Why focus on socio-economic background?

Why focus on socio-economic background?

Competitive advantage

Raise your game. Employees from a lower socio-economic background perform at least as well as their more advantaged colleagues, and often outperform them. In professional service firms, for example, trainees from lower socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to achieve the highest performance. 

Why restrict your talent pool? Diverse workforces give you access to a wider recruitment pool. You may also benefit from higher employee engagement and lower turnover. Greater diversity could make you a destination employer for the high-performing individuals that will drive your success in the future.

Work on your image. People want to see people who look like them, and they want to work for a business with a purpose. Building a visibly diverse workforce signals a commitment to inclusion and improving society. Companies interested in the long term recognise the benefits of this for their reputation and image.

The next frontier

Recent years have seen a drive to increase diversity in businesses. So far, these efforts have focused primarily on gender and ethnicity. However, forward-looking companies across industries are now looking at how to increase socio-economic diversity as part of this thriving agenda.

The socio-economic backgrounds of people in professional jobs From a professional background From a working class background

An untapped opportunity

Individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds are a positive asset to businesses, but they are under-represented in professional occupations. People whose parents held professional jobs are more likely to be in a professional job themselves. Likewise, people from professional backgrounds are three times more likely to move
to London where the greatest concentration of professional jobs exists. However, larger employers are increasingly recognising the benefits of shifting this pattern, and are targeting the UK’s social mobility ‘coldspots’ to benefit from talent that exists there.

The power gap: the percentage of privately educated people in leading UK roles People attending independent schools Privately educated people in leading roles

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Employer newsletter – 15 August 2023

If you want to receive regular updates from us, please complete this form here to join our mailing list. We hope you are having a great summer break.  Don’t have anything on your summer reading list? – Why not take a look at the recaps from our previous employers’ masterclasses, we list some great topics below.   You […]

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We’re currently recruiting for three roles in our team, so if working to improve social mobility in the UK appeals to you, check them out below and submit your application by Sunday 2nd July.

SEO Senior Researcher: https://lnkd.in/emiDkeEU
G7 Head of Analysis: https://lnkd.in/eQz_Kxwf
G6 Head of Policy, Government and Parliament: https://lnkd.in/ePZ-D-4x

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