Our Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES): Action plan 2021

Introduction

Since 2015, the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) has supported NHS organisations to close the gap in workplace experiences and opportunities between Black and Minority Ethnic staff and white staff.

The WRES requires organisations to demonstrate progress against nine workforce race equality indicators. The indicators focus on representation and differences between the experience and treatment of Black and Minority Ethnic and white staff, as well as Board level representation.

We have reported and published progress against the WRES indicators since 2017. In our latest report published in 2020, our WRES data showed where we have made progress and where we have seen little or no change. We acknowledge there is work to be done to gain parity for our Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues and have taken a different approach to address our key challenges.

This action plan sits under our Diversity & Inclusion Strategy launched in 2020. Our ambition is to commit to the WRES indicators and set ambitious objectives and targets. This will be embedded across the organisation and measured to understand impact and progress.

Action for Race Equality Group

In order to make progress at pace on the race equality agenda and to oversee our work on race equality we have formed an Action for Race Equality group (AREG). This group is chaired by a Deputy Chief Inspector, has organisational wide representation to focus on key priorities and works closely with the Organisational Development (OD) team and Race Equality Network (REN). The vision for the group is to drive improvement in the experience of people from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds working in CQC.

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We are pleased to be publishing our Race Equality Action plan to help improve the experiences of our Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues at CQC. The Action for Race Equality Group will help drive the improvement needed and seek change through engaging and listening to our people. We will work collaboratively across the organisation to implement our actions and make the positive changes we need.

Action for Race Equality group

We welcome the actions that we have committed to at CQC to improve race equality and look forward to working collaboratively to achieve actions. Most notably the opening up of career developmental opportunities and taking a serious look at our shortlisting and recruitment.

Race Equality Network

CQC is committed to improving the experiences and representation of our Black & Minority Ethnic colleagues. We will continue to work across the organisation to ensure all our people have positive experiences and we have ambitious actions to address any inequalities.

Kirsty Shaw, executive sponsor of Race Equality Network

Our action plan for 2020/21

WRES Indicators: 1

Objective:

• To establish a workforce which is representative of the communities we serve

Actions:

• Use workforce modelling to set realistic and achievable targets for those grades which are currently under-represented by black and minority ethnic colleagues. These targets to reflect the economically active population data (currently 14% Black and Minority Ethnic)

Timescales:

• By March 2021 develop modelling tool and to set targets.

Lead:

• People Analytics and Insight Manager
• Diversity and Inclusion lead

Why or link to D&I Strategy ambitions:

• For CQC to achieve its strategic ambition, it is important that our people are representative of the communities we serve.

WRES Indicators: 1, 2 & 7

Objective:

• Implement Independent Panel Members (IPM) for all recruitment activity

Actions:

• Increase the pool of independent panel members (IPMS) by way of expression of interest campaign in February 2021 (underway). Timescale Q4 2020/22
• IPMs to be included in all internal recruitment campaigns from 1 April 2021. Timescale Q1 2021/22
• All IPMs monitored to complete the Recruitment for Leaders Training before sitting on panels. Timescale: By 2022

Lead:

• Recruitment team

Why or link to D&I Strategy:

• Independent Panel Members play an important role in ensuring the recruitment process is fair, open and transparent.
• Strategic Ambition: Inclusive policies and practices

WRES Indicators: 1, 2 & 7

Objective:

• Ensure robust feedback is provided to applications internally and externally

Actions:

• Recruitment for leaders training product being updated to include a session on positive and meaningful feedback to candidates. This will also be included in campaign packs and extend to include best practice examples. Timescale: Q1 2021/22

Lead:

• All recruiting managers
• Recruitment team
• Academy Learning and Development team
• People leads

Why or link to D&I Strategy:

• Feedback to candidates is important in providing individuals with their future development and recruitment opportunities. This requires a shift in behaviour for recruiting managers to take ownership for providing feedback.
• Strategic Ambition: Inclusive policies and practices

WRES Indicators: 1, 2 & 7

Objective:

• Develop an inclusive recruitment toolkit

Actions:

• We will continue to develop an inclusive recruitment toolkit that provides best practice guidelines on attracting, recruiting and developing diverse and talented teams.
• Promote best practice through People leads and D&I co-ordinators.
• Timescales: Ongoing

Lead:

• Recruitment team
• Talent team
• Organisatonal Development team

Why or link to D&I Strategy:

• To ensure our recruitment process is open, fair and inclusive
• Strategic Ambition: Inclusive policies and practices

