Organisation in Focus - November 2006

Birmingham Professional DiverCity is an organisation was set up in 2002 to support the professional, financial and business support services sector in developing a proactive approach to managing and valuing race, equality and diversity.

Though based in the West Midlands and servicing primarily the professional services community in the city, Birmingham is leading the way on diversity issues on the national stage.

Birmingham Professional DiverCity is a not-for-profit company funded by the Birmingham and Solihull Learning and Skills Council and Advantage West Midlands, the regional development agency.

The organisation is chaired by Norman Gascoigne, a senior business executive who enjoyed a 34-year career with NatWest Bank and then The Royal Bank of Scotland.

Birmingham Professional DiverCity is headed on a day to day basis by Aaron Reid, its executive director, together with a team of consultants with specialist remit, as well as support staff.

The organisation was launched against the background of a rapidly changing demographic – indeed, Birmingham is set to become Britain’s first ethnic majority city by 2010.

Between now and then, estimates show that more than 50,000 jobs could be created in the professional, financial and business support services sector in Birmingham. However, fewer than 20 per cent of staff in that sector are currently drawn from minority ethnic groups.

It is in this context that Birmingham Professional DiverCity’s remit is to support the professional services sector through a process of developing a proactive approach to managing and valuing diversity.

Although the organisation supports the principle of inclusion for all, the region’s demographic drivers lend themselves to focusing on race diversity as a priority.

Currently around 120 companies  have signed up to the Birmingham Professional DiverCity “pledge”, which in turn means they then receive structured auditing and development services to help them adopt and maintain good practice in all activities that impact on diversity issues.

The auditing process is linked to national best practice guidelines, yet tailored to the needs of individual clients.

Aaron Reid said: “As a business case, it makes sense absolutely for employers to manage and value diversity.  It helps when it comes to making a profit and ensuring the long-term prosperity.

“Companies are increasingly realising that by adopting a proactive approach they can also recruit the best people.  They are also getting a clear message that diversity is great for business – it provides a wider choice of employees, more creativity and higher standards of performance.”

Setting out the business case has been key in raising awareness of these vital issues amongst the professional services sector.  Although there is a moral imperative for many of Birmingham Professional DiverCity’s messages, it is by demonstrating that by adopting best practice on diversity issues that businesses can improve their bottom line, which has also helped the subject even higher up the business agenda.

Birmingham Professional DiverCity can help organisations on a number of practical levels such as developing diversity policies and statements, as well as reviewing recruitment and selection processes.

This, in turn, enables employers to communicate their diversity commitments to staff, customers, clients, investors and potential investors alike. By implementing such policies, firms can put into action improvements and make specific changes which benefit the business financially.

Mr Reid added: “Our clients come from across the sector – from sole traders to SMEs to multi-nationals – what they all have in common is a genuine belief in the work we are trying to do and a desire to see the work through whilst experiencing, and sharing in, the benefits.”

Since its launch in 2002, Birmingham Professional DiverCity has consistently looked to enhance how it delivers its services. They operate under the assumption that people are an organisation’s biggest asset and that their varied knowledge of communities, culture, etiquette and potential new markets can be invaluable.

They have taken the view that the more difference there is within an organisation, the more potential there is for people to make a wide and varied contribution.  Organisations can only benefit from people questioning how and why things are done in a certain way and why they have always been done that way.

Larger organisations and many public sector bodies are increasingly rigorous and insistent on doing business with companies who can tangibly demonstrate an active and conscious commitment to the principles of diversity and quality.

People who feel valued within the working environment and who see a structured career path and a quality of opportunity are much more likely to be motivated and satisfied to give of their best. This can mean a lower “churn” of staff turnover and less money spent on recruitment. Birmingham Professional DiverCity has developed a diagnostic specifically focused on helping businesses achieve these aims. 

They have come a long way in four years, but recognise that there is still much to do. They are certain that we will hear more and more of the issues they are tackling and that organisations who address those issues can truly take a huge step in becoming the employers of choice.