1. In-work poverty, ethnicity and workplace cultures JRF Poverty & Ethnicity Programme Breakout session presentation for BTEG-Inclusion conference on Increasing ethnic minority employment 4 th February 2013

2. 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

3. Large Employer sample supporting exploration of cultures of progression Private sector1 Hotel 2 Facilities management companies HotelCo (urban area) FacilitiesCo1 (urban area) FacilitiesCo2 (urban/ semi-rural area) Public sector2 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 organisationsHousing1 (semi-rural area) Housing2 (urban area)

4. 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

5. The case studies and the business case for diversity Number and range of initiatives Clearly articulated business case for diversityPoorly articulated business case for diversity And bcd specific to one business aim And bcd related to multiple business aims Least developed FacilitiesCo2 HotelCo Housing2 FacilitiesCo1NHS2 Council2 Most developed NHS1 Housing 1 Council1

6. 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

7. 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)

8. 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)

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

10. Key point: Low paid workers across all ethnicities affected by.....Low wage traps Wasted potential

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

12. Management mindsets & behaviours Conscious and unconscious bias  Impacts:  Morale, trust, aspiration  Reinforcing progression ceilings  Persistent underemployment and in- work poverty

13. Key point: Additional layers of disadvantage for BME/ migrant workers Ethnicity affects progession ceilings Wasted potential

14. ‘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 don’t have people in our families whose higher income can support us, so who do we turn to?...If we don’t get the right support, the right encouragement, we are just going to stay at the bottom.’ (Council2, low paid worker, Bangladeshi woman)

15. Emerging solutions Suggestions for providing routes to better paid work

16. Bench-marking and ethnic monitoring More monitoring/ better data Pro-active use of the data!

17. Acknowledging gap between official cultures & informal cultures Closer organisational scrutiny of informal cultures Step 1? Appointment of Director of Culture change

18. 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

19. 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

20. ‘I think it is the image they are projecting, it makes people feel like they can’t 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 everyone…And 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)

21. 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

22. 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?