Analysis: Retail must address its shocking race problem

The Black Lives Matter movement has seen a surge in support as protests ranging from peaceful sit-ins to riots have sprouted across the US and other countries, including the UK. 

Support has also been shown on social media. On ‘Blackout Tuesday’ last week, social channels were flooded with blacked-out profile pictures from individuals and brands alike supporting the fight against systemic racism.

However, many businesses were accused of doing little more than a performative social media post without truly committing to tackle racism. It was best summed up by writer Brandi Riley, who tweeted: “Thank you for the Black Lives Matter graphic. May I please see a picture of your executive leadership team and company board?”

Thank you for your Black Lives Matter graphic. May I please see a picture of your executive leadership team and company board?

— Brandi Riley (@BrandiJeter) June 2, 2020

It is a question that exposes an uncomfortable truth in business at large and UK retail more specifically. A survey by Green Park last year found that of the top listed retailers in the UK, white men represent 72% of total leadership at board and executive committee level, with BAME men at just 1%. While white women make up 25%, BAME women account for just 2%.

Bridget Lea, who is managing director of Sainsbury’s North, views these stats as disappointing but not surprising.

She says: “It’s pretty obvious that boards in the UK are predominantly white and middle-class, and the risk is that those boards recruit in their own image. I’d like to think that this happens unconsciously but it’s clearly not helpful. Senior leaders must work harder to educate themselves and create diverse boards that are truly reflective of the population,” she says.

“We have talked for years in the UK about wanting diversity on boards, and we are starting to do a better job of increasing the number of women, but when it comes to race and particularly the black part of BAME, even the most forward-thinking white executives can still find it a very awkward topic to discuss, for a lot of reasons.

“That’s a problem. We need to ask ourselves why are we more comfortable talking about gender or LGBT [representation], but find talking about the underrepresentation of our black colleagues so difficult? All that is happening on race in the US and Britain at the moment shows that we can’t hide from this important topic any more – we have to talk about race, whether we like it or not.”

Retail responsibility

Accenture director of strategy and consulting practice and founder of the Black British Business Awards Melanie Eusebe says retailers have a particular responsibility to redress this balance.

“We know that the BAME population engage directly with retailers day-to-day in a way that they don’t with financial services or FMCG brands, both as shoppers and employees,” she says. 

“Retail is a very important leg-up and way to get into businesses for BAME people and women. We have so many women and ethnic minorities joining retail stores at the beginning of their careers – how do we realise that potential and move talent from the front line up to the head office?”

For the Co-op, this process has involved creating forums inside the business where BAME people can speak openly about their experiences.

The Co-op’s leading diversity and inclusion partner Rachael Bickerstaff says: “We have BAME representation both on our board and within our exec, but fully admit that it’s not enough and we need more BAME colleagues as senior leaders. We have work to do and we are already trying to change this.

“We took steps in 2018 to engage with our BAME colleagues and our BAME colleague network – RISE – to understand more about their experience within our business, including routes to promotion. Earlier this year, we also held a ‘hackathon’ where BAME colleagues came together to discuss solutions for better inclusion and diversity.”

Bickerstaff says the Co-op is looking at “removing barriers” in its recruitment process, particularly for internal hires, and to “actively recruit” more diverse talent.

“We are working to create clear career paths and visibility of opportunities while formalising plans to develop talented BAME colleagues,” she says.

In the wake of Floyd’s death and the subsequent protests, Co-op chief executive Steve Murrells wrote a series of tweets in which he said that increasing diversity at the business “will require some big actions from me, management and also thousands of daily actions from all of you”.

The inclusive culture that we, together, are trying to build at the Co-op will only live through actions. Not words alone. There is no doubt we’ve got more to do. We’re well underway but I’m not naive enough to think that we’re even nearly done. We need to go further and faster.

— Steve Murrells (@Steve_Murrells) June 1, 2020

Eusebe says real commitments like this from senior leadership are often lacking on retail boards.