WRES Indicators: 1, 2 & 7

Objective:

• Understand and respond to adverse impact within the recruitment process

Actions:

• Monitor and review real-time adverse impact at shortlisting and interview stages to inform next steps.
• Take relevant action where black and minority ethnic candidates may be adversely impacted.
• Timescale: Ongoing

Lead:

• Recruitment team
• All recruiting managers

Why or link to D&I Strategy:

• Remove any barriers throughout recruitment process
• Strategic Ambition: Inclusive policies and practices

WRES Indicators: 1 & 2

Objective:

• Develop a positive action programme to improve representation of Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues in Grade A and above

Actions:

• Diversity statement on all Grade A roles and above (encouraging applications from Black and Minority Ethnic people)
• Career progression workshop to support colleagues in applications/interviews
• Engage with Black and Minority ethnic colleagues and use pulse survey data to understand conditions where people choose to stay and thrive in CQC. Share experiences and any good practice across the organisation
• Targeted internal secondment /stretch opportunities to gain experience in senior roles
• AREG/REN to work with the Academy to design a new development programme for Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues to access and ensure the selection criteria is transparent and robust.
• Timescale: Ongoing

Lead:

• Recruitment team
• Academy Learning and Development team
• Race Equality Network
• Organisational Development team

Why or link to D&I Strategy:

• To ensure all colleagues build skills and experience and have access to internal development opportunities
• Strategic Ambition: Inclusive Policies and Practices

WRES Indicators: 1, 2 & 7

Objective:

• Review the Expression of Interest (EOI) process for internal recruitment

Actions:

• Implement recommendations from the EOI review, including specific actions to improve the consistency and transparency of the process.
• Work with People leads, Networks and AREG to embed changes in process and behaviours.
• Timescale: Q1 – Q3 2022

Lead:

• Recruitment team
• HR Business Partners
• People leads

Why or link to D&I Strategy:

• Review of the current EOI process is important in improving the perceptions held by 51% colleagues with regards to career progression and development opportunities.
• Strategic Ambition: Inclusive policies and practices

WRES Indicators: 1 & 7

Objective:

• Use our talent management model to develop a diverse talent pool of Black Minority Ethnic colleagues, ready for promotional opportunities (including secondment and stretch projects

Actions:

• We will deliver a refreshed approach to talent management strategy that will allow us to create more diverse talent pools.
• We will ensure that we are monitoring access to opportunities and taking positive action to eliminate discrimination or under representation.
• We will align our talent strategies to address diversity needs.
• Line managers to work with People leads to identify stretch assignments and development projects for those identified within our talent approach to ensure readiness to realise potential. Timescales: Begin April 2021

Lead:

• Talent team
• People leads
• Line managers

Why or link to D&I Strategy:

• To contribute to our ambition of having better representation of black and minority ethnic colleagues in senior roles
• Strategic Ambition: Inclusive policies and practices

WRES Indicators: 4 & 7

Objective:

• Review of the current individual learning requests (ILR) for funded learning

Actions:

• This to include a review of access to the application and the criteria used in decision making, panel make up, internal and external factors which inform decision making.
• The review should include a deep dive to understand the types of funded learning requested by Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues. Timescale: Begin April 2021

Lead:

• Academy Learning and Development team
• Organisational Development team
• Race Equality Network

Why or link to D&I Strategy:

• Career development is important for an ambitious and progressive organisation and access to funded learning should be equitable to all.
• Strategic Ambition: Inclusive policies and practices

WRES Indicators: 7

Objective:

• Undertake pilot of ethnicity pay gap monitoring

Actions:

• Review best practice in ethnicity pay gap reporting across private and public sector
• Collate relevant data to roduce ethnicity pay gap report
• Consider any appropriate actions
• Timescale: Q1 2021/22

Lead:

• Data Analyst
• People Directorate
• Organisational Development team
• Race Equality Network

Why or link to D&I Strategy:

• Understand if Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues face a pay gap and implement actions to address this
• Strategic Ambition: Inclusive engagement

WRES Indicators: 3

Objective:

• Reduce the likelihood of Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues entering the formal capability process compared to white colleagues

Actions:

• We seek to understand more about formal cases and use these insights to inform the steps we need to take to reduce the gap.
• Although the numbers overall are low, and therefore small changes can have a significant impact to overall ratio – we must understand what lies behind this increase in our current data.
• Timescale: Q1 2021/22

Lead:

• HR Advice and Guidance
• Race Equality Network

Why or link to D&I Strategy:

