How do you solve a problem like EDI?

After a government-commissioned report highlighted corporate confusion and misguided spending on equality, diversity and inclusion, here EG asks three experts how they are hoping to drive meaningful workplace change in the real estate sector. A new government-commissioned report on diversity and inclusion initiatives in the workplace found that organisations are continuing to adopt interventions that have been shown to have little or no impact, and in some cases are counterproductive or unlawful. Amid the ensuing debate, EG asked three figures who are helping to shape EDI practices in UK real estate how they are navigating this complex area – and what steps they believe are crucial to driving real change in the sector’s workplaces: Hannah Awonuga, group head of diversity, equity and inclusion at Knight Frank; Brona McKeown, HR director, general counsel and company secretary at British Land; and Sue Brown, managing director of campaigning organisation Real Estate Balance. But first, some background. The Inclusion at Work panel, chaired by Pamela Dow, chief operating officer of Civic Future and a former senior civil servant, and advised by Harvard academic professor Iris Bohnet, highlighted the rapid growth of EDI jobs, external training providers and the millions being spent on the drive to make Britain’s workplaces more inclusive. Cue a headline in The Telegraph – “Britain’s diversity drive has backfired” – while the Daily Mail reported equalities minister Kemi Badenoch saying that “many popular EDI practices – such as diversity training – have little to no tangible impact in increasing diversity or reducing prejudice”. It was left to a Guardian column to point out the political appeal of Badenoch’s comments to the anti-woke agenda on the right of her party and to recall a study last year by data and market research company Savanta in which 70% of the 1,523 UK employees surveyed said that diversity training had been effective in their workplace. Delve deeper and what the Inclusion at Work panel is calling for is a government-endorsed framework which sets out criteria that employers might apply to their EDI practice for effectiveness and value for money. It also wants government to fund a research partner to develop a digital tool for leaders and managers in every sector to assess the rigour, efficacy and value for money of a range of EDI practices. The emphasis is squarely on the need for more and better data – both quantitative and qualitative – to be gathered, analysed and made easily available to businesses. Plus, the panel wants to see some clarity from the Equality and Human Rights Commission on the legal position for employers in relation to EDI, particularly considering recent court rulings. These include a case where Cheshire police were found to have discriminated against a white candidate through incorrectly applying the positive action provisions of the Equality Act. Employers have a duty to fully grasp and apply the law, the report says, but leaders and managers “should not be expected to possess a sophisticated knowledge of the demographic, historical and socio-economic debates relating to the relative advantage and disadvantages between groups”. Here, our three industry experts share their thoughts on the report and how they are hoping to drive meaningful change across the real estate sector. Hannah Awonuga, group head of diversity, equity and inclusion, Knight Frank “A lot of organisations have been very reactive rather than proactive,” says Hannah Awonuga, who joined Knight Frank as a partner last summer. She previously held the role of global head of colleague engagement, group diversity and inclusion at Barclays. Awonuga is talking about the rapid growth – highlighted in the report – of EDI jobs. The report cites LinkedIn research, which found that from 2015 to 2020, the number of people globally with a “head of diversity” title more than doubled (107% growth). It also found the UK employs almost twice as many D&I workers per 10,000 employees than any other country. “What I’ve seen is that organisations have been reactive to a point in time,” she says – such as government setting targets for female representation on boards and in senior leadership roles, the rise of LGBTQ+ campaigns, the Black Lives Matter movement and #MeToo movement. She understands the report’s criticism, she says, because “knee-jerk” responses can lead to interim solutions, with limited results, rather than effective, long-term strategic plans. Awonuga says that for these roles to really count, there must be strategic direction from senior leaders. She says: “Where you do see real, sustainable change is where organisations are proactive in the DE&I space and really invest time, resources and strategic direction from senior leaders.” And data too? “Organisations need to be rooted in data, but they can’t only be focused on data because data can take quite a long time to get. But it’s not hard to look around the room, look around the office, look at your data, look at your senior positions, look at your boards to see where you need to focus from a DE&I perspective,” says Awonuga. She is also a non-executive director for the UK government membership body Progress Together, which has been set up to increase socio-economic diversity at the senior leadership level across the UK financial services sector. At Knight Frank, Awonuga reports into Karen Bowes, who joined the group executive board last year as group chief people officer, and she meets fortnightly with senior partner and group chair William Beardmore-Gray. “If you don’t have that level of accountability and transparency, then where does DE&I sit within the business?” she says. When organisations get this right, EDI “can’t be a tick-box exercise because it forms part of the people strategy”. In other words, it becomes “a deliverable for the organisation”. Investment in expertise – particularly legal expertise – is also vital if organisations are going to successfully navigate complexities such as the difference between positive discrimination and positive action. Awonuga says EDI can’t be left solely to employee resource groups or people doing this “on the side of their desk”. From nothing, Knight Frank now has an EDI team of four with high levels of expertise, “which means we can be intentional about our actions”. “We’re not simply going to roll out some leadership training,” says Awonuga.   