Firms should utilise Census 2021 in their D&I strategy, says expert

Employers place a lot of emphasis on diversity data and in most cases HR professionals have a key role in its collection and how it’s used. An enormous source of valuable information is Census 2021, which is published by the ONS every 10 years, the last time being in 2021, so that is the most recent data set. It contains data and supporting commentary on ethnic group, national identity, language, and religion for those living in England and Wales. In our view it is an under-appreciated data set which can really help businesses with their own diversity agenda. In short it can help HR professionals to do their job more effectively.

To help understand Census 2021 and exactly how it can help I spoke to diversity consultant Kieron O’Reilly who works with D&I consultancy Brook Graham and is helping a number of Pinsent Masons’ clients in this area. I asked Kieron why he is so excited by Census 2021:

Kieron O’Reilly: “I think the main reason we are so excited about it is because besides the inclusion of some new questions compared to the 2011 Census, which is really useful in its own right, is that the ONS have included an interactive census map. In the past it would be quite difficult to go through data but now, with this map, you have a very fast and an easy-to-use tool that can allow you to pick out any data you want in any part of the country at a very micro level. So, assessing data that you're going to use now is super quick, super easy, and we've never had this before.” 

Joe Glavina: “Why would employers conduct this exercise Kieron? What’s the incentive for employers?”

Kieron O’Reilly: “I think the incentive is to do with the efficiency of it because in the past many organisations are really keen to be able to recruit in a diverse way, to get the greatest range of talent that they can. However, having the knowledge and the data to do that as bit a bit clunky, it's a bit difficult to do, you've got to carry out a lot of research, you need to download data from different sites, and that then has been analysed, you've got to use it then to work out how it's effective for you. The difference here is that you've now got access to that data simply and quickly and you don't have to spend long, you can compare it really quickly, and from that you can make meaningful decisions in less than half the time it took you before. So the incentive is it's quick, it's specific, and it will give you the results you're looking for once your actions are made”

Joe Glavina: “Is this sort of exercise that HR professionals should be engaging in? Is it the sort of thing that they would outsource or is it easy enough for them to do themselves?”

Kieron O’Reilly: “It is. It’s easy enough. The way it has been built on the ONS website is very easy to use, it's intuitive. The challenge, I think, if anything from an outsourcing point of view is that we've got an opportunity here for you to gain the data but, obviously, making use of it depends on what capacity you've got within your own organisation. So, from an HR point of view, you've got outside influence when it comes to explaining how the data can be used to make it more effective, but certainly, you've got essentially a dashboard, from an HR point of view, that you can use at any point when you're looking at your own data, doing any internal reporting, or looking for information to support any actions you want to take. So, it's definitely easy for HR professionals to use at any point and it's certainly a great data set when you're working with external partners, as well, to set up your actions in the future.”

Joe Glavina: “Can I ask you about social mobility here? Does this data help with that as well?”

Kieron O’Reilly: “That's a really great point because it really does. So, in the past we've had different datasets coming on from socio-economic background, and they are still available, and they're very, very useful, but as the census ask these questions now, this information can be used with that interactive census map. So, you can actually pinpoint, say, we pick Manchester as a city, for example, you can look at socio-economic data across the whole of the City of Manchester, but you can also focus in onto a single borough. So, now what you're able to do is understand what are sometimes called ‘cold spots’ when you're looking at the socio-economic data, you can now identify them really clearly and you can then target your activity towards it. So, it does give you an opportunity to widen your talent pool and to make sure you're using upward social mobility by going to the places where you know the socio-economic support is needed most.”

Joe Glavina: “Finally, Kieron, I guess you’d encourage HR to take a close look at this?

Kieron O’Reilly: “I would do. I think looking at the census data gives you a benchmark and it gives you something to compare your own workforce demographics to, at different levels in the organisation. I would really implore people to have a good look at that data and an honest appraisal of it to say, how well are we actually representing the talent that's available to us and the communities that we're operating in and, equally, how well are we serving our markets from the representation of our own workforce? So, I would say use the data because it can drive choices but have a good look internally and see how well you're representing. This would be one of the times that you can get a real clear picture of it now and then we can say from now on.”

Census 2021 is available from the government’s website as well as the ONS website. We have put a link it in the transcript of this programme.

LINKS
- Link to Census 2021