In-work poverty, ethnicity and workplace cultures JRF Poverty

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In-work poverty, ethnicity and workplace cultures
JRF Poverty Ethnicity Programme

• Breakout session presentation
• for BTEG-Inclusion conference on Increasing
  ethnic minority employment
• 4th February 2013

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Research aims

• Relationship between in-work poverty, workplace
  cultures, ethnicity
• Informal work practices shaping opportunities,
  winners and losers
• Discriminatory attitudes and behaviour
• Employees attitudes and actions vs employers
• How to create change

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Large Employer sample supporting exploration of
cultures of progression
Private sector 1 Hotel 2 Facilities management companies HotelCo (urban area) FacilitiesCo1 (urban area) FacilitiesCo2 (urban/ semi-rural area)
Public sector 2 Councils 2 NHS Trusts 1 NHS good practice case study Council1 (urban area) Council2 (semi-rural area) NHS1 (urban area) NHS2 (urban area) NHS3 (urban/ semi-rural areas)
Social enterprise sector 2 Housing organisations Housing1 (semi-rural area) Housing2 (urban area)
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Low paid worker sample 65 interviews
Scotland (30), England (35) Slightly more females than males Majority aged 18-55 Migrant workers (31), BME (17) White British/Scottish/Irish (17) 31 ethnicities Central Eastern Europeans Black British, British Asian, African 17 Muslim, 26 Catholics Three self identified as disabled
Typical jobs domestics, cleaners, waiters, catering staff, support staff, carers, clerical roles 38 full-time workers and 26 part-time workers (17 women, 9 men) Individual income 5-25K Largest number 10-15K 25 households income less than 25K per year
19 claiming at least one benefit (excluding child benefit) 7 claim Working Tax Credit Child Tax Credit, 6 claim Child Tax Credit Under claiming esp migrant workers
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The case studies and the business case for
diversity
Number and range of initiatives Clearly articulated business case for diversity Clearly articulated business case for diversity Poorly articulated business case for diversity
And bcd specific to one business aim And bcd related to multiple business aims
Least developed FacilitiesCo2 HotelCo Housing2 FacilitiesCo1 NHS2 Council2
Most developed NHS1 Housing 1 Council1
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Restructuring and equalities in supply chains

• Out-sourcing in public / social enterprise sector
  case studies
• Equal opportunities policies in procurement/
  supply chains
• A window on supply chains FacilitiesCo1
  FacilitiesCo2

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Ethnic minority recruitment progression

• Case studies in super-diverse urban areas
• Progress in recruitment
• Next step, progression gap (e.g. Council1)
• Case studies in diverse semi-rural areas
• Working on recruitment and community
  representation (e.g. Housing1)

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Equal Opportunities? The gap between policy and
practice

• We need to understand that there may be a
  formal organisational culture proclaiming common
  values and beliefs, but behind this façade there
  are likely to be different informal subcultures
  reflecting distinct values and beliefs.
• (from Noon Blyton, 1997, The Realities of
  Work)

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The realities of low paid work
INEFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE DEVELOPMENT REVIEWS
LACK OF ADVICE, COACHING, MENTORING, WORK
SHADOWING
UNSUPPORTIVE LINE MANAGEMENT
RIGIDITY OF PROGRESSION REQUIREMENTS
LOW WAGE TRAPS
LITTLE SCOPE FOR HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT
UNDER-EMPLOYMENT
LEARNING TO WORK
LACK OF STEPPING STONES
EXPLOITATION
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Key point Low paid workers across all
ethnicities affected by..

• ...Low wage traps
• Wasted potential

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Ethnicity organisational subcultures
STEREOTYPING
CONFIDENCE, ESOL NEEDS, LACK OF ROLE MODELS
FAVOURITISM
ETHNICITY AFFECTS PRACTICES
COMMUNITY LANGUAGE SKILLS, ESOL SOCIAL NETWORKS
BULLYING, HARASSMENT, BANTER
UNDER-EMPLOYMENT
HOURS OF WORK ACCESS TO ESOL CLASSES
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Management mindsets behaviours

• Conscious and unconscious bias
• Impacts
• Morale, trust, aspiration
• Reinforcing progression ceilings
• Persistent underemployment and in-work poverty

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Key point Additional layers of disadvantage for
BME/ migrant workers

• Ethnicity affects progession ceilings
• Wasted potential

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• The most deprived people are going to stay
  deprived, if there is no support, if there is
  nothing to get them out of that. We do need
  extra support, we dont have people in our
  families whose higher income can support us, so
  who do we turn to?...If we dont get the right
  support, the right encouragement, we are just
  going to stay at the bottom. (Council2, low paid
  worker, Bangladeshi woman)

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Emerging solutionsSuggestions for providing
routes to better paid work
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Bench-marking and ethnic monitoring

• More monitoring/ better data
• Pro-active use of the data!

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Acknowledging gap between official cultures
informal cultures

• Closer organisational scrutiny of informal
  cultures
• Step 1? Appointment of Director of Culture change

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Community engagement, worklessness labour
market progression

• Creative thinking progression initiatives
• Integrating equality?
• Example 1 Pre-employment programmes
• Example 2 Linking tenants with adult education
• Example 3 Apprenticeship schemes
• Example 4 PATH Trainees/ positive action
• Example 5 Talent Pools

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Promoting career development among low paid
workers

• Awareness of subconcious bias and recognition of
  potential
• Working to learn, not learning to work
• Informal training/ coaching /mentoring
• Work placements
• Positive role models, good news stories
• Widening social networks, workplace interactions,
  horizons
• Creative progression planning

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• I think it is the image they are projecting, it
  makes people feel like they cant go for certain
  roles. So maybe they just need to have a
  different approach, better communication with
  their staff, that the opportunities are
  available for everyoneAnd maybe, when they are
  doing adverts or something, they should put a few
  black faces Otherwise certain people will not go
  to certain places. (HR Manager, FacilitiesCo1)

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Summary

• Gap between equal opportunities policy and
  reality for low paid workers
• Low wage traps and progression ceilings
• Wasted potential
• Changing management mindsets behaviour
• A more strategic organisational approach
• Leadership and tailored approaches

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Workshop discussion questions

• How can low paid worker career progression be
  supported?
• What kinds of interventions will challenge
  negative informal workplace cultures?
• How do we encourage employer/ management take-up
  of good practice?