D
Diversity | Catalyst
Why work is the greatest leveller
T
im Campbell, head of
global citizenship at
Alexander Mann Solutions,
explains why organisations
must find ways to open
themselves up to all talent.
Ultimately, when we talk about social mobility, it’s
about increasing the wealth or income potential of
one individual compared to their parents or peers.
The greatest – and easiest – way of doing that is to
give people access to better jobs where they can earn
more money.
Many people from lower socio-economic
backgrounds aren’t afforded the opportunities of
work, which is the greatest leveller. They lack access
to social capital, they don’t go to the ‘right’ schools,
they don’t have mentors. If businesses want to live up
to their ambition of having diversity of thought, they
can play a critical part in creating a level playing field
by reaching out to a diverse talent pool.
I come from a working-class background, but
the intergenerational mobility of my own family,
compared to my mother’s, has been stark. We own
our house, our children go to nice schools, we can
afford to go on holiday. That has been facilitated by
the power of work.
Over the past 10 years, there has been a rightful
focus, by employers, on trying to mitigate any negative
processes that may prevent diverse candidates being
attracted, recruited or promoted. When we start to
ask“how do we create a meritocracy?”, that’s when
social mobility comes to the fore.
Some of our clients are doing amazing things
to ensure they are considering diverse talent.
At Santander, for example, there is a focus on
apprenticeships, which allow talent to come in
via a non-traditional route and grow skills within
the business.
Deloitte is using a ‘contextualised recruitment
approach’ to reach out to atypical schools. Pioneered
by recruitment firm Rare Recruitment, the
contextual recruitment system measures candidates’
achievements, including academic performance at
university, against the classification systems we’ve
developed. This way, candidates’ achievements can
alexandermannsolutions.com
68
Tim Campbell MBE
be put into context, and outperformers who otherwise
might be missed can be identified.
Organisations that have joined the Social Mobility
Index have been able to prove they can measure it and
show the business case. That, as an example to others,
is really important – it shows that social mobility
isn’t “just another diversity initiative”. It’s about
the organisation proving it wants to be the best
in the market, and finding ways to open itself up
to all talent. The best way you can make a
difference to your community is to open up your
business to attract talent from as many different
places as possible. Giving someone a job helps change
their circumstances. But making sure everybody has
the opportunity to apply is what’s really important.
We have already seen inroads with approaches
such as anonymising CVs. But the next stage is
about ensuring we have people in our workplaces
who are the first to go to university, and giving them
the opportunity to prove they are as talented as
everyone else.
“The greatest way of promoting
social mobility is to give people
access to better jobs where they
can earn more money”