By Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO of Dial Global; Steve Murrells, Group CEO of the Co-operative Group; Steve Rowe, CEO of Marks and Spencer; and Steve Ingham, CEO of PageGroup.
The battle for a more equitable society is one of the biggest challenges we face and future generations will judge us on how hard we worked to achieve it.
As business leaders, it’s vital we put diversity at the top of the corporate agenda in 2022. We must channel our time and energy into creating inclusive workforces the length and breadth of the UK.
With our historic CEO Activist & Moving the Dial on Diversity Pledge partnership now forged, we’re making a huge step in doing just that – meaningfully moving the dial on diversity.
And now, we’re calling on other CEOs and business leaders in the UK to join us.
Our Pledge focuses on four key areas, which are:
- Ensuring workplaces are inclusive with clear steps to ensure current and future leadership team diversity
- A commitment to measure progress annually against 10 areas of diversity and inclusion, which were first introduced in 2020 through an inaugural report from the McKenzie-Delis Foundation
- A promise to implement strategic diversity plans with clear accountability for CEOs and leadership teams
- A commitment for each CEO to share learnings and strategic plans for the future
A fundamental element of our partnership is DIAL Global, bringing its vast influence in accelerating diversity and inclusion, and powering business growth through its expertise.
But even with that considerable experience and influence alongside our backing, we cannot do this all on our own – we will need more help.
We hope to inspire more than 100 CEOs to sign our Pledge and take important action within their own organisations too. We already have 12 inspirational leaders committed, but we want this movement to sweep across the UK’s business community.
We are confident our list of signatories will continue to grow as more organisations join us – creating a powerful domino effect so more sectors can join our revolutionary journey.
We invite all companies to partner with us in making the Pledge to better engage and support all underrepresented groups within business.
Together, let’s drive equity and inclusion, dismantle barriers, and empower growth and progress for the good of our society and the generations that will inherit it.
There is no silver bullet when it comes to tackling diversity. These four commitments alone are not the answer to solving the issue of underrepresentation in business, but we believe they are crucial, affirmative steps towards building more diverse and inclusive workplaces.
With your help, we can work together to be real models for open, authentic, evolutionary conversation to drive action and give a voice to all.
For more information and to learn how to participate, visit https://www.ceo-activist.com/