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Since the 1970s we have witnessed large-scale social change in the UK, not least in employment, with the introduction of anti-discrimination legislation, greater aspirations, and demands by women for equality in the workplace. The Armed Forces have not been immune to these influences and have made major changes to their employment policies. Equal Opportunities took on a new dimension and focus, with its basis in compliance with the law; the primary driver being to protect the individual or disadvantaged groups. On its own, however, it was recognised that Equal Opportunities was not going to create the social, cultural and behavioural changes that were sought for the workplace. In the minds of many, equality had become little more than a legal obligation. Diversity, on the other hand, provided a focus for change that espoused all the best aspects of equality, but set a more persuasive agenda for recognising the business and operational benefits of valuing difference, fair treatment and the elimination of harassment and discrimination. DIVERSITY -THE “BUSINESS CASE” The compelling “business case” for diversity in the RAF is reflected in our Mission Statement: “to produce a battle-winning agile Air Force.” Embracing diversity allows us access to the widest possible recruitment base and, although embedding a culture of diversity requires significant investment, it also generates cost savings through improved levels of recruitment and retention, lower absenteeism and fewer complaints and tribunal cases. In that sense, it drives our objective to be a fair, inclusive employer that makes best use of talent in order to provide a first class public service. Unfair or discriminatory behaviour serves to marginalise people, damage our reputation and undermines our corporate responsibility to do, and be seen to do, the right thing. Diversity contributes to increased creativity and innovation by capitalising on different experiences, knowledge and skills. Increasingly, we operate in multinational environments, from operations and peacekeeping to assisting in civil emergencies, and our prospects of success are improved by being able to respond to different situations and people. Diverse teams can draw on a wider range of background, experience and skills, with each team member’s contribution being fully realised, recognised and integrated to achieve success. And lastly, integrating diversity into every aspect of our work allows us to maintain the position of being an employer of choice in a highly competitive labour market, thereby safeguarding our Service for the future. Our actions now, set the foundation for years to come. Consider the following statement which illustrates why we can ill afford to ignore issues of diversity:
THE RAF'S DIVERSITY STRATEGY The following is an extract from the RAF Equality and Diversity Directive:
"MAINSTREAMING" DIVERSITY The MOD Unified Diversity Strategy describes the mainstreaming process as, embedding in operational and personnel functions and, wherever possible, common standards, policies and practices, the recognition that “Diversity is crucial to operational effectiveness now and for the future.” So, what has the RAF been doing about Diversity? In his role as Diversity Champion for the RAF, Air Marshal Sir Joe French (AMP) set the agenda for our Diversity “mainstreaming” strategy when, 12 months ago, he hosted a Diversity Symposium at the RAF Club in London. Invited external delegates included influential personalities from such organisations as: Commission for Racial Equality; Equal Opportunities Commission; Disability Rights Commission; Muslim Council of Britain and others. Keynote speakers represented diversity champions at Arriva plc and Ford (Europe) who articulated the benefit that each of their companies had derived from mainstreaming diversity. The symposium concluded that, whilst the RAF’s performance compared favourably with many other large private and public sector organisations, a clear theme had emerged: an organisation can have the best policies (vision) in the World, but unless the spirit of those policies is translated into action (reality), success cannot be guaranteed. BENCHMARKING ?? enchmarking what and under heading?? The RAF formally benchmarks against the top private and public sector organisations on an annual basis, facilitated by 'Race for Opportunity' and 'Opportunity Now'. In 2004 both organisations awarded the RAF their Gold Standard. The former has again awarded Gold Standard to the RAF as a result of this year’s Benchmarking Survey. So, we must be doing something right, you say. Well, we know that our employment policies and diversity strategy are leading us down the right road, as evidenced by external benchmarking, but it is equally important that we look within the Service to determine whether or not the strategy and policies are working. In this respect, RAF Employment Policy Staff engage with individuals by means of the Continuous General Attitude Surveys and focussed workshops. EVIDENCE BASED POLICY DEVELOPMENT Last year, Employment Policy staff at HQ PTC organised two focussed workshops, each attended by the Air Secretary: the first considered female employment issues and was held at RAF College Cranwell in May whilst the second examined male employment issues and was held at RAF Uxbridge in November. The aim of both workshops was to consider the “pull-push” factors that individuals believed had an influence on recruitment and retention in the RAF. Delegates represented the rank spectrum (from AC to Gp Capt) and workshop outcomes have been analysed and will serve to better inform policy development e.g. Work-life balance issues, combating harassment and bullying. DIVERSITY AWARENESS Between Feb and Mar of this year, the RAF contracted the Garnett Foundation - an external provider of management training to conduct a Diversity Awareness “tour” of the