At JGP, helping our clients attract and retain a diverse workforce is at the forefront of everything we do and is embedded in our whole process.

That is why we have recently signed up to the recruiters’ pledge that’s been introduced by Leadership 2025.

Leadership 2025 is a nine-month initiative sponsored by leading housing organisations L&Q, Optivo and BME London. The ground-breaking scheme is also supported by the Mayor of London. The programme offers practical learning aimed at executive-ready and chief executive-ready senior managers from BME backgrounds.

Leadership 2025 is more than the average leadership programme. It aims to disrupt the housing sector in a positive way and challenge current perceptions. It promotes diversity as more than a box-ticing exercise, highlighting the business benefits.

In many areas, the housing sector is ahead of the curve on diversity and inclusion in employment. But, the sector falls short in the proportion of BME people in key leadership roles. It is disproportionately small with just 4% of senior leadership roles held by individuals from BME backgrounds. This is despite 17% of social renting households in England in 2015/16 being headed by a non-white person. Leadership 2025 has a long-term ambition of supporting the creation of a housing sector that is vibrant and diverse at all levels. They want to see a better representation of BME individuals at leadership levels.

Leadership 2025 have created a five-point plan to support housing providers in achieving greater diversity in their leadership teams. This includes a commitment to diverse recruitment panels and interviewing diverse pools of candidates for senior positions – the so-called ‘Rooney Rule’.

A number of leading housing associations, including L&Q, Optivo, Network Homes, and Metropolitan Housing Partnership have already signed up to adopt the plan and implement the ‘Rooney Rule’.

Leadership 2025 are asking housing sector recruiters to help organisations recognise the importance of diversity in recruitment. They want to encourage them to adopt the principles and spirit of the Rooney rule.

At JGP, we have agreed to the three-point pledge when recruiting on behalf of housing providers.

The pledge is as follows:

1. To ask if an organisation has signed up to the ‘Rooney Rule’. And, if not, ask what if anything is acting as a barrier to its implementation.

2. To ask if an organisation has signed up to be a Leadership 2025 champion and implement the five-point action plan to create a more ethnically diverse leadership within the sector. And, if not, ask what if anything is acting as a barrier to its implementation.

3. To offer to support organisations in the implementation of the principles of the ‘Rooney Rule’ and develop a more diverse talent pool of candidates for recruitment campaigns.
We are delighted to support this and look forward to helping organisations achieve a truly diverse workforce.

If you would like to find out any more information on how we can help you, please contact Adele D’Silva, JGP’s Head of Resourcing & Performance by emailing her on adele.dsilva@jobsgopublic.com.