Why Warren Partners signed up to Change the Race Ratio
Joëlle Warren
Becoming a Signatory to Change the Race Ratio
At Warren Partners, diversity is part of our DNA – which is one of the reasons why we signed up to the pledges of Change the Race Ratio.
We’ve been involved with the Davis Report (addressing the gender imbalance on the boards of FTSE 350 companies) and the Hampton Alexander Review into increasing the number of women in senior positions in FTSE 350 companies for a number of years. Which meant that we had seen first-hand the impact of setting targets and leaders taking active steps to address gender disparity.
But frankly, we’d been really frustrated that the dial wasn’t shifting quickly enough in respect of ethnicity and race, particularly when it came to representation on boards.
So when the Parker Review (into improving the ethnic and cultural diversity of UK boards) came out, we decided we’d be one of the initial signatories to the Change the Race Ratio pledges.
The Changes We’re Making as Part of Our Commitment to Change the Race Ratio
As headhunters, we’re in a privileged position of being able to impact the boards and leadership teams of businesses right across the country, and we’d already set ourselves targets on the percentage of racially and ethnically diverse appointments we make.
We’ll continue to increase these targets every year.
We also undertake to create a more inclusive culture right across our business, and we’ve extended that as a result of being signatories to Change the Race Ratio.
For example, we all do an online module each month on a topic of diversity and inclusion that we then discuss as a team, and for this we’ve partnered up with the National Centre for Diversity. It’s a way of keeping diversity front and centre every single month.
We’ve also run webinars for our clients to help them hear and understand the lived experience of ethnically diverse talent. We’ve supported ethnically and racially diverse talent to write cvs to prepare themselves for interviews, and introduced them to our network, even outside mandates that we’re being paid to fill.
"The dial wasn't shifting quickly enough in respect of ethnicity and race, particularly when it came to representation on boards."
Joëlle Warren
The Board Fellowship Programme
We’re also about to launch a new initiative with Change the Race Ratio to give ethnically and racially diverse leaders experience on FTSE boards, providing them with mentoring and sponsorship to help secure non-executive director roles on the FTSE 350. We’re so excited about all of these initiatives.
Why Change the Race Ratio is Important to Warren Partners
At Warren Partners we believe passionately that everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, social background, or disability should have the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
A founding principle of the business was treating others as we ourselves want to be treated – and that applies to everyone that we work with.
We also know that diverse teams make better decisions. The stats are coming out all the time to back this up and show that diverse businesses are actually more successful and profitable than ones that have a less diverse leadership and workforce.
And given the scarcity of talent in the UK at the moment, why on earth would we ignore the great diverse talent that’s out there! There’s a business case for diversity as well as a moral one.
Thinking of Becoming a Signatory to Change the Race Ratio?
If you’re thinking of becoming a signatory to Change the Race Ratio, just sign up and take the first step.
There’s loads of support for you in the campaign signatory group. And I think you, like me, will find that you benefit personally, just as much as your business.