Diversity

I'm tired of the usual conversations about diversity which never go beyond statistics and categories of race, gender or age. The essence of real diversity is difference - and that means embracing different ways of behaving, thinking and seeing the world.

British businesses are sceptical about the benefits of a multi-cultural workforce and have little interest in employing people from ethnic minorities, a new report has found.

Managers may talk a good talk about diversity but the majority are still white males, with a fifth of Americans saying they know someone who has been denied a job, raise or promotion because of their race or gender.

American workers are increasingly demanding the right to bring their faith into the workplace, a trend that poses challenges – and opportunities – for U.S employers

A new white paper, "Tapping into the Older Worker Talent Pool" has been published to highlight the opportunity for companies in the UK to address the looming skills crisis by recruiting older workers.

What is it that motivates a worker to leave a job, or accept or decline a new position – and do age, gender or ethnicity have any bearing on these? A new report seeks to provide some answers.

Older workers are often unable to keep pace with new technology and are viewed increasingly negatively in many other areas. But according to a U.S. survey, they more than make up for this in other ways.

British leadership organisations are launching a drive to get more people from black and ethnic minority communities into the boardroom.

Irish employers have been warned they have to get a grip with the notion of workplace diversity, as it is now one of the key challenges facing managers in the country.

A record number of large American companies are now competing to be seen as "gay-friendly" as firms scramble to improve their company policies and benefits, a new survey has revealed.

The wealth of Asian entrepreneurs in the UK has grown by three times as the economy as a whole since 1998, with Asian success stories increasingly being seen in "non-traditional" sectors and industries.

Companies with more racially diverse workforces are often better and more profitable performers than those with a more homogeneous makeup, new U.S. research suggests.

Out of an estimated 900,000 people working in London's Square Mile, some 55,000 are gay or lesbian and this number is growing as the stigma over homosexuality in the City wanes.

Despite all the talk of board diversity, the typical CEO of a FTSE100 company is still likely to be a male in his 50s with an accountancy background. But in one respect, at least, there has been a major shift in the career patterns of Britain's top CEOs.

The number of women in Europe's boardrooms is stagnating, with only the Scandinavian countries breaking the mould thanks to proactive policies and controversial quotas.

Employers need to be doing more to attract mothers, carers, retired people and other "returners" back into the workplace if they want to tackle changing workplace demographics.

The UK economy could receive a £580 billion shot in the arm if more businesses were started by women, ethnic minorities and people living outside London and the South East.

British attitudes to older workers are gradually changing, although ageism in the workplace still remains an issue, a new survey has found.

Most finance professionals in the UK believe that workplace diversity initiatives are glorified PR stunts designed largely to ensure that employers avoid prosecution under discrimination laws.

Although women account for fewer than one in 10 line managers in U.S. Fortune 500 companies, some organisations are finding innovative ways of developing and advancing their talented women - and seeing positive results.

Minority employees are less likely than others to believe that their organisation's selection and promotion criteria are fair or unbiased.

It is widely acknowledged that employee engagement depends on staff feeling that they are fairly rewarded for their skills and contribution. So why do only four out of 10 organisations include fairness as an objective of their reward strategy?

The London Business School has announced plans to launch a business centre for women following a £1.75m sponsorship commitment over five years from investment bank, Lehman Brothers.

The British government's plans to get a million people off long-term sickness and disability benefits and back into the workplace will only have a limited impact unless a lot more is done to encourage employers to take on such people in the first place.

Employers should look as much at what they have to offer potential employees as what candidates have to offer them if they want to gain an edge when it comes to hiring talent, according to recruitment specialist.

Norway's top companies face being shut over the next two years unless they appoint many more women to their boards, the country's government has warned.

Almost a third of managers in the UK regard key discretionary elements of management such as coaching and developing staff as being outside the day-to-day remit of their jobs.

Older workers have long been thought of as more productive and loyal than their younger counterparts, but the over-50s may be even more cost-effective than is generally believed.

People with a criminal record are the most likely to struggle when it comes to finding employment in Britain, employers have suggested.

