Modern Insurance Magazine Issue 61

FEATURES
Where is the
business case
for improving
Social Mobility?
When I was growing up, there was a perception that when you left
school or higher education, you would seamlessly move into a job
and a career. Unfortunately, for far too many young people across
the country today, that reality no longer exists.
My parents were both immigrants from Pakistan, who left behind teaching
jobs to come and work in the textile mills of Yorkshire. I grew up in
Huddersfield, and after losing my father at aged 9, my siblings and I were
brought up by my mother. She was a very strong person. She had four
children, and she brought us up to possess good ethics and values. She
promoted education more than anything else, and although I still agree that
education is important, it’s also about the ability to translate education and
learning into practical, workplace life skills.
In my view, all businesses have a responsibility to make themselves accessible
and represent the society we work for. In my role as PwC’s Regional Leader
in the North of England, I have the privilege to work with people from all
cultures, backgrounds and communities, and our employment opportunities
should reflect this. I am a representation of British society, and people like
me should have access to places like PwC and other professional service
organisations.
But what does diversity at the upper echelons of business bring to the table?
It represents the people that make up the communities and organisations
we operate in. It also brings a diversity of thought. Diversity at the top of an
organisation is really important; it’s one of the factors that fosters innovation
and prevents groupthink. I love having a range of different points of view
from different backgrounds. For me, it’s the continuation of that journey of
learning.
There are businesses who understand this responsibility, and who are actively
working to improve the diversity of thought in their organisations. But all too
often, we only see efforts made at the point of recruitment - whether that’s
offering on-the-job training, or providing graduate schemes for university
leavers. While these are fantastic offers from employers, what happens to
the people who don’t have access to the necessary technology in order
to undertake pre-employment training? Or those who didn’t think higher
education was for them?
There is a desperate need to create a level playing field at the recruitment
stage, but this work must start before candidates even consider professional
service organisations as a career prospect. Our purpose at PwC is to help
build trust in society and solve important problems. This is why Social Mobility
lies at the very heart of our PwC strategy. It’s important to us that our vision
and strategy covers our activities as both a responsible employer and a
responsible business, which is why we also have clear targets against which
we can hold ourselves to account.
In our 2022 annual report, we once again published our socio-economic
background (SEB) pay and bonus gaps, the data of which is based on parental
occupation information shared with us by 82% of our people. Tracking this
data allows us to understand our workforce, demonstrating the value of
investing in candidates and employees from all backgrounds.
Supporting skills development and Social Mobility is not just about who
comes to work for us; it’s about how we can support a much wider group of
people to progress as far as their preferences, talent, and determination will
take them - whatever career path that may be. That’s why our strategy covers
our activities within our communities, as well as the work we do to recruit and
develop our people.
When we stood back and thought about how we could implement a Social
Mobility strategy as a business, we found the following not only made an
impact in our local communities, but could be measured and reported on, too.
n Partnering with local schools to hold experience days, building soft skills
and exposing young people to employers and career options.
n Providing alternative routes to employment through ‘earn as you learn’
models. We’ve tried to do this through our Tech Degree Apprenticeships.
n Identifying gaps in talent, and working with higher education providers to
promote careers in these areas. We’ve been really pleased with the success
rate from the six-week academies we’ve run to help local candidates
acquire career skills.
n Removing grade-based barriers to entry in order to broaden the pool of
candidates.
Implementing a Social Mobility strategy isn’t just the right thing to do today;
it will also help us to create a better prepared and equipped workforce
for tomorrow. It drives growth, improves the local economies in which we
conduct business, and helps to create better and fairer communities in which
we have the privilege to live.
This piece was initially published
on 24th March 2023 as a blog post
on PwC’s website, and has been
republished with the permission of
the author.
Armoghan Mohammed,
Regional Chair for the North,
PwC United Kingdom
MODERN INSURANCE | 51