Ethnicity
At Unilever UK & Ireland we are taking decisive action to improve diversity within our business as well as using our brands and voice to address systemic discrimination based on ethnicity. We believe business has a critical role to play in creating an equitable society which is intolerant of intolerance.
Here are a few ways we’re working to drive change:
Reflecting the diversity of society
We are working towards our target to be a business which fully reflects the society and communities we are part of. Through partnerships and recruitment programmes, we are working to ensure our work experience and vacancies reach, and are accessible to, ethnic minority candidates.
As part of our U-Experience programme, we’ve partnered with The Amos Bursary, who are committed to reducing the unemployment rate for young men of Afro-Caribbean descent by connecting them to opportunities for mentorship and work experience. And at the top, we are looking at what more we can do to ensure better race representation in our leadership team.
Using our brands to accelerate change
We are also looking at what more we can do to leverage the power of our brands to be anti-racist through their own purpose and campaigns, so we can help to build a world where racism is not accepted.
We will also use our brands to drive industry change in marketing by demanding change to representation, both on and off screen, working only with partners and agencies who share these values and ensuring we un-stereotype 100% of our advertising.
Empower
We’ve established our employee network, Empower, who will support internal momentum towards our ethnicity targets and commitments.
With the guidance of our Empower network we want to create a workplace community where our ethnic minority colleagues can be their authentic selves and thrive, where every culture is celebrated, but also to create a community for allies to drive meaningful change across our full organisation.
Setting targets and commitments
As a Business In The Community member, we’ve signed the Race At Work Charter which holds us accountable for taking five actions to drive progress and positive outcomes for our ethnic minority colleagues and future colleagues. These include appointing an executive level champion for ethnicity, board level commitment to a zero tolerance of harassment and taking action that support ethnic minority career progression – all of which have been actioned.