Last month saw the publication of the sixth Parker Review. The Parker Review provides useful data and is an important accountability tool. However, at 73 pages it is a long read, so this Full Colour Friday will tell you all you need to know. I offer some reflections too.
What is the Parker Review?
The Parker Review was established in 2015. A UK initiative, it promotes the following objectives:
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To have at least one ethnically minoritised director in all FTSE 250 companies
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To improve the performance and competitiveness of UK businesses by encouraging them to take full advantage of the talents of people from minority ethnic backgrounds
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To help ensure ethnically minoritised people have equal opportunities to a successful and fulfilling career in business.
Two years ago, the following objective were added:
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Companies have been asked to set their own 2027 targets around the proportion of ethnic minority people in senior management.
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50 of the UK’s largest private companies have been asked to meet the same targets as FTSE350 companies by December 2027.
Underpinning these goals is a desire for companies to increase transparency.
Key findings
At 31 December 2024:
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204 of the 236 companies FTSE 250 companies (82%) which reported to the Review had at least one ethnically minoritised director compared to 175 the previous year: a rise of 17%.
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95 FTSE 100 companies have at least one ethnically minoritised director.
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Ethnically minoritised executives make up between 9% and 11% of the total number of UK-based senior managers across the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 respectively.
There is a particular issue affecting Black people. Black senior managers make up only 1.2% of all FTSE 100 senior managers vs 3.9% of the wider population. Other ethnic minority senior managers make up 9.5% of senior managers in the FTSE 100 vs. 13.1% of the wider population. White senior managers make up 88% of senior managers in the FTSE 100 vs. 83% of the wider population.
What the Parker Review does not tell you
There is no data about the culture into which ethnically minoritised people are being brought, and whether they feel genuinely included.
There is no data about experiences of ethnically minoritised people on Boards and in senior executive roles.
There is no data on how ethnically minoritised people are being enabled to give of their talents and achieve their full potential – one of the Parker Review’s stated aims.
A personal view
Clear progress has been made in representation, and it is important that we celebrate this. The Parker Review is also an important accountability tool, and the public profile it achieves offers soft influence on companies to encourage them to make progress.
However, increasing the level of diversity is only part of what progress looks like. If companies are to benefit from the talents of ethnically minoritised people – one of the Parker Review’s stated aims – the culture of organisations also needs to change. Do these companies have the will, skills and competencies to create that culture change?
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