What can PR learn from the public sector’s approach to equality?

 12 August 2024
 Ruby Kite, talent and inclusion lead at The PHA Group

Public relations and comms agencies, among most other private sector companies, take pride in adopting ways of working that benefit clients, customers and employees.

Meanwhile, public sector organisations are considered bound by bureaucracy, which contrasts with the fast-paced world that is agency life.

Its entirely possible that red rape restricts progress, but perhaps the private sector should look to implement some of the government-enforced measures that positively impact those from underrepresented or disadvantaged groups?

Avoid ticking a box

With equality, diversity  and inclusion (EDI) initiatives at risk of being a box-ticking exercises, agencies should consider equality impact assessments (EIA) as a blueprint for change, following in the footsteps of their public sector counterparts.

An EIA is a systematic process used to evaluate the effects of policies, procedures, or practices on different groups of people, ensuring that no group is disproportionately disadvantaged. They are widely adopted across the public sector as a way of facilitating and evidencing compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty, part of the Equality Act 2010.

The process typically involves:

• Identifying purpose and objectives

• Gathering and analysing relevant data to assess its potential impact on various social identity groups

• Consulting with stakeholders to gather insights and feedback

• Developing strategies to mitigate identified negative effects

• Continuous monitoring and reviewing to ensure ongoing fairness and inclusivity.

To ensure practising what you preach, PR and comms agencies should consider the breadth of policies, processes, and practices that could benefit from implementing EIAs, or a comparable methodology. For example, by prioritising data collection and analysis, they could better evaluate the impact of their campaigns on their target demographic, rather than relying on an inflated figure indicating potential reach via the media. A more proactive approach could be to make data-driven decisions during the campaign planning process rather than wait until it has already hit the press.

Benefit from improved EDI

Many well-known consumer brands make PR blunders and face backlash from members of the impacted audience and their allies, so agencies would benefit from using relevant insights to help mitigate any potentially harmful messaging. The same could also be carried out internally through employee surveys, anonymous feedback options, employee resource groups forums, and stay and exit interviews, to name a few.

Questions to consider are:

• Does your new hybrid working policy impact full-time and part-time employees equitably?
• Is the number of employees affected by redundancies fair across all social identity groups, bearing in mind their representation across the agency?
• Can all employees benefit from salary benchmarking and bonus awards equally?

For agencies with plenty of room for improvement that don’t know where to start, it’s worth a reminder of the nine protected characteristics that should be the focus of EIAs:

1. Age
2. Disability
3. Gender reassignment
4. Marriage and civil partnership
5. Pregnancy and maternity
6. Race
7. Religion or belief
8. Sex
9. Sexual orientation

However, it’s worth bearing in mind that these traits do not take into account other factors that agency leaders may wish to consider, such as socio-economic background, caregiver status, education, neurodivergence, cultural background, and immigration status.

With pressure mounting for agencies to create and maintain truly diverse, inclusive, and equitable environments for its employees, while ensuring the client work is also reflective of its ED&I-related values, it can be a challenge for leaders to continuously improve their agency’s policies and practices for the benefit of both. EIAs provide a structured template to reduce the risk of underrepresented being disproportionately disadvantaged.

Written by

Ruby Kite, talent and inclusion lead at The PHA Group

Dubai, UAE, 16 May, 2024 – Emirates will resume services to Nigeria from 1 October 2024, operating a daily service between Lagos and Dubai, and offering customers more choice and connectivity from Nigeria’s largest city to, and through, Dubai.

The service will be operated using a Boeing 777-300ER. EK783 will depart Dubai at 0945hrs, arriving in Lagos at 1520hrs; the return flight EK784 will leave Lagos at 1730hrs and arrives in Dubai at 0510hrs the next day. Tickets can be booked now on emirates.com or via travel agents.

Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer said, “We are excited to resume our services to Nigeria. The Lagos-Dubai service has traditionally been popular with customers in Nigeria and we hope to reconnect leisure and business travellers to Dubai and onwards to our network of over 140 destinations.  We thank the Nigerian government for their partnership and support in re-establishing this route and we look forward to welcoming passengers back onboard.”

With the resumption of operations to Nigeria, Emirates operates to 19 gateways in Africa with 157 flights per week from Dubai, with further reach to an additional 130 regional points in Africa through its codeshare and interline partnerships with South African Airways, Airlink, Royal Air Maroc, Tunis Air, among others.

As a major economic hub in Africa, Nigeria and the UAE have built strong bilateral trade relations over the years, headlined by Lagos as the nation’s commercial centre. With the resumption of daily passenger flights, the airline’s cargo arm, Emirates SkyCargo, will further bolster the trade relationship by offering more than 300 tonnes of bellyhold cargo capacity, in and out of Lagos every week.

Emirates SkyCargo will support Nigerian businesses by exporting their goods via its state-of-the-art hub in Dubai, into key markets such as the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Bahrain, among others with key anticipated commodities such as Kola Nuts, food and beverages, and urgent courier material. Emirates SkyCargo will also import vital goods such as pharmaceuticals and electronics as well as general cargo from key markets such as the UAE, India and Hong Kong. Keeping trade flowing seamlessly, these goods will be transported quickly, efficiently, and reliably via the airline’s multi-vertical specialized product portfolio. 

The Emirates Boeing 777-300ER serving Lagos will operate with 8 First Class suites, 42 Business Class seats, and 304 seats in Economy Class. Offering the best experience in the sky, passengers can dine on regionally inspired multi-course menus developed by a team of award-winning chefs complemented by a wide selection of premium beverages. Customers can tune in to over 6,500 channels of global entertainment, including 23 Nigerian movies, in addition to series and other content on ice, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system.

*All times are local.