Ethnic minorities still side-lined in FTSE companies
The Green Park Business Leaders Index 2021 launched on 11th August 2021, finds that despite some progress on diversity, in the upper echelons of Britain's top companies ethnic minorities and females are still being shunted into the corporate side-lines:
- FTSE 100 female and ethnic minority business leaders remain largely concentrated in Non-Executive roles of functions such as HR, Diversity and Marketing, which are traditionally less likely to lead to the C-Suite roles.
- Female board members are almost twice as likely to be Non-Executive Directors as Executive Directors, and still only fill 12.2% of the top 3 C-Suite roles (Chair, CEO and CFO).
- Only 11 (3.7%) leaders in the Top 3 roles have ethnic minority backgrounds. This is just one additional ethnic minority leader over 8 years.
- Gender and ethnic diversity in the leadership pipeline are in decline, while white males dominate the Digital, Data & Technology (76%), Governance & Operations (73%) Commercial & procurement (71%) and Finance (69%) functions – all much more direct routes to the top.
Green Park have been analysing diversity of the FTSE 100 senior leadership since 2014, originally as the Green Park Leadership 10,000 and now as the Green Park Business Leaders Index. In addition to its usual analysis of industry sectors, for the first time its analysis includes a breakdown of gender and ethnocultural diversity by job function.
This year’s Index covers a tumultuous period due to the Covid-19 pandemic. For ethnic minority communities, in particular, the impact has been disproportionate. A Government report on addressing Covid-19 health inequalities noted high infection and mortality rates for ethnic minority groups in the first wave of the coronavirus. Of course, the pandemic has not only disproportionately affected ethnic minority communities but also women, too. The United Nations reported in 2020 that the health, economic, security and social protection impacts of Covid-19 are exacerbated for women and girls. The UN said: “Women will be the hardest hit by this pandemic but they will also be the backbone of recovery in communities. Every policy response that recognises this will be the more impactful for it”.
“Corporate sidelining” of women and ethnic minorities
Despite some progress on diversity, in the upper echelons of Britain’s top companies ethnic minorities and females are still being shunted into functions which are far less likely routes into the top tier of leadership than those travelled by their white, male counterparts.
Most analyses of corporate CEO backgrounds show a preference for executives with experience in finance, sales and operations. This report reveals that Britain’s female and ethnic minority business leaders remain largely consigned to functions such as HR, Diversity and Marketing & Communications. They hold less influence, have lower salaries and are less likely to be on track to C-Suite roles.
The survey also reveals that one of the least diverse functions is Diversity & Inclusion, which is disproportionately a white and female preserve – nearly two out of three of these senior roles are filled by white women.
No black leaders in C-suite roles at FTSE 100 companies
The Business Leaders Index shows for the first time that there are no black leaders in C-suite roles at FTSE 100 companies, dropping to zero after stalling for the past 6 years. This would appear to confirm that ethnic minority leaders are diverted towards the pathways least likely to lead to the top.
At the ‘Top 40’ pipeline level, some functions are dominated by one particular gender or ethnicity. Green Park’s research reveals that:
- 85.4% of Diversity & Inclusion leadership roles at FTSE100 companies are held by women.
- 62.5% of Diversity and Leadership leaders are white women, with ethnic minority females the second most represented group at 22.9%. Ethnic minority males are the least represented in this function at 6.3%.
- Human Resources is also predominantly a white female enclave at 55%, while white men dominate in Digital, Data and Technology (76%), Governance and Operations (73%) Commercial and procurement (71%) and Finance (69%) – all much more direct routes to the top.
Green Park’s track record of placing 53% female and 35% ethnic minority candidates into board level roles over the past year demonstrates that diverse leadership talent is out there and that businesses are receptive to hiring diverse senior executives across a range of functions. The company has expanded its activities across the private sector and in particular successfully placing candidates in functions such as IT, Finance and Digital Technology.
Click here to download a copy of the Green Park Business Leaders Index 2021 | FTSE 100 report
