Business case for workforce
diversity
Diversity - a business imperative
External drivers
Areas of change
Internal drivers
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EU directives
Legislation
Equality schemes
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Diverse clientele
Demographics
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Diverse workforce/patients
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Patient expectations
Culture
Attitude values
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Employee expectations
Relationship
Employee relations
World class service &
‘employer of choice’
Bottom line
Productivity
The NHS context
• NHS Next Stage Review
• NHS Constitution
• Equality and Diversity Council
• Quality, Innovation, Productivity, Prevention
(QIPP)
• Care Quality Commission
Why is workforce diversity part of core
business?
There are four main drivers for organisations:
1) Organisational reputation
2) Recruitment and retention
4) Productivity
5) Risk mitigation
Organisational reputation
•A good reputation attracts the best talent (from all
communities)
•Valuing diversity signals an ‘inclusive’ environment
– for potential staff and service providers
•As the largest employer, the NHS has a corporate
responsibility to engage its whole community
Some statistics…..
A Job Centre Plus survey, with 2000 respondents shows:
•56% of customers would be more likely to use a business
that has a diverse workforce
•79% think it is important for businesses to have a policy
on diversity in the workplace
•Both staff and customers think employers could be doing
more to attract people from different backgrounds – in
particular, female, disabled, ethnic minorities and older
workers
Some statistics……..
•50% think businesses should be more proactive in
improving workforce diversity
• 58% of employers claim currently to employ people from
groups who traditionally find it harder to get jobs, such as
lone parents, the long term unemployed or those from
ethnic minorities
Recruitment and retention
•NHS needs to recruit and retain the best workforce
• A diverse workforce helps meet local health needs
•Backdrop of changing demographics - ageing
workforce, generation Y
•More competitive labour market - plan to meet
future workforce needs
Recruitment, retention and performance
Did you know?
•IBM increased productivity
by 30% by introducing
flexible working Chartered Institute of
Public Relations, 2006
•The Civil Service found a
positive link between
workforce diversity, service
delivery & knowledge of
user population National Audit
Office, 2004
•An Aston University study
found a link between good
HR practices in NHS
hospitals & lower patient
mortality West. M. A., Guthrie, J. P.,
Dawson, J. F., Borrill, C. S., & Carter, M. R. 2006
•BT saves £3m a year on
recruitment by retaining
98% of its women returners
Women in the IT Industry, Towards a Business
Case for Diversity, berr, 2006
Demographics and the workforce
Facts:
Impact:
•3.5 million disabled people
in work (ONS, 2008)
An increasingly diverse
population will be entering
the employment market
•6% of population is LGBT
(Talent not tokenism, EHRC, TUC, CBI, 2008)
•By 2020, UK’s ethnic
minority population will be
11% (Equalities Review 2007)
•By 2030, half UK population
will be 50+, one third over 60
(ONS 2006)
Employers need to use the
full range of skills,
experience and resources of
a diverse workforce
Productivity
•Evidence shows diversity is key for high
productivity, creativity, innovation and competitive
advantage
•Valuing differences gets the best out of staff
•Strong correlation between high satisfaction levels
for staff and patients
What the figures show
•A work-life balance strategy at London Borough of
Camden reduced sickness absence costs by 2.5%
•Organisations with high gender diversity in top posts
outperformed their sector on investment returns
(McKinsey)
•Losing just one member of staff can cost an
organisation £18,000 to replace (CIPD)
Risk mitigation
•Getting it wrong can be very expensive - complaints
and legal challenges are damaging to your
reputation
•Employment tribunals are time consuming and
costly
•Organisations with an effective approach to diversity
are more risk resilient
Counting the cost of tribunals
•The latest figures for tribunal costs (2007) show that
16% of claims related to sex, race or disability; 18%
to equal pay
•It’s a costly business for employers:
 race discrimination - average payout was
£10,052, maximum payout was £123,898
sex discrimination – average payout was
£15,059, maximum payout was £138,648
disability discrimination – average payout was
£15,059, maximum was £138,658
Counting the cost of bullying
& harassment
• The latest figures show bullying and harassment
cost UK firms £13.75 billion a year (Unite 2008)
•Absenteeism, high staff turnover and reduced
productivity, all contributed to this overall cost
•This equates to 33.5 million working days lost a year
The business benefits
Quality, innovation, productivity and prevention:
•Organisational reputation – understanding different
people and audiences, and providing a quality
environment for care and work
•Recruitment and retention – attracting the best
talent and innovative practices
•Productive workforce – highly motivated, cost
effective, innovative and providing quality care
•Risk mitigation – prevention is better than cure
Business case for workforce
diversity