Index aims to encourage best practice, not ‘name and shame’ those with poor records, says Social Mobility Commission
Organisations are to be ranked for the first time based on their ability to access talent from all socioeconomic environments.
The Social Mobility Employer Index – a joint initiative from the Social Mobility Foundation and the Social Mobility Commission – aims to showcase organisations improving social mobility in the UK by recruiting the best talent for job vacancies, regardless of their social background.
The index is primarily aimed at companies in ‘elite’ sectors that have a poor track record of encouraging social mobility, including law, accountancy, media, banking and science.
Research has consistently shown that people with more affluent backgrounds – including those who attended private schools and elite universities – take a disproportionate number of the ‘best’ jobs available.
Around half of diplomats, 47 per cent of newspaper columnists and 38 per cent of members of the House of Lords attended either Oxford or Cambridge University, compared with less than 1 per cent of the British population as a whole, according to government figures.
Many organisations have turned their attention to social mobility in recent months: the BBC has started to collect a broader range of information about job applicants’ backgrounds, while the civil service is also deploying HR metrics to open up access to a broader range of candidates.
Companies that wish to be listed on the new index will need to answer questions about their recruitment, selection and career progression practices. They will be ranked by a panel of experts, and receive recommendations of areas for improvement. Those that fail to make the grade will not be ‘named and shamed’, said the Social Mobility Commission.
The Rt Hon Alan Milburn, chair of the Social Mobility Commission, said: “Many top firms are doing excellent work in opening their doors to people from all social backgrounds. We want the index to herald a step change towards improving social mobility by encouraging many more employers to compete to recruit, and keep, the best and brightest candidates.”
Claire Williams, diversity and inclusion director at Inclusive Employers, said she welcomed the index’s aim of highlighting inequality, but was also concerned about the “administrative burden” it might place on organisations.
She added: “There is a growing concern about social mobility – employers can see that there is a significant business case that will drive the need to address this barrier within the UK. Of course a lot of the problems associated with social mobility stem from bias within the decision-making process, whether it is conscious or unconscious.”
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