Westminster Employment Forum Keynote Seminar: Improving access to the professions and tackling inequality in recruitment
Westminster Employment Forum Keynote Seminar: Improving access to the professions and tackling inequality in recruitment: policy reform and best practice Timing: Morning, Thursday, 21st April 2016 Venue: Congress Centre, 28 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS Agenda subject to change
8.30 - 9.00
Registration and coffee
9.00 - 9.05
Chair’s opening remarks Ben Howlett MP, Member, Women and Equalities Select Committee
9.05 - 9.30
Social mobility in elite professions - current state of play and priorities for policy Dr Louise Ashley, Lecturer in Human Resources Management and Organisational Behaviour, Royal Holloway, University of London Questions and comments from the floor
9.30 - 9.55
Employers as social mobility champions and the impact of the Social Mobility Compact Norman Pickavance, Director, Brand, Culture and Sustainability, Grant Thornton Questions and comments from the floor
9.55 - 10.50
Changing recruitment practices to remove barriers to social mobility What examples are there of innovative ways of creating non-graduate pathways into elite professions; how can these new pathways best be used to raise the profile of less-glamorous professions? What impact does the name of an applicant’s school, college or university, still have in recruitment; how can more elite employers be encouraged to consider candidates from outside of the Russell Group of universities? Should more employers adopt blank application forms, to ensure that candidates with foreign-sounding names are not discriminated against in the applications process? Should employers be using socio-economic data to contextualise academic performance at school? How can more employers be encouraged to recruit in a broad range of geographical regions; could more employers offer travel expenses to help disadvantaged candidates attend interviews across the country? Should large employers in elite occupations be required to monitor the socio-economic background of their employees or even report social mobility data publicly? How can firms be encouraged to look beyond their initial recruitment policies when trying to open up access to the professions and what steps can be taken to break this ‘class ceiling’?
Arron Slocombe, Partner, Baker & McKenzie Keith Herrmann, Director of Employability and Careers, University of Surrey and Convenor, Careers Sector Stakeholders Alliance Lee Davies, Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys and Member, Access to the Professions Steering Group John Craven, Chief Executive, upReach Questions and comments from the floor 10.50 - 10.55
Chair’s closing remarks Ben Howlett MP, Member, Women and Equalities Select Committee
10.55 - 11.25
Coffee
11.25 - 11.30
Chair’s opening remarks Jess Phillips MP, Member, Women and Equalities Select Committee
11.30 - 11.45
Case study: diversity and inclusivity in business culture and strategy Olivier Vidal, Founder, Fair Hiring Project
11.45 - 12.00
Improving BAME representation in the professions Omar Khan, Director, Runnymede Trust
12.00 - 12.15
Gender diversity in executive management and senior roles - beyond the Davis Review Shivani Uberoi, Head of Women in Leadership, Sky
12.15 - 12.30
Breaking the ‘Glass Closet’ - supporting LGBT people in the workplace Andrea Johnson, Head of Operations, Equality North East
12.30 - 12.55
Questions and comments from the floor
12.55 - 13.00
Chair’s and Westminster Employment Forum closing remarks Jess Phillips MP, Member, Women and Equalities Select Committee Tom Overend, Forum Lead, Westminster Employment Forum