A quarter of FTSE 100 companies in Britain still have no women on their boards, a far cry from the situation on the other side of the Atlantic.

While the vast majority of British employers now have a formal policy in place on employing disabled people, the number of people with disabilities who are in employment has hardly changed over the past five years

Only one in 10 board directors of the world's 50 largest banks are women while some of the largest banks have no women on their boards at all, according to a new report.

Efforts to employ a more diverse workforce commonly come unstuck because firms fail to manage diversity programmes properly, become confused about what they want to do and get wrapped up in percentages.

This week is National Older Worker Week in America, and in keeping with one of my mantras, "Value the Differences, Adapt to the Differences," I thought it a good idea to look at how to capitalize on generational differences.

Women are quitting the IT industry or not considering it at all because of its long hours culture, rigid working patterns and the male-dominated nature of the sector.

The continuing failure by organisations to manage people as individuals rather than employees is undermining the effectiveness of the American workforce and leading to widespread employee disengagement.

Disability discrimination legislation is finally starting to bite in British workplaces, with compensation awards rising sharply last year, nearly a decade after new laws were introduced.

Intergenerational conflict is threatening to upset the harmony of U.S. workplaces as the gulf widens between baby boomer management and a younger generation with very different values, motives and goals.

Britain's building and construction industry has long recognised it has an image problem – low wage, black market, low skilled, high turnover, sexist, white and male dominated.

Diversity is not simply about being politically correct or trying to reflect society, but is something that can bring clear benefits to a company's bottom line, organisations have been told.

Misconduct, harassment and unethical activity remain rife in may organisations because a significant proportion of employees feel unable to report or challenge unacceptable behaviour.

People with disabilities or long-term illnesses strongly prefer to work alongside non-disabled people rather than end up in "sheltered" or special workplaces.

The Nationwide Building Society is one of the first large UK companies to change its employment rule to allow employees to work until the age of 75 if they wish to do so.

The number of minority-owned business start-ups has reached record levels in Britain, accounting for 11 per cent of all new business start-ups and often outperforming their white-owned counterparts.

Nordic countries have the narrowest gender gap in workplace and political participation and their empowering of women also boosts their competitiveness, a global study has concluded.

A badly managed diversity programme can cause as much damage to a company's business performance as ignoring the issue altogether, employers have been warned.

The cost of losing a tribunal case because your business has failed to embrace diversity is nothing compared to the business benefits it will lose, an employers’ body has warned.

Around a third of people with epilepsy say they have experienced prejudice from their employer and nearly half are reluctant to change jobs because they fear encountering prejudice elsewhere, according to a new study.

Despite all the advances in sex equality of the past three decades, young people are still actively discouraged from going into careers outside the “norm” for their genders, a new study suggests.

Chief executives are being fired more frequently, and sooner into their reigns, than ever before. But these dismissals are harsh short-term decisions.

Too much valuable graduate talent is being ‘lost in the system’ by Britain's employers despite huge expenditure in time, technology and money.

Diversity champion Susan Vinnicombe was among the stalwarts of industry and business rewarded in this year’s New Year’s Honours.

Employers have been warned they may have to make better use of migrant labour and those on long-term incapacity benefit if they are to resist increasing upward pressure on wages next year.

The Government and trade unions are set to make a concerted effort next year to help women break through the glass ceiling and into the boardrooms of Britain's biggest companies, it has been reported.

A former executive of Merrill Lynch yesterday lost her sex discrimination case against the US bank.

Whitehall needs to get better at ensuring it has a diverse workforce if it wants its public services to meet their full potential, a Government watchdog has warned.

The Government has outlined plans to make it illegal for workers to be forced to retire before they reach 65, unless their employer can fully justify the decision.

Women who take career breaks should not end up being penalised when it comes to pensions, the Conservatives said today, as the party unveiled its own plans for pension reform.

Employers are wasting millions of pounds because they fail to use all the skills and qualifications of their staff, a study has warned.

Employers are worryingly complacent about new anti-discrimination laws, and could as a result be leaving themselves wide open to expensive employment tribunal cases, a survey has warned.