Majority Advocates for Diversity and Equality (MADE)
Advocate Criteria – Who should join MADE?
To ensure everyone is included in diversity initiatives, Business in the Community’s Diversity campaigns
Race for Opportunity and Opportunity Now (Gender) are seeking to engage the majority. Our Majority
Advocates for Diversity and Equality (MADE) network is a group seeking to support individuals in
authentically discussion and pro-actively supporting inclusion for everyone.
When/Where? We are facilitating a round table working group on Thursday June 26th from 10:15 –
12:15, hosted by FriendsLife at their One New Change, London offices.
Who? The group targeted for joining MADE are white men at senior manager to director level,
including Heads of Department who do not sit on the board, as this is the demographic who are often
seen as key influencers in an organisation’s culture, and also the group least likely to be targeted by
diversity initiatives such as employee networks or executive coaching around diversity. We also want to
hear from those men who want to make a difference and are keen to understand the diversity and
inclusion arena better. We are especially keen to hear from peers in operational functions who may not
have any experience of driving diversity or being a practitioner in the diversity and equality arenas. We
are open to nominations from across sectors and would welcome self nominations.
Why white men? The reasons we are currently seeking to engage white men at this level are:

Opportunity Now’s Inclusive Leadership research shows that 52% of female respondents
reported that their great inclusive leader was male and 75% of BAME respondents reported that
their inclusive leader was from a different ethnic background to themselves.

Astbury Marsden’s Report 003 flags that men are marginally more aware than their female
counterparts of the existence of diversity policy within the financial services sector - but is this
because they are more interested in diversity or more (self) conscious of it?

Greatheart Leader Lab’s study on white men leading through diversity found an Effectiveness Gap
between respondents who felt they were 45% effective on inclusion but ‘All Others’ (minority
respondents) felt that only 21% of these white, male leaders were inclusive.
Insert address, separate lines with commas, write all on one line.
T: 01234 123456 | www.bitc.org.uk
President HRH The Prince of Wales | Chairman Mark Price | Chief Executive Stephen Howard
Business in the Community is registered in England and Wales. Charity No 297716. Company No 1619253
What’s In It For Me?
Why should you personally get involved? Below are several reasons, based on academic and workplace
research, that highlight the imperative for white, senior males to be able to capitalise on the benefits of
diversity, for them personally and for their organisations.

Authentic communication – Initial explorations into white men and diversity suggests that there is
potential for perceived ‘inauthenticity’ (Kimmel, 2011). MADE aims to support leaders and managers
to be able to discuss diversity and equality confidently and support workplace improvement.

Ability to support Diverse Talent - Research indicates that top performing, inclusive companies
utilise confidantes and effective networking. White men who indicated that at least one woman is a
close career confidante were 31% more likely to mentor women and 31% more likely to recommend
women for promotion compared to men in lower performing, low tier companies. Similarly white men
who indicated that at least one [BAME] individual is a close career confidante were 97% more likely
to mentor [BAME talent] and 107% more likely to recommend [BAME people] for promotion.

Overcome Exclusion - For majority advocates, it is not always clear that diversity includes them. It
is important to remember that diversity is about everyone. Equal opportunities are about providing
everyone with the opportunity to be the best and work with the best, ensuring a productive
workplace.

Transparency – Research indicates that many white men are not sure how a commitment to
diversity and inclusion helps their own career success. If minority groups are provided with positive
action initiatives then this can be felt as detrimental to majority candidates. To overcome this,
organisations need to be transparent as to why they offer these initiatives and ensure majority
employees are included.

Clarify results - D&I deliverables can often be qualitative rather than quantitative, with efforts taking
longer periods to yield results ie. coaching for minority groups eventually leading to promotion.
Valuable results are associated with the bottom line and people metrics need aligning to show
monetary impact.
How do I sign up? The roundtable will establish what strategy and actions the group would like to take
going forward to support inclusion across UK business. Diversity Advisor, Richard Chapman-Harris will
facilitate and coordinate the group and be available ongoing to answer any questions, including how this
initiative can support you and your organisation. To nominate a majority advocate please email
Richard.chapman-harris@bitc.org.uk by May 23rd.