There is widespread consensus that a diverse, inclusive workforce leads to greater productivity, creativity and innovation as well as better candidate attraction and staff retention.

However, despite the recognised advantages, only 38% of people from working class backgrounds across the UK are likely to be in a professional occupation, compared to over 60% of those from professional backgrounds.[1]

In the UK there is currently no protected characteristic of class, and it is not an area where employment law specifically intervenes to promote equality. So, what can you do as purpose driven business to achieve greater class diversity and inclusion?

Contextual recruitment

Contextual recruitment bolsters inclusion in the workplace by hiring candidates from different backgrounds who may have previously failed to get past certain stages in your recruitment process.

Contextual recruitment takes into account the context in which an individual has achieved their academic results. The system (“CRS”) works by measuring and flagging:

  • any disadvantages, such as a candidate qualifying for Free School Meals, their postcode and the school they attended, and whether the candidate worked during term time, had caring responsibilities, are a refugee and / or is the first generation in their family to enter Higher Education.
  • any outperformance against students at the same school, which will help identify candidates with the most potential. For example, a candidate may have achieved AAB at A level at a school where the average grades are DDE.

These measures lead to a more objective, fairer and transparent recruitment process and enables employers to select the most suitable candidates for the role.

More and more companies and business are using contextual recruitment. According to Rare Recruitment, 61% more disadvantaged candidates were hired when organisations adopted their CRS[2].

Apprenticeship schemes

Apprenticeships are open to anyone over the age of 16 and can be an effective tool for inclusion, providing training and employment opportunities for individuals from underrepresented groups. It also provides an alternative route for those who may not wish to, or may not have had the opportunity to, follow the traditional education route.

Apprentices participate in paid-for work-based training programmes which lead to nationally recognised qualifications, and are usually for a fixed term and / or until a level of qualification is reached. 

Since the pandemic, there has been a renewed focus on apprenticeships. However, a recent report shows that apprenticeship opportunities are more likely to be taken up by those who come from higher socio-economic backgrounds and / or from more affluent areas[3]. It is therefore worth carefully considering whether your scheme does indeed reach those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, both at the recruitment and retention stage.

There are several ways to attract and retain more apprentices and we can help you at any stage. Considerations include the wording of adverts, allowing for more flexibility and paying a fair wage (rather than following the minimum wage). For example, an offer of flexible working and payment of travel expenses may potentially attract more apprentices in social mobility cold spots.

Diversity and inclusion forums

Setting up a diversity and inclusion forum can help embed EDI into your business.

A forum can provide an opportunity for people to voice new and/or different perspectives as well as suggestions on how to improve the workplace internally and the impact it has externally. For example, focusing on social mobility, a forum may suggest improvements to your recruitment practices, such as how to reach cold spots and to overcome barriers which individuals have experienced themselves.

Forums generally can provide individuals with a safe space to talk about their experiences and improve representation across the business, which in turn can improve inclusion in the workplace and lead to more engagement with employees on these matters.

How does it work in practice?

In focussing on widening access to careers in the law to as many talented people as possible, we have made a concerted effort to ensure that careers at Bates Wells are accessible to individuals with characteristics that are underrepresented in the profession, specifically those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds as well as individuals with disabilities.

We recognise that the traditional route to qualifying as a solicitor, through university and a training contract, is not accessible to all. Young people who have caring responsibilities, disabilities, or who come from low socio-economic backgrounds, are significantly less likely to attend university than their more privileged peers. We have therefore introduced a fully-funded and salaried solicitor apprenticeships programme, through which apprentices will gain an LLM, complete the SQE, and qualify as solicitors with 6 years of on-the-job learning and experience.

We have also built contextual recruitment software into our training contract, vacation scheme, and apprenticeships application processes. We’ve partnered with leading social mobility Charity upReach to do this, building their algorithm, REALRating, into our application forms. Using REALRating means we have a holistic understanding of the backgrounds our candidates come from, and can make decisions about progression using multiple data points. The software tells us not just what circumstances our candidates grew up in, but also what their academic attainment would have been without those barriers. This means we can ensure that the decisions we make are fair and robust, and that access to our competitive opportunities is equitable.

We have also introduced part-time training contracts, with the intention of enabling qualification for people who are unable to train full-time. Applicants have told us that because of their caring responsibilities or their disabilities, they are not able to undertake full-time training contracts. We have been able to do this because we have a progressive, flexible culture in which 30% of our people, including partners, work part-time, which has normalised the concept.

If you are a purpose driven business looking to improve your Social Mobility and Diversity in the workplace and you would like our assistance in implementing any of these changes outlined above, please do get in touch.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-nation-2021-social-mobility-and-the-pandemic/state-of-the-nation-2021-social-mobility-and-the-pandemic–2

[2] https://www.rarerecruitment.co.uk/products/crs

[3] https://www.suttontrust.com/our-research/apprenticeship-outreach/