We are pleased to share with you the recording of our recent webinar on ‘Driving Positive Action in Professional Services Firms’, in which leading partnership law, legal recruitment and talent advisory experts discuss the need to drive long-term change in respect of diversity and inclusion within the workplace, and the various voluntary measures that professional services firms can and should be considering, with a view to furthering their reinvigorated diversity aims, not only in respect of their employees but also at partner level.
Whilst there have been positive developments in equality and D&I in partnerships in recent years, further improvements are needed to stimulate businesses to build more diverse talent pipelines by expanding their talent pools. In this webinar recording, we consider how professional services firms should approach talent management, including the use of specialist recruitment services, the systematic review of policies and, ultimately, questioning their own bias.
In this webinar, you can hear Chair Emma Bartlett, CM Murray LLP, and speakers Pooja Dasgupta, CM Murray LLP, Tom Spence, Donoma Advisors and Victoria Widdows, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, discuss the following:
- The ‘tie-break’ provision pursuant to section 159 of the Equality Act 2010, which allows employers to take positive action to promote D&I in a stalemate recruitment and promotion situation.
- The fine line between positive action and positive discrimination, and how the Cheshire police force got it all wrong in the case of Furlong v Chief Constable of Cheshire Police ET2405577/18.
- Examples of how to drive positive action within professional services firms, including having designated D&I partners, focus groups, a coaching environment, and the use of quotas as aspirational targets.
- Social and cultural differences pertaining to recruitment in Germany, the UAE and the USA, and the increased pressure to hire individuals from protected groups.
- The importance of professional services firms having a strategic approach to recruitment and deeper analysis when identifying suitable candidates, rather than hiring in their own image.
If you would like to discuss any of the above issues in further detail or would like any guidance regarding positive action, and avoiding the potential pitfalls, please contact D&I partner Emma Bartlett or Senior Associate Pooja Dasgupta, both of whom specialise in partnership and employment law issues for firms, partners, multinational employers and senior executives.
