Class discrimination – the silent bias?

New research suggests that class discrimination is prevalent amongst employers. But how do you define class? And what can be done to prevent class prejudice?

It goes without saying that here at DMJ, along with the vast majority of recruitment professionals, believe that everybody is entitled to equal employment opportunities. But the results of a survey, released today by legal firm Pannone suggest that 90% of HR professionals think that inequality is still rife in the workplace.

Over half of those questioned believe social class inequality exists. And 79% said that unconscious bias is widespread during the recruitment process and when considering promotion opportunities. It seems that class prejudice, although probably inattentive, may be the silent bias.

The Equality Act 2010 introduced legislation to further prevent discrimination on the grounds of gender, disability, nationality, religion and sexual orientation – but how do you define class? And how is it possible to legislate a notion so fluid?

Look it up in the dictionary and class is defined as ‘A group of people sharing the same social, economic, or occupational status’ – but is your class defined by your background or your current social standing? Can a person ‘change’ class? And should they want to?

Last year, research by the Department of Work and Pensions found widespread name-bias against ‘foreign sounding’ names. Is the same true for ‘common sounding’ names? Liberal Democrat MP and Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone proposed a policy to introduce ‘name-blank’ job application forms. This policy was later dropped, but if put into force, would it have removed subconscious discrimination at the key stage of the job application process?

Is class discrimination something that needs greater attention in the workplace? Would legislation to prevent class prejudice require candidates to declare their lineage on their application?

What’s your view? Should there be tick boxes for ‘class’? If so, what would you tick?

Can the Accutrainee model have any impact on diversity?

Originally posted on The Lawyer, here’s our view on the Accutrainee model and what impact it may have on diversity:

Deemed by some a cut price training scheme, the new Accutrainee model claims to offer law firms a way of reducing recruitment costs, whilst not sacrificing headcount. Law firms, it appears, will be able to cut down on the number of training contracts they offer, and instead turn to Accutrainee for would be solicitors. But could this new model have a positive impact on diversity within the legal profession?

It’s no secret that my personal view on the pledges made by certain firms about increasing their diversity initiatives is, put simply, that they are more often than not cosmetic. So when cost savings come into the equation, could such schemes kick start real long term, meaningful changes to diversity? I suspect so.

Diversity League Table and UK Diversity Legal Awards

We attended the BSN Diversity League Table launch on Monday, and what a night it was! The event, hosted by Linklaters also saw the announcement of the UK Diversity Legal Awards winners – which we had the pleasure of sponsoring.

The evening was a great success and attendees had the opportunity to listen to Solicitor General, Edward Garnier QC MP who delivered the keynote speech, followed by a great diversity panel discussion with participants including the co-chair of the Gender Nat Linklaters, and the editor of the Diversity League Table.  What was particularly interesting to hear were the real steps being made by the legal profession to increase diversity.

Then came the awards.  Sidley Austin, scooped the award for “Recruitment -Attracting Talent” and 25 Bedford Row received the award for “Retention-Talent Management”, which we sponsored. The award for “Diversity Champion 2011” was awarded to two candidates – Rita Tappia, from Shoosmiths and Paulette Mastin from Linklaters were both presented with an award for their outstanding work. Big congratulations to all the winners!

Stress in Law firms

Workloads are becoming increasingly more stressful – but are law firms doing enough to combat the pressure?

The strain to perform at higher levels in this incredibly competitive industry has left many feeling burdened and stressed. It has always been a high pressured job and new research published in Legal Week appears to suggest that law has become more stressful over the last 10years with the advances in technology and growing client demands adding to the anxiety.

Law has long been a vocation that requires its members to be tough and operate efficiently under pressure and it’s this very reputation and unspoken expectations that makes law so difficult when it comes to stress. Many lawyers are reluctant to admit to being stressed and having trouble coping with the demands that are placed upon them. The main fear is that of not progressing in their careers.

But should this mean that just because the job is pressurised it should be regularly stressful?

What more could law firms being doing to help? With this in mind, many UK law firms are beginning to try and tackle this issue, encouraging flexible working environments. Some larger City law firms have also set up defined processes to monitor and manage stress such as at  Allen & Overy (A&O), which employs 2,500 staff in London alone, where they have introduced an employee assistance programme that provides ‘employee support and health and wellbeing services.

New and creative solutions are also now being implemented to help with the balance of work and home life. These include;

• Concierge services (an on-site concierge that provides employees with services such as dry cleaning, oil changes, flower delivery, film developing, watch repair, eyeglass care, mailing services, restaurant food delivery and travel arrangements).
• On-site child care
• Serenity rooms (basically a converted office where people can go for a break, meditation, prayer or a private phone call)
• Wellness initiatives (on site exercise classes, health screenings for cholesterol and blood pressure, Weight Watchers meetings, and health-related lectures on topics such as acupuncture)

So do you think stress is just part of the job when working at a City law firm? Or do you think that firms should be doing more to try and tackle this issue?

The ICSA Company Secretaries Conference & Exhibition 2011

We attended the ICSA Company Secretaries Conference & Exhibition yesterday, and the day was a great success. We were able to meet many people – old and new, and we certainly got a lot out of the event.

The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Taking the long term view’. Company secretaries are having to readdress the way they work as businesses begin to focus their efforts on growth following the recession. And changes in the economic, regulatory and legislative environments as well as greater oversight of the make-up and workings of company boards, has meant that company secretaries need to find new innovative ways to tackle all these challenges.  The conference considered all of these issues using roundtable discussions, workshops, and case studies.

Our stand proved to be incredibly popular and not just because we had a fantastic competition – the chance to win an Ipad 2! Lots of people entered and it gave us the opportunity to discuss recruitment issues with many organisations and qualified company secretaries.  The winner was announced by Tanya Beckett, Conference Chair and freelance journalist & broadcaster at the end of the day. A big congratulations goes to – Iain Hamilton of Pine Bridge – we hope you enjoy the fabulous prize!

One of the highlights of the day for us was the personal branding workshop which focused on the importance of social networking. In keeping with this theme, we were offering free professional headshots for delegates to update their LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter accounts. If you attended the event please find your photo at www.kateswerdlow.com

A great day and big thanks goes to the conference organisers. We are already looking forward to next year!