Skip to main content

Social mobility masterclass for employers #4: Advocacy

Published: 27 Oct 2020

The fourth session in our employers’ masterclass series, Advocacy, took place on 15 October. Our previous sessions covered outreachhiring and culture & leadership. Advocacy with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) is about changing perceptions and striving for change beyond your organisation.

Once you have pin-pointed the commercial, as well as the moral, arguments for increasing socio-economic diversity, it then becomes about using the tools, connections and opportunities at your disposal to become a force for change. This may be by building a presence at industry-specific events, playing an active role in national campaigns, linking up with other employers on joined-up initiatives, or leveraging your supply chain. It’s all about having an active national voice, to drive a sustainable change.

Advocating for change will not just do good, it will increase your visibility as a business and has the potential to shape your reputation. A forward-thinking, inclusive ethos positively affects reputation, as customers and clients increasingly want to see diversity reflected in the brands they are associated with. And embracing diversity drives innovation – an ‘innovation mindset’ is six times higher in the most-equal cultures*, something that both your business and sector as whole can benefit from.

This session took the form of:

  • A short presentation by the Social Mobility Commission, we are leading advocates for social mobility in England, who produce a rich body of research and guidance for employers.
  • An in-depth case-study from PWC who will be talking about what they do to inspire others to take action.
  • An interactive workshop for employers in which to explore ideas, share insights and tackle some of the road blocks.

Using the insights from that workshop we are sharing a checklist Masterclass: Advocacy afterpack to help you refine your ideas. And you can find a video of the presentation and case-study above if you’ve not already watched it.

Our employers’ toolkit is also packed with ideas on the data you can use to measure progress, build a strong outreach programme or create a more inclusive culture. Each individual section includes tailored guidance, as well as videos that will give you our top tips on the key themes of dataoutreachhiringprogression and culture & leadership – enabling you to become a real change-maker in this space. You can watch the culture & leadership video below.

We hope that you find these tools and videos both insightful and inspiring.

 

* Accenture’s Getting to Equal report, 2019