The FSCB has launched a new applied research programme for its members within our Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) thematic work.
The programme’s aim is to help firms build a more complete picture of diversity in their organisations by ensuring that employees feel comfortable sharing their diversity data. The better the evidence base that firms have, the more effectively they can target their efforts to promote D&I and manage their organisational cultures.
We will draw in this work on the experience of participating firms, learning from other sectors and our own behavioural science expertise, to design different approaches to increasing the number of employees who choose to share their demographic data with their employer.
We will then test the effectiveness of these interventions in a multi-firm behavioural trial with participating firms.
Subject to our findings, we will then aim to produce good practice guidance that all firms can benefit from.
Having the data available to analyse diversity is the crucial first step to being able to target improvements in workforce diversity and inclusion (FSSC)
Why is diversity data important?
- Having access to quality data on employee diversity is fundamental to creating more inclusive cultures
- Better data enables more effective intervention design and the evaluation of impact
- Data analysis in inhibited by low response rates, especially when the missing data may be some of the most important information the organisation needs
- Many firms have invested considerable effort in expanding their data collection and reporting practices, but with mixed success
- D&I is a key regulatory focus and the FCA has been explicit in its wish to better diversity data collection in firms (FCA; July 2021)
What does it involve?
The programme will be conducted in two stages; an Explore phase and a Trial phase.
Firms can sign up to participate in either part of the programme or in both. Smaller firms, for example, which may not have sufficient employees to engage in the behavioural trial, can still take part in the ‘explore’ phase and remain engaged with us throughout.
Explore Phase
In this first phase we will gather together a broad overview of current knowledge and practice across firms, and existing information gaps.
Participating firms will benefit from:
- Access to new insights for increasing diversity data sharing within their organisation
- Collective learning through collating and sharing successful approaches to demographic disclosure
- Subject to participant numbers, an enhanced understanding of their relative performance in diversity data response rates across a range of different diversity demographics
Trial Phase
Building on the findings from the explore phase, we will design and test behavioural initiatives intended to help improve firms’ data on their employee demographic.
Participating firms will benefit from:
- Bespoke design, analysis and reporting from our insights team in the creation of behavioural interventions focused on specific characteristics and systems
- A follow up meeting with the research team to discuss implications and potential next steps for promoting D&I in their organisationsAccreditation in the production of subsequent industry good practice guidance
