Southwark Council: Ethnicity Pay Gap Analysis

Southwark Council

The local authority for the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London, England.

Business challenge

Southwark Council partnered with In Diverse Company (IDC) to identify and address the Ethnicity Pay Gap (EPG). A multifaceted project was executed to pinpoint the root causes of the EPG and chart strategic solutions for a fairer, more inclusive workplace. The primary focus was to understand both the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ behind Southwark’s EPG.

Description of work:

At In Diverse Company (IDC), we partnered with Southwark Council to identify and address their Ethnicity Pay Gap (EPG). Our approach included a detailed analysis of the Council’s EPG over five years, examining the causes of disparity through a firm-wide survey, focus groups, HR data analysis, and a comprehensive audit of policies and processes. We engaged with the Council’s leadership, managers, and employees to share our findings and gather valuable insights, culminating in actionable recommendations to reduce the EPG. Our comprehensive strategy led to policy reviews, document revisions, and training sessions for over 1000 managers and leaders, equipping Southwark Council with the tools needed to promote equity and inclusion.

Results

Actionable Insights: The outcomes included insights into racial disparities, leading to a comprehensive strategy to tackle racism.
Policy and Training Interventions: IDC’s interventions extended to policy reviews, rewriting key documents, and initiating training sessions for over 1000 managers and leaders.
Decreased EPG and Increased Diversity: Southwark Council now has a refined approach to promoting equity and inclusion, resulting in a demonstrable decrease in the EPG and increased diversity in leadership.
Ongoing Collaboration: This project led to further collaboration with IDC, including policy reviews and the implementation of a leadership charter.

About the company:

Southwark London Borough Council, also known as Southwark Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council is based at 160 Tooley Street.

Detailed five-year EPG analysis and actionable recommendations driving meaningful change.

Over 1000 managers and leaders trained, resulting in policy revisions and increased diversity in leadership.

Story & quotes:

A White participant, for the very first time in her life, called out an act of racism that she witnessed outside the workplace. She felt that she was more equipped to do so after the session and felt confident in supporting the victim. Though she was extremely uncomfortable doing so, she did it and that was her starting point in this journey she plans to continue.

Maria was discussing how frontline workers, from marginalised backgrounds, were being targeted for racial abuse by the public. She said that this was an ongoing problem, where an elderly white woman refused to be served by anyone of colour, and Maria’s manager assisted the woman to be served by a white person instead of addressing the racism that his colleagues were being subjected to. Maria’s manager, a white man, was asked to intervene repeatedly but instead allowed the abuse from the customer to continue. Post the ARLO sessions, Maria felt emboldened by the content, and the fact that everyone had been on the course; she spoke to senior leadership above her manager, and they have decided to ban the elderly white woman from the building.