Share practice, support peers and drive sector-wide change.
Developing
Recommendations for developing a socio-economic strategy.
Activities at each level are related, but distinguished by scale,
detail or commitment.
Make a public commitment to publishing data annually and reporting on trends. Do this by publishing:
Take part in social mobility research, data and celebration activities, e.g. the Social Mobility Employers’ Index, UK Social Mobility Awards and City of London taskforce.
Optimising
Recommendations for optimising your approach.
Activities at each level are related, but distinguished by scale,
detail or commitment.
Publish granular diversity data annually across all grades and functions, with explicit benchmarking and targets for areas including pay and progression.
Create and publish a detailed plan to increase socio‑economic diversity, as measured against key metrics in the data.
Set 3-year targets and publish the actions planned and taken to realise them.
Work with other industry bodies to promote data transparency across the sector.
Developing
Have a presence at industry‑specific events designed to advocate, inform and drive positive change.
Have an active voice in national campaigns to support socio-economic diversity (e.g. unpaid internships or university access).
Collaborate with other employers in activities such as early outreach initiatives, support for diversity among work experience applicants, and research into challenges and solutions.
Optimising
Show leadership regarding socio-economic diversity, for example:
Lead collaborative programmes across your sector, and beyond.
Focus on objectives, such as collating and benchmarking cross-sector data on socio‑economic diversity, to generate a wider evidence base to inform change.
Review your suppliers’ approaches to socio-economic diversity and inclusion to understand any opportunities to work together to maximise impact.
Consider setting expectations on your clients on what they can do to boost social mobility.
Evaluate the impact of current, existing and new advocacy initiatives.
Legal and accountancy firms please also refer to Appendix A for additional data recommendations that may be required by regulators.
“At a time when those with less access to privilege and opportunities are facing greater challenges than ever, it is vital for organisations to push themselves to increase social mobility. This toolkit provides resources that every organisation – wherever they are in their social mobility journey – can learn from and use to make a positive change.”
– Annette Byron, Partner, Freshfields
At Schroders our focus on social mobility unlocks opportunities for a range of individuals who may not have believed they could have had a successful career in asset management. We believe this focus is a fundamental part of creating
a more inclusive environment.
– Faye Farrant, Head of Talent and Inclusion Schroders
The Social Mobility Business Partnership (SMBP) is an award winning charity which unites circa 600 volunteers from over 130 organisations accross the UK to address issues related to low income and employment prospects.
https://www.smbp.org.uk Find out more
A skills campaigning charity of a dynamic movement of nearly 500 employers committed to earn & learn as part of building and developing the workforce they need as part of a socially mobile, prosperous and cohesive nation. The Club exists to help its members and all employers increase further the number, quality and range of earn & learn opportunities across the UK. By joining The 5% Club, members aspire to achieve 5% of their workforce in earn and learn positions (including apprentices, sponsored students and graduates on formalised training schemes) within five years of joining.
https://www.5percentclub.org.uk/ Find out more
The SMF supports high-achieving young people from low-income backgrounds into university and the professions and also runs the Social Mobility Employer Index
http://www.socialmobility.org.uk Find out more