“There are a few white allies who publicly speak [about racial inequality], but with so few BAME voices in senior teams, diversity at the board level often doesn’t feature on the key agenda,” she says.

Supporting black colleagues 

While Eusebe believes retailers should provide support groups to all BAME colleagues as the concerns and challenges of underserved and underrepresented groups “very rarely apply to one group”, Lea’s personal view is that black employees – who are particularly underrepresented at a senior level – have unique challenges and should have support tailored to them.

“There are lots of really great organisations in the UK, most of them filled with well-meaning people, but few are doing a good enough job of supporting black colleagues,” she says.

“Organisations should seek to understand and listen to their black colleagues’ experiences, which can be very different from the white majority. Black colleagues haven’t always been actively volunteering this information over the years as it can be easier to keep this under wraps in an effort to fit in and have a better chance of progression. This is a shame as organisations aren’t getting the best from black colleagues if those colleagues can’t bring their whole self to work.’

Lea suggests a dedicated forum specifically for black employees, commitments to coaching and mentoring black staff over the course of their career, committing to reporting on the ethnicity pay gap and hiring and promoting based on enthusiasm and potential, rather than rigid expectations around qualifications and previous experience.

“At Sainsbury’s we’ve used this time to reflect on what more we need to do to support black colleagues and that will involve the whole organisation. Our new CEO Simon Roberts is passionate about this issue and has spent time working to really understand the challenges faced by black colleagues, which has enabled us to create some great plans for the future,” she says.”

For Eusebe, having a comprehensive strategy to redress racial inequality in an organisation is of paramount importance.

“This is a watershed moment where there is a critical mass of people who are saying ‘let’s use this as the impetus to make some real changes’. Most [retailers] have stated a real intention to change their workplaces but there are some major factors that have prevented them from moving forward.

“There needs to be a huge discussion around the discomfort of talking about race in the workplace because that discomfort causes avoidance to the point of stifling progress. Retailers usually have objectives to aid BAME retention but don’t have a proper strategy to attain it. There are very few sizeable organisations which have a comprehensive strategy around diversity and proper resource allocation to it.”

Putting words into action

This is illustrated in the limited progress in boosting BAME leaders. Research by Green Park found board representation of BAME people on the executive boards of FTSE 100 businesses has stagnated at around 3% since 2014.

Eusebe says in order to change this, strategies to increase diversity need to be fleshed out and then communicated plainly to employees and shoppers alike.

Matchesfashion’s recently appointed chief executive Ajay Kavan has taken steps to do that this week and started a forum for black employees after conversations with black members of staff in the wake of events in recent weeks.

“I have started to consult with a number of our black colleagues and I was distressed to hear them share some of their experiences. At the suggestion of one of our colleagues, a black employees forum is being established,” he says.

A spokeswoman for the retailer says: “In responding to the Black Lives Matter movement, the retail industry has responded in two ways. The first is to pause, listen and reflect – to raise our consciousness and educate ourselves. The second is to take decisive and immediate action to put right decades of wrongs.

“We think we can and must do both. That’s why we’ve announced three initial first steps – to form a black employees forum, to publish an annual breakdown of the designers we support by ethnic background, and to publish an annual breakdown of colleagues at different levels of seniority by ethnic background.

“The retail industry needs to acknowledge the validity of the issues raised by the Black Lives Matter movement, to commit to meaningful change and put in place structures which promote systemic, long-term improvement.”

Eusebe believes retailers, and retail leaders personally, speaking out against racism publicly is important, but it needs to be grounded in an understanding of what that business or individual should do to facilitate long-term change. Those that do not demonstrate their own role in tackling systemic racism are likely to face a backlash.

Speaking up is important, but as the old saying goes, talk is cheap. Lea says, in order for change to be made at pace, white retail leaders need to be the ones that lead the way: “We really need all organisations to get behind this, particularly white allies in senior positions across the UK. This won’t be solved within the black community; we need those in power to stand up and make a special commitment to this cause if things are going to change like they need to.”