Seventeen CEOs of some of the UK’s biggest organisations have joined forces to move the dial on diversity, in a bid to create more inclusive workforces across the country.
Founding members Steve Murrells, Group CEO of the Co-operative Group; Steve Rowe, CEO of Marks and Spencer; and Steve Ingham, CEO of PageGroup; were also the first signatories on the ‘CEO Activist & Moving the Dial on Diversity Pledge’, which aims to drive action to better engage and support all underrepresented groups within business. Their actions have already inspired a range of other businesses to join the pledge, with leaders from nine other organisations making the same commitment. They include Alfa Financial Software; Fresenius Kabi; HH Global; IPSOS; Lexis Nexis; Lucky Generals; Rugby League World Cup; Superdrug; Latch Events, Communisis, Wrightbus and Unilever (see full list below).
“This is an important step towards creating diverse and inclusive workplaces for all our colleagues where they feel a true sense of belonging,” commented Steve Murrells, Group CEO of the Co-operative Group. “Collectively, as CEOs and leadership teams, we know that more must be done; and each of us has a responsibility to be role models and agents of change to drive true inclusion throughout our organisations, our products and services and the communities we serve.”
MULTIFACETED DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
Steve Ingham, CEO of PageGroup, agreed: “We recognise that diversity and inclusion are multifaceted issues. Through this movement, we want to tackle these subjects holistically, and better engage and support all underrepresented groups within business. We also want to unlock potential, to ensure that workforces are truly diverse and inclusive.”
By coming together in this way, the three organisations hope to use their influence, experience and public platforms to encourage more than 100 other UK CEOs to sign the pledge before December 2022.
ACTIVIST CEOS
There 17 CEOs that have signed up to the pledge so far, include:
- Steve Murrells, CEO, The Co-op Group
- Steve Rowe, CEO, Marks & Spencer
- Steve Ingham, CEO, Page Group
- Alan Jope, CEO, Unilever
- Peter MacNab, CEO, Superdrug
- Andrew Denton, CEO, Alfa Financial Software
- Dean Curtis, CEO, I.C.I.S & Group MD, Risk & Business Analytics, RELX
- Ben Page, CEO, IPSOS
- Helen Calcraft, CEO, Lucky Generals
- Buta Atwal, CEO, Wrightbus
- Mike Perez, Group CEO, HH Global
- Tony Reed, CEO, TCFM
- James Millward, MD, Eurilait
- Philip Hoggarth, CEO, Communisis
- Jon Dutton, CEO, RLWC
- Niamh Furey, CEO, Fresenius Kabi
- Penny Moyses, Latch Events
AN EQUITABLE SOCIETY
The three founding CEOs of the pledge (all named Steve) signed the agreement in partnership with diversity and inclusion accelerator DIAL Global. “We are delighted to have these three remarkable and high-profile CEOs on board with us as founding partners. As leaders of some of the UK’s largest corporations, they manage hundreds of thousands of employees and play a critical role in driving action to ensure that diversity, inclusion, belonging and equity are core themes of workplace culture,” stated Leila McKenzie-Delis, Founder of DIAL Global and The McKenzie Delis Foundation.
DIAL Global has “committed to authentically move the dial by taking a holistic approach to the various facets of diversity in order to create a more equitable society,” added McKenzie-Delis. “Along with these three CEO Activists and all the other organisations that have already signed the pledge, we will all work together to be real models for open, authentic, evolutionary conversation to drive action and give a voice to all.”
MOVING THE DIAL ON DIVERSITY
The CEO Activist & Moving the Dial on Diversity Pledge focuses on four key areas, which are:
- Ensuring workplaces are inclusive with clear steps to ensure current and future leadership team diversity.
- A commitment to measure progress annually against 10 areas of diversity and inclusion; which were first introduced in 2020 through an inaugural report from the McKenzie-Delis Foundation.
- A promise to implement strategic diversity plans with clear accountability for CEOs and their leadership teams
- A commitment for each CEO to share their learnings and strategic plans for the future.
PRIORITISING DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
The launch of the pledge comes ahead of the second report from the McKenzie-Delis Review; a comprehensive review of UK corporate workplace diversity and inclusion, which is due to publish in Spring 2022. While other reports focus on a single facet of diversity, such as gender or ethnicity, it is the first review of its kind to take a holistic approach to diversity and inclusion by providing a comprehensive review of how employers are addressing and prioritising their efforts across 10 facets of workplace diversity and inclusion.
This includes Race & Ethnicity; Gender; Age & Generation; Nationality; Mental Health & Wellness; Sexual Orientation; Socioeconomic Status; Disability & Neurodiversity; Religion or Belief; and Parenthood & Caring. Many of the pledge signatories, including The Co-op’s Steve Murrells, IPSOS’ Ben Page, Lexis Nexis’ Dean Curtis & HH Global’s Mike Perez, will also be speaking at DIAL Global’s upcoming Summits on Trends & Insights in Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) 16-17 February 2022. Click here to read more.
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