RAF using forum theatre-based training. Over a 9 week period, over 1600 SNCOs and WOs experienced “The Challenge”, a diversity play and workshops, tailored for an RAF audience and aimed at exposing audiences to a wide variety of diversity issues including harassment, discrimination and bullying. Following the overwhelmingly positive response and analysis of feedback, a second Garnett tour of the RAF is planned for the Autumn and will take in a broader audience. The RAF employs a “through life” diversity training strategy in which equality and diversity training is embedded in all Phase I, Phase II and career progression management courses. Levels of training will be appropriate to rank and appointment. Further, all 3 Services are required to provide annual equality and diversity refresher training and Employment Policy staff are engaging with Units to assist with taking forward this requirement. To that end, we have recently produced a CD-ROM Diversity Toolkit aimed at providing Commanding Officers with additional material to assist in education and training, including hyperlinks to a wide range of equality and diversity publications. ANNUAL RAF EQUALITY & DIVERSITY CONFERENCE AMP delivered the welcoming address at the 4th Annual RAF Equality & Diversity Conference which was held at HQ PTC. Over 100 delegates attended and were drawn from the RAF’s cadre of Equal Opportunity Advisors, Civilian Equality & Diversity Officers based at RAF Stations and observers from both the RN and Army Employment Policy Staff. The theme for this year’s Conference was, “Diversity Works” and a packed programme comprised keynote presentations and workshops. The RAF’s Mobile Catering Support Unit, provided a hot working lunch based on a theme of “Catering for Diversity”. The Annual Conference has proved to be the ideal vehicle for imparting information, exploring diversity issues, new themes and exchanging idea8 of “best practice”. As with the employment issues workshops, outcomes are being analysed and will serve to inform future policy development. VISION TO REALITY - WHOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR DIVERSITY? Successfully managing a diverse workforce means recognising and valuing individuals from diverse backgrounds who bring fresh ideas, knowledge, experience and talent. This enables the RAF to recruit and retain the very best, helping to achieve and sustain our manning needs, and maintain operational capability. The phrase “managing a diverse workforce” should not be misinterpreted as implying that responsibility lies exclusively with “management”, or that it is a personnel issue and must, therefore, be in the realm of “handbrake house”. The reality is that successful management and leadership of diversity relies on every one, from new recruit to the Chief of the Air Staff, playing their part. INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS Managing a diverse RAF means not only understanding and valuing difference, and catering for individual needs, but ensuring that the we operate in an environment free from harassment, unlawful discrimination and bullying. Conflict in the workplace has the effect of undermining morale and team cohesion, damaging the Service’s reputation and adversely impacting on operational effectiveness. Whilst there needs to be a focus on conflict resolution, education and awareness training provide an important focus on guarding against such conflict arising in the first place. No one can miss the significance of high profile media
coverage of employment tribunals, at which Whilst the RAF has in place a policy of “Zero Tolerance” toward unlawful discrimination, harassment and bullying, the number of reported informal and formal complaints appears to indicate that there is a disconnect between policy and reality. So, what should we do to ensure that the spirit of the policy is translated into action? There is no doubt that Equal Opportunities training and Diversity Awareness are essential in educating personnel at all levels, with the aim of combating harassment, unlawful discrimination and bullying. However, I believe that the elimination of unacceptable behaviour is dependent on each individual taking responsibility for setting the highest personal standards and being prepared to challenge inappropriate behaviour. Further, it is reliant on swift resolution of workplace conflict and effective, proportionate administrative or disciplinary action being taken against those who transgress; the ultimate sanction being loss of employment. THE FUTURE I think that you will agree that this Diversity “stock-take” of where the RAF is in relation to where it needs to be indicates that, generally speaking, we are making good progress. Nevertheless, an essential ingredient in the process of translating vision to reality is that of “monitoring”. We need to constantly monitor policies, standards, practices and behaviours, to ensure that they continue to take account of the principles of Diversity: equality of opportunity, fair treatment and recognition of the unique contribution that each individual brings to the Service, because of and not in spite of their differences. During my 2 year tenure in Equality & Diversity Policy, I have frequently heard accusations of “Political Correctness” being levelled at our policies. However, having digested this article, I am sure that you will agree that there is nothing “PC” nor “Pink and Fluffy” in what the RAF is striving to achieve by means of embracing diversity. To paraphrase the MOD Unified Diversity Strategy: “Diversity is crucial to operational effectiveness, both now and in the future” and for that vision to become a reality requires no less than the personal commitment of all our people. Who can argue with that? This article was originally published in the Royal
Air Force Equality and Diversity Newsletter from Jan 2006. page: Royal Air Force ::
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