Financial services organisation TSB has signed the Race at Work Charter, making a commitment to address the barriers that ethnic minority staff face in the workplace.
The voluntary Race at Work Charter, which has been developed in partnership with the UK government and business outreach charity Business in the Community (BITC), asks employers to take practical steps to tackle the barriers that ethnic minority individuals encounter within the recruitment or career progression processes within their organisations.
The Charter, which is part of a wider campaign to address inequality in the workplace, also aims to ensure that organisations are representative of British society today.
TSB, which employs over 8,000 staff, signed the Charter in March 2019 as part of its focus on building an inclusive workplace culture. This commitment will be supported by TSB’s existing programmes and initiatives that work to increase black, Asian and minority ethnic (Bame) representation at the organisation; for example, using external mentoring to aid career progression.
Jatin Patel, products director and executive sponsor for ethnicity at TSB, said: “I’m incredibly proud to be TSB’s executive sponsor for ethnicity. It’s an issue that’s close to my heart and something I’m really passionate about.
“That’s why I’m delighted to sign up to the Race at Work Charter, which will help us to galvanise our efforts and build on our aspiration of being one of the most inclusive workplaces in the country.”
The Race at Work Charter commits employers to five calls to action: appointing an executive sponsor for race, capturing data and publicising any progress, ensuring zero tolerance of harassment and bullying, making workplace equality the responsibility of all leaders and managers, and taking actions that support ethnic minority staff with their career progression.
To achieve these actions, TSB is updating its HR system in order to capture ethnicity data more consistently, and will be encouraging staff to update their details later in 2019. The business is also exploring implementing unconscious bias training and will work alongside BITC to address any gaps in its approach to bullying and harassment.
Sandra Kerr, race equality director at BITC, added: “Business in the Community [is] delighted that TSB is making this public commitment to improving outcomes for Bame employees. As champion partners of our Race Equality Campaign, we will continue to support TSB with the activities [it has] planned to achieve the Charter’s principles.”
