Business leaders pledge to boost diversity and inclusion in the workplace

The Men As Change Agents (MACA) “Lead the Change” Board will see some of the most experienced names in business come together to work with organisations across the country, with the aim of encouraging business leaders to act as change agents to promote diversity and inclusion in business.

As part of their work, the MACA “Lead the Change” Board will support the Hampton-Alexander Review to help target 33 per cent of executive-level FTSE 350 business leaders that are women by the end of 2020.

Board members will also work to increase the ethnic diversity in an effort to ensure that each FTSE 100 board should have at least one ethnic minority director by 2021, and each FTSE 250 board should have at least one ethnic minority director by 2024.

“Companies that exclude smart, hardworking women because of their gender are missing out on a huge amount of talent. The Men As Change Agents Board is led by heads of business, and they will be using their expertise and influence to work with organisations,” the Minister for Women and Equalities, Liz Truss, said.

She underlined that equality at work has a huge benefit to business, the economy and society.

“I want it to be just as easy for an ambitious woman to get a job as an ambitious man.”

The board will be chaired by Emer Timmons and Denis Woulfe MBE who, in a joint statement, said that although it is now widely accepted that the workplace needs to become more diverse and inclusive, there is much more that the business community can do to lead the change.

“We hope that by increasing the number of supportive senior business leaders, the current majority of whom are male, as change agents, and by sharing best practice and ideas which make a difference, we can help accelerate the change we all want to see.”