," he said. "The emphasis is now on
making the systems work to create the culture that is required."

Satya Kartara, director of diversity & inclusion at Royal Mail, said
training was just a small part of promoting diversity in and employers needed
to embed it firmly as part of the business.

"What you need to do is back [diversity training] with visible and
strong leadership from the top and combine it with local action," she
said. "Every manager needs to have individual responsibility and objectives,
as with anything else they deliver."

Tess Finch-Lees, director of global diversity at the Global Effectiveness
Group, said diversity plans need to mainstream good practice into the
performance management process, policies, procedures and practice.

She said businesses then had to be prepared to hold people at all levels to
account.

By Michael Millar

The CRE report findings include:

– All 43 police forces had produced a
race equality scheme

– Only one of the 15 schemes selected for detailed scrutiny
reached CRE minimum standards

– One in three of the 15 forces in the sample did not
adequately monitor employment

– Seven schemes failed at the first hurdle – assessing which
functions and policies were relevant to promoting race equality

– One diversity instructor told officers: "You’ve done the
diversity. That’s a load of b******s. Now let’s get on with the real stuff."

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

– Many officers expressed concerns about the quality or
commitment of the trainers, the superficial treatment of diversity issues and
the ‘bar and alcohol culture’

– Evidence suggests many trainers were unconfident, uncommitted
or even hostile to ‘diversity’

Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
Employers embracing diversity at last
next post
HMV sets new record as external jobs go online

You may also like

Company director wins £15k after being told to...

4 Jul 2025

Skills shortfall in construction threatens housing target

4 Jul 2025

MPs demand Home Office tightens visas to protect...

4 Jul 2025

It’s all about the Monet: how art transforms...

3 Jul 2025

Stop chasing quick fixes: return to the office...

3 Jul 2025

Asda hails major upgrade in employees’ benefits

3 Jul 2025

100% success for latest large-scale four-day week trial

3 Jul 2025

NHS 10-year Health Plan sets out vision for...

3 Jul 2025

Microsoft to cut 9,000 jobs globally as role...

3 Jul 2025

Decline in workplace deaths: falls from height remain...

3 Jul 2025

  • Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer holidays SPONSORED | Businesses play a...Read more
  • AI is here. Your workforce should be ready. SPONSORED | From content creation...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+