Reverse mentoring scheme for BAME staff

To mark the end of Black History Month, the Foreign Secretary has launched a new reverse mentoring scheme at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) for ethnic minority staff. The scheme will see senior figures from across the FCO paired with ethnic minority staff in junior grades within the Department, to help challenge ingrained views on what talent looks like, break down stereotypes and biases, get fresh perspectives and help improve diversity in middle and senior grades. The scheme will begin in 2019 and initially run for 12 months.

Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt (pictured above) yesterday said: "In the twenty-first century it is essential that our diplomats look more like our country as a whole. Especially when two of Britain’s greatest assets are our diversity and deep inter-country ties.

Despite the improvements we’ve made on improving overall diversity, there remains a stubborn problem in improving racial diversity at the Foreign Office at senior grades, particularly amongst black staff.

Our reverse mentoring scheme will be a practical way for us to challenge stereotypes and improve diversity. It will help us use the fantastic people the FCO employs to forge stronger connections and boost our prosperity."

Black skin, Whitehall: Race and the Foreign Office, 1945 to 2018 report

The announcement comes following the recent publication of a new Foreign Office report, ‘Black skin, Whitehall: Race and the Foreign Office, 1945 to 2018’ which provides an insight into the history of ethnic minority staff in the department over the last 70 years.

Although ethnic minority staff currently make up 13.4% of Foreign Office staff, 62.5% of those who have declared their heritage have spent over a decade in the lowest grades without progression, compared to 47% of all staff.

The new programme will help leaders understand how biases around race, gender, class and educational background can sometimes mean that they fail to recognise different types of talent, and how these biases can keep ethnic minority staff stuck in the most junior grades in the Foreign Office. It will also help create a network of champions, mentors and coaches required to help move careers forward.

The scheme is part of a suite of measures to improve diversity in the FCO, including ethnic minority representation on the FCO Board, a continuing schools and university outreach programme, and an exciting new talent programme for ethnic minority staff. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Theresa May announced the launch of a Race at Work Charter which encourages high-profile businesses to commit to a set of actions designed to drive forward a step-change in the recruitment and progression of ethnic minority employees, including reverse mentoring.

Click to download a copy of the Black skin, Whitehall: Race and the Foreign Office, 1945 to 2018 report.