A variety of flowers makes a bouquet

Diverse, equal and inclusive workplaces are linked to greater success – Susan Humble, partner and regulatory specialist at RIAA Barker Gillette outlines some principles for progress in this space.

“We will all profit from a more diverse, inclusive society, understanding, accommodating, even celebrating our differences, while pulling together for the common good” – the words of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg aka ‘the notorious RBG’. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) expects that firms will play a leading role in making a difference. The SRA itself faces equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) challenges – see its 2022 ethnicity pay gap report, where CEO Paul Philip accepts that it has ‘a long way to go’.

In October 2022, sole practitioner Lubna Shuja was the 178th person, first Asian, first Muslim and seventh female to become president of the Law Society of England and Wales. To reiterate, since 1841, out of 178 people, one Asian and Muslim and only seven women have been appointed to be president, The first female president, Carolyn Kirby, was appointed in 2002. Stephanie Boyce, appointed in 2021, was the first black office holder and the first person of colour to achieve this distinction.

The Legal Services Act 2007 introduced the regulatory objective of ‘encouraging an independent, strong, diverse and effective legal profession’. The SRA Principles are the ‘fundamental tenets of ethical behaviour that we expect all those that we regulate to uphold’. Principle 6 requires the regulated community to ‘act in a way that encourages equality, diversity and inclusion.’

The SRA has published detailed guidance on its expectations – a must read for all practice managers. Key words are defined as follows:

• Making sure there is a level playing field and people are treated fairly.
• encouraging and valuing people with a broad range of different backgrounds, knowledge, skills, and experiences.
• Inclusion. Accepting people for who they are and encouraging everyone to participate and contribute.

The Law Society provides a ‘diversity and inclusion framework’ on its website, including an action plan template. It focuses on: establishing the purpose for advancing EDI, developing actions and ensuring performance. Plans must be lived and breathed. I recall the words of Maya Angelou – “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” How do we make our people feel? Do we ask? Do we care?

The SRA expects you to ‘run your business or carry out your role in a way that encourages equality of opportunity and respect for diversity. We expect you to be inclusive in your approach to everything you do’. Are you meeting this expectation? For example, are your firm’s client events inclusive? I recall a partner back in the day consistently inviting only the ‘special ones’ to sporting events with clients. Those excluded felt like failures. No one explained their exclusion or told them how to be included. It was a mystery. Have times changed? How do you answer that question?

A basic requirement is that practice managers facilitate collection, reporting and publication of workforce diversity data. The SRA advises that ‘it is good practice to put in place appropriate policies and procedures relating to [EDI] which are proportionate to the size of your firm’. These are a ‘must have’. It is expected that there will be a complaints procedure and that complaints will be dealt with ‘promptly, fairly, openly and effectively’. The resources are on the SRA website – let’s make it a priority to use them.

Are regulations effective in encouraging a diverse legal profession and in driving meaningful change? Sometimes yes, and sometimes not:

• January 2022. The SRA appoints Exeter University to carry out research into the ‘troubling difference in performance in the Solicitors Qualifying Examinations for candidates from Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups that has been a longstanding and widespread feature in examinations in the legal and other sectors’.
• February 2022. The SRA reports that diversity in law firms is improving, with smaller firms increasingly more diverse than large firms. The largest law firms have the smallest number of disabled employees. ‘The difference in the diversity profile between the one-partner firms and the largest firms continues to grow, with the proportion of partners from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic group being more than four times greater in one-partner firms.’
• February 2022. Stonewall names the SRA as one of Britain’s top 30 LGBT-inclusive employers.
• July 2022. The SRA appoints researchers to investigate the overrepresentation of those from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds in reports and enforcement processes. Paul Philip said: “There could be many factors affecting the troubling picture we are seeing, including wider societal issues or structural features in the legal sector, such as the different diversity profile of small firms compared to large firms. Having a better understanding of the causes will help us and others address these issues.”

In March 2022, the SRA published – ‘Our equality, diversity and inclusion work 2020/2021’, declaring that its objective is ‘to focus on areas where it can have the greatest impact. It will engage with larger law firms to establish if there are additional regulatory requirements that will increase the pace of change’. A striking omission is the failure to mention SRA engagement with small, diverse firms to find out why they may be at greater risk of falling foul of the regulations. What’s really going on with them?

Park the rules and regulations. How can we, as senior managers, drive meaningful change? Workplace culture is led from the top and we each bring our baggage to the table. We must be self-aware, ready to face unpleasant truths about our prejudices for the good of our businesses and our people.

The advisory, conciliation and arbitration service (ACAS) has identified the following benefits of an equal, diverse and inclusive workplace:

• Greater success
• Happy and motivated employees leading to improved retention rates
• Prevention of issues such as bullying, harassment, discrimination
• Enhanced ability to serve a diverse range of clients
• Greater creativity

According to Tolstoy, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” For the SRA’s regulatory requirements to effect meaningful change, we must be willing to challenge ourselves and others – in short to channel our inner ‘Notorious RBG’. They are in there somewhere.