Let’s talk about race

Royal Mail was one of the early signatories to the new Race at Work Charter.

Developed jointly by the government and Business in the Community (BITC), the charter will commit businesses to a bold set of principles and actions designed to drive forward a step-change in the recruitment and progression of ethnic minority employees.

The charter is composed of five principal calls to action for leaders and organisations across all sectors. Signing up to the charter means taking practical steps to ensure that workplaces are tackling barriers that people from ethnic minorities face in recruitment and progression and that their organisations are representative of British society today.

Last week, a series of measures to tackle ethnic disparities in the workplace was announced by Prime Minister Theresa May, 12 months after the government published the findings of a world-first Race Disparity Audit on how people of different ethnic backgrounds are treated across society.

The Prime Minister said: ‘Every employee deserves the opportunity to progress and fulfil their potential in their chosen field, regardless of which background they are from, but too often ethnic minority employees feel they’re hitting a brick wall when it comes to career progression.

‘That’s why I’m delighted to launch the Race at Work Charter, which gives businesses a clear set of actions to work towards in helping to create greater opportunities for ethnic minority employees at work.’

Sandra Kerr, Business in the Community race equality director said: ‘All organisations should recruit from the widest pool of talent and support progression. The race at work charter will support leaders and line managers to take practical steps to tackle the barriers, with five clear actions. By signing up, we can ensure the workplace is representative of British society today.’

Supporting BAME colleagues

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Making our business a place where black, Asian and minority ethnic colleagues can achieve their potential remains a priority.

Career progression is a key focus as we work towards improving the representation of colleagues from BAME backgrounds across all levels of the business. We need to build greater awareness that the network exists and is there to support our people and shine a light on all the good positive things we are doing across the business.

If you are thinking about holding a BAME cultural event in your unit, and need some help please reach out to us. To contact the BAME steering group, or volunteer to help out with their activities, please email bame@royalmail.com.