The words of home secretary Suella Braverman at the Conservative Party conference on Tuesday may have caused some furrowed brows among HR and business leaders this week.
There were the predictable promises to curb immigration and for longer sentences for criminals. It was also a foregone conclusion that she would attack “gender ideology” for being “poison”, but less obvious that a senior London Conservative politician, Andrew Boff, would be thrown out of the hall for saying out loud: “This is trash”.
We see it in parts of Whitehall, in museums and galleries, in the police, and even in leading companies in the City. Under the banner of diversity, equity, and inclusion, official policies have been embedded that distort the whole purpose of these institutions” – Suella Braverman, home secretary
But those business leaders listening in – probably few in number given the highly politicised context of the remarks – may have felt angry, queasy, or just uncomfortable with Braverman’s characterisation of diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives. Nonetheless a quick Google search for business’s response to the speech revealed … a big fat nothing.
Braverman warned that Britain would go properly “woke” under a Labour government. But then came the bit HR should consider: “Things are bad enough already. We see it in parts of Whitehall, in museums and galleries, in the police, and even in leading companies in the City. Under the banner of diversity, equity, and inclusion, official policies have been embedded that distort the whole purpose of these institutions. Highly controversial ideas are presented to workforces and the public as if they are motherhood and apple pie.”
Her speech was widely criticised by other politicians and by journalists. But business largely turned a blind eye, perhaps seeing the comments as merely a continuation of Boris Johnson’s “F*** business” policy.
Related stories
Opposing critical race theory ruled a philosophical belief
Forstater wins £100k in gender critical belief judgment
Institutional racism remains ‘a stain’ on NHS
English nationalism is not a philosophical belief, says tribunal
Braverman certainly would have had no truck with the findings of a study by learning consultancy Impact which found this week that FTSE 350 businesses were paying more attention to diversity among their senior team candidates than ever before, with the percentage of seats filled by ethnically diverse directors rising to 22%, with 54% of new board seats being taken by women, as Impact says, “showing that companies are moving in the right direction”.
Dominic Fitch, head of creative change at Impact, said: “Pulling from a wide range of experiences, a diverse team is more likely to make sound, educated decisions. In fact, according to studies, they tend to make smarter choices than non-diverse workforces up to 87% of the time.”
The previous week, in the US, Braverman announced multiculturalism had “failed because it allowed people to come to our society and live parallel lives in it”. For Rob Briner, professor of organisational psychology in the School of Business and Management, Queen Mary University of London, the home secretary’s comments were confusing because they directly contradicted those of the business secretary, Kemi Badenoch. He said “One minister says multiculturalism hasn’t worked; another minister says the UK is the best country for people from ethnic minorities to grow up in.”
Multiracial society
Badenoch told the conference: “We live in a multiracial society. We’re very, very comfortable with that because if we weren’t you wouldn’t have a prime minister that we have, we wouldn’t have the home secretary or the business secretary that we have.”
So, should HR and wider business leaders be alarmed at the tone of the home secretary? Briner said that while much of the language used by Braverman could be characterised by the term “dog whistle politics”, it was not the case that all companies were clear about what their aims were with diversity, inclusion and equity. “It depends what you mean by ‘equity’. Some people project anything on to it that they want.”
In a sense, Braverman was preying on sensitivities over language. “You can be pro-diversity but still come to the conclusion that unconscious bias training is not effective. We must be more honest about what works and what doesn’t work and what our objectives are.”
Businesses, said Briner, should respond to Braverman by talking about values. “Businesses need to say ‘these are our values’. There’s a sense in which you can fight back but business must be clear what it’s about.”
Language and prejudice
He added that Braverman used language “to tie into people’s prejudices. For many people the trans debate is very uncomfortable and to be told by your employer that you mustn’t think that is damaging.”
So is HR intrinsically “woke”, which is why Braverman likes to bring DE&I into her speeches?
“You could say HR is woke – it comes from an employee welfare place,” says Briner. “But that is not all that’s it about – HR is there to safeguard the interests of the business. Politicians such as Braverman see a fault line within HR – some HR professionals are employee advocates and some are there purely for employer objectives.”
Some in HR might be quite shocked by Braverman’s words, but, Briner agrees, they “are not truly aimed at you. It’s aimed at small constituency.”
There is a risk of pushback against HR policy, however, as people could argue “If the Home Secretary says this kind of thing, why can’t I?”, Briner says.
But, perhaps fortunately, says Briner, most people just go “whatever”.
The Home Office told Personnel Today it was not prepared to comment on the ramifications for HR policy of Braverman’s speech.
Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
Browse more human resources jobs