So do organisations really need a new government-endorsed framework to help steer their EDI strategies? Awonuga is positive about the idea of greater leadership from government or industry bodies. She recalls the 2021 publication of the Financial Conduct Authority’s discussion paper on D&I. “Once the FCA required all financial services [firms] to respond to its consultation paper, things happened. If the FCA is now asking you about your diversity and inclusion strategy and your metrics and your pay gap and your representation, then senior leaders become interested in it and now they’re driving it,” she says. At Knight Frank the business has five key priorities to guide its EDI strategy: building diverse teams; driving inclusive culture and behaviours; leadership, inclusivity and accountability; data-led activation; and cultivating partnerships. These will underpin its work across six dimensions of diversity: race and ethnicity; gender; LGBT; ability; generation; and socioeconomic diversity. Awonuga says each of those areas has an executive sponsor.  Making an impact is “a slow burner,” she acknowledges. “I don’t want to make knee-jerk reactions. We’re working with our learning and development team, our early careers team, our talent acquisition team to build our strategies.” Her ambition is “to do some work” and then perhaps publish a EDI report at the end of next year. Like many of the organisations consulted for the government-commissioned report, Knight Frank is at the beginning of its EDI journey. “Knight Frank was very intentional about its ambitions to be a more diverse organisation for its colleagues and its clients,” says Awonuga. “It felt like I was coming to an organisation that was right at the beginning of building something that could be really successful longer term.” Brona McKeown, HR director, general counsel and company secretary, British Land At British Land, HR director Brona McKeown says the need for data-driven action, emphasised in the government-commissioned report, is an absolute given. “Whether it’s a diversity-targeted initiative or not, any kind of people intervention, you’ve got to find some way of working out if you think it’s working or not. You’ve got to find a benchmark,” she says. By necessity, some of that may need to be qualitative: what did you think beforehand and what did you think afterwards? Some of it can be more quantitative. “You’ve got to try,” insists McKeown. Almost all of the FTSE propco’s staff has recently taken part in an “active inclusion” course, something it launched in Autumn as part of its published DE&I 2030 strategy. A three-hour training session conducted by an external provider in groups no bigger than 15 is not an insignificant investment, McKeown says. The aim was to be very practical and focused, targeting areas such as language, and staff were surveyed before and afterwards. So was it worth it or was it the waste of resources that Badenoch suggests diversity training can be? McKeown brings up the data to answer this. The before and after scores show a clear improvement in staff awareness of what constitutes active inclusion and their level of confidence to create a culture of active inclusion. When asked if they had a clear idea of how they could actively contribute to inclusion at British Land, 55% answered yes beforehand and 44% said no. Afterwards, 98% said yes.  The business has a target of 17.5% of staff being ethnically diverse by 2025 and keeps regular track of progress – it stood at 15% in its 2023 annual report. It has also begun publishing its ethnicity pay gap as well as its gender pay gap. In its recruitment, the company now uses MeVitae, which applies augmented intelligence technology to blind CVs and automates the process as much as it can to remove unconscious bias. In parallel, it gathers demographic data at all stages, from application, selection, screening and interview all the way through to offer. “This information doesn’t go anywhere near the blinded CV,” says McKeown. “It’s only later that the system can tell us what happens at each stage – what percentage of people identified as minoritised ethnicity. We’ve only been running this for a year but that’s going to be my benchmark.” BL’s employee opinion survey is another data tool, which now produces a 90% disclosure rate for ethnicity. Much of BL’s EDI work is led by head of employee relations Ade Onagoruwa. Thinking about the report’s concern over the proliferation of EDI jobs, McKeown says it may not be necessary as a job title. Not because EDI is not important but because it is so important that it must be part of everyone’s role, from chief executive down. BL’s employee networks also play a key part. In fact, it was the REACH network – which stands for Race, Equality and Celebrating Heritage – that proposed the 17.5% BAME employee target. Would McKeown welcome a government-endorsed framework to help steer BL’s EDI strategy and initiatives in future? “We would assess ourselves against it. And you can always learn more,” she says. “But the absence of it doesn’t stop us doing this stuff.” Sue Brown, managing director, Real Estate Balance For Sue Brown, it’s always promising to see policy-makers turning their attention to EDI. “While the report is right to flag ineffective policies, this must be balanced with practical tools and guidance that demonstrate best practice and clearly explain what is working – which is exactly what Real Estate Balance aims to do,” she says. EDI is a complex topic with constantly evolving challenges. “One issue is that the number of lenses through which organisations can measure EDI has grown significantly over time, with metrics now including gender, ethnicity, sexuality, age, disability, social mobility and more,” Brown says. She sees collecting and analysing a broad spectrum of data as a critical starting point in addressing any EDI challenge. Every two years, the organisation runs the industry’s largest and most comprehensive EDI survey to gather data and examine the key drivers and barriers to progress. The results highlight good practice such as working groups and action plans, as well as areas in which the industry still needs to focus efforts, such as ethnicity and social mobility. Real Estate Balance is also helping organisations gather their own EDI data. In partnership with PwC, it published a comprehensive guide on this topic, providing practical advice on data collection, tracking and reporting on progress, and using data to guide priorities.  “Having said all that, I still don’t believe the industry is gathering sufficient EDI data – the majority of UK businesses still fail to report on EDI beyond gender and a 2023 research study showed that only 44% of UK employers voluntarily publish their ethnicity pay gap,” Brown says.  “Data is one area the government could provide better support to employers on EDI – ideally drawing on the experiences of industry and industry bodies in particular, who have much expertise to offer on that front.” Read the government report in full >> Main image: Gerd Altmann/Pixabay