• We want to ensure that our Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues are not disproportionally impacted.
• Strategic Ambition: Inclusive policies and practices

WRES Indicators: 5 & 6, 8

Objective:

• Reduce the gap between Black and Minority Ethnic and white colleagues who through our people survey, report that they are have experienced bullying, harassment and/or discrimination internally

Actions:

• We will monitor the outcomes of our people survey for Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues
• Seek to understand more about reported incidents and use these insights to inform targeted interventions for adversely effected groups.
• Implement a ‘Respect campaign’ across the organisation to promote our zero tolerance approach
• Work with our Speak Up Guardian and our Race Equality Network to identify where any targeted interventions need to be.
• Reinforce the organisation’s zero tolerance approach to bullying and harassment internally. Ensuring our external facing colleagues feel supported and confident to report incidents.
• Review the toolkit for line managers and resources in how to ensure they and their team feel supported and confident to report any incidents
• Timescale: Begin March 2021

Lead:

• Organisational Development team
• HR Advice and Guidance
• Race Equality Network

Why or link to D&I Strategy:

• We want to create an inclusive culture where all our people valued and respected without fear of experiencing harassment, bullying or discrimination from anyone.
• Strategic Ambition: Inclusive cultures

WRES Indicators: 9

Objective:

• Having a representative Board that is reflective of CQQ workforce

Actions:

• Review current recruitment processes for Executive grades to ensure inclusive, and that diversity is a primary focus for hiring managers
• All recruitment for Exec roles states our commitment to race equality and encourages Black and Minority Ethnic applicants to apply
• Continue to work closely with the DHSC recruitment team to reinforce the organisations commitment to attract and recruit more Non-Executive Directors from a Black and Minority Ethnic background.
• Continue to monitor equality data of board members (both Non Executives and Executive Board members)
• Timescale: When new recruitment opportunity. Ongoing.

Lead:

• Board Chair
• Recruitment team

Why or link to D&I Strategy:

• For CQC to achieve its strategic ambition, it is important that our people are representative of the communities we serve.
• Strategic Ambition: Inclusive policies and practices

WRES Indicators: All indicators

Objective:

• Increase awareness and understanding of Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues lived experiences

Actions:

• Continue to hold curious conversations to highlight and raise the profile of individuals’ lived experiences.
• Increased promotion of equality network-led events to embed the ambitions of the diversity and inclusion strategy.
• Reverse mentoring programme for all senior leaders
• Ensure the lived experiences of our Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues are shared through different mechanisms e.g. Schwartz rounds, all colleague calls
• Timescale: Ongoing

Lead:

• Organisational Development team
• Academy Learning and Development team
• Joint network voice

Why or link to D&I Strategy:

• To continually provide our senior leaders with insights into the lived experiences of our Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues within CQC.
• Build skills of black and minority ethnic colleagues
• Strategic Ambition: Inclusive leadership and accountability and Inclusive Culture

Note: Explain how Black and Minority Ethnic staff have been involved in developing and delivering the actions. The Race Equality Network chairs are represented on the Action for Race Equality Group and are key stakeholders for any engagement on the race equality work.

Quality Improvement Project

In 2020 the Action for Race Equality Group (AREG) commissioned a quality improvement (QI) review using tried and tested QI methodology to analyse the current and previous Workforce Race Equality data, additional people data sources and coordinated focus group discussions with AREG, the Race Equality Network and other groups of colleagues to explore the findings and gain insights from lived experiences of our Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues. The aim of this has been to bring together the broadest data, insight and feedback to inform the key priorities and ambitions for change.

As a result, we have identified 3 key ambitions for improving race equality which form part of our wider Workforce Race Equality action plan:

1. By March 2025 we will have increased Black and Minority Ethnic representation at all levels of the organisation to at least match the economically active population levels and increase the proportion of Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues progressing from application to shortlisting to offer, for all internal and external recruitment.
2. By March 2022, Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues will experience equal opportunities for career progression, promotion and development in CQC; as measured by internal recruitment outcomes, access to funded learning opportunities and survey data.
3. CQC will have zero-tolerance of discrimination, including increasing awareness and understanding of microaggressions; and there will be a year-on-year reduction in the proportion of Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues reporting that they have personally experienced discrimination of any form.

Engagement Strategy

Underpinning this action plan will be an engagement strategy led by the Action for Race Equality Group. This will help ensure there is increased understanding and awareness of the work that is underway and planned to improve the experiences of our BME colleague as well address challenges of under-representation.