Non-departmental public body The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), financial services organisation HSBC (pictured), telecommunications business Sky and law firm Slaughter and May are among the organisations recognised on the Best Employers for Race 2018 list, compiled by business-community outreach charity Business in the Community (BITC).
Sandra Kerr OBE, race equality director at BITC, said: “In a rapidly changing global business environment, it’s vital that organisations make the most of all the diverse talent available to them to successfully compete.
“I hope more employers will seize the moment to act on workplace race equality and follow the example set out by the leading employers in this listing by signing up for [the] Race at Work Charter, launched earlier this month.”
The 2018 list recognised 70 UK employers for their leadership on race equality and inclusion in the workplace, as well as celebrating how their policies are positively impacting black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) employees within their organisations.
The list, which was a key recommendation from the government-sponsored independent McGregor-Smith review: race in the workplace, aims to acknowledge employers that are taking a proactive approach to address racial inequalities in their organisations.
Other organisations that feature on the final list include professional services firm EY, Leicestershire Police, food, snack and beverage business PepsiCo, retailer Sainsbury’s, utilities provider Shell UK and financial services brand Virgin Money.
Julie Dennis, head of diversity at Acas, said: “We are honoured to be named as one of the best employers for race by Business in the Community this year. Acas has a range of initiatives on diversity and inclusion, such as a BAME mentoring scheme and a training programme to help ensure there’s BAME staff on our recruitment and interview panels.
“Race equality is an organisation priority and our future plans include targeting universities with a large BAME student population about career opportunities available at Acas and promoting new vacancies through diverse networks nationwide.”