Sky Sets Target to Boost Ethnic Diversity & Representation

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Sky has revealed that by 2025 it plans to have 20 percent of its roles in the U.K. and Ireland workforce filled by those from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic background, with 5 percent of the roles in Sky’s U.K. and Ireland workforce filled by Black employees.

Further, Sky is introducing the same target for the top circa 300 leaders across the U.K. and Ireland’s leadership team. By 2025, Sky’s leadership team will be 5 percent Black, and 20 percent Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic overall. The leadership team is currently 1 percent Black and 9 percent Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic. Among Sky’s U.K. and Ireland employees who disclose their ethnicity, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic representation is currently 14.7 percent and Black representation is 2.7 percent.

Teams within Sky will be set specific targets based on the demographics of where they are based, their colleague attrition and professional pipeline. Progress against the targets will be measured annually and reported in Sky’s Bigger Picture Impact Report. Executives will be held responsible for meeting the targets in their areas by building targets into leadership objectives, regular interaction with Sky’s Diversity Action Group and ongoing engagement with Sky’s newly appointed external Diversity Advisory Council.

Efforts to meet the targets will be tailored across the organization, with work underway to introduce more inclusive recruitment practices, invest in the progression of under-represented groups throughout the organization, improve retention and offer additional support for the progression of Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic staff. Sky will also look to improve its talent pipeline and tackle systemic barriers to access to the industry. Measures that have already been put in place include refreshed language used in job adverts to be more inclusive, the introduction of an aim to ensure shortlists are reflective of location when hiring and the advertisement roles in places that attract more diverse candidates.

Stephen van Rooyen, executive VP and CEO for Sky in the U.K. and Europe, said: “Last year we said Sky could, and should, do more to improve diversity and inclusion in our own business, and to support the fight against racial injustice. Over the last few months, we’ve been listening to all our colleagues and today we’re making some ambitious commitments around representation at Sky. There is clear evidence that businesses with greater cultural and ethnic diversity perform better. Getting this right will enable us to make better business decisions; develop better content on-screen, see more innovation off-screen and improve diversity and inclusion across the industry.”

Denise Peart, Sky’s chief talent, diversity and inclusion officer, added: “Introducing these targets acknowledges that we have more work to do in ensuring our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic colleagues are fairly represented at all levels, and across all areas of Sky. Our focus will be on making systemic changes to ensure that we recruit, retain, develop and progress these colleagues while holding ourselves accountable for meeting these targets. This will allow us to continue to take positive steps in becoming a more diverse and inclusive organization.”

Lord Karan Bilimoria, CBI President, said: “I’m delighted that Sky has committed to ambitious action to better represent the communities they operate in and customers they serve. Because concerted company efforts to accelerate greater racial and ethnic participation—particularly at senior levels—are much needed across British business. What gets measured gets done. Setting stretching targets as Sky has, alongside more measures to cultivate an inclusive company culture, will undoubtedly propel their progress forward faster and set a shining example to other firms looking to do the same.”

Deborah Williams, executive director for the Creative Diversity Network, said: “Data from CDN’s Race and Ethnicity Report: A Deep Dive into Diamond Data, which was published in October last year, shone a light on the inequality off-screen in the U.K. television industry, particularly at senior, decision-making levels. We therefore very much welcome and support Sky’s new innovative Black, Asian and ethnic minority targets, especially for its leadership team.”