2. 2
1. Introduction
Developing our understanding of diversity in the City
Despite some progress being made over
the last few years, Diversity remains at
the top of the agenda for many City firms.
This year’s report looks at the importance
of diversity to a business, as well as the
effects of a more varied workforce.
The research for this report was
undertaken by online survey between
15th August and 23rd September 2014.
Requests to participate in the survey were
sent to more than 27,238 current and
former candidates and clients of Astbury
Marsden. A total of 1,046 responses were
received and analysed.
The information and data contained in
this report are for information purposes
only and are not intended, nor implied to
be a substitute for professional advice. In
no event will Astbury Marsden be liable
to you or any third party for any decision
made or action taken in reliance of the
results obtained through the use of the
information and/or data contained or
provided herein.
Please consider that the answers given are
based on the respondents interpretation of
the question and the response options.
If you have questions regarding the
survey, or the report please contact:
Adam Jackson
+44 (0)20 7065 1185
adam.jackson@astburymarsden.com
3. 3
2. Summaryof
Findings
What employees really perceive to be employers’ and
line managers’ commitment to diversity.
Diversity is consistently placed at the top of the boardroom agenda, but what is the opinion of
City employees? Do they believe diversity is as important as their employer does?
The short answer, is yes.
According to our research, over half of respondents believe that diversity is important, with less
than one third (30%) being indifferent. This enforces the view that a diverse workforce is an
essential consideration, not only for businesses, but also for their employees.
But why is it seen as important? How does a diverse workplace really affect the working
environment?
The
average
rating was
3.50
4. 4
According to our research, city staff
believe that a diverse workforce will
make their company more attractive as
an employer and will improve employee
motivation. Interestingly, however
they think it has no effect on corporate
productivity.
Despite these findings, this year, we have
seen a drop in employee’s perception
of both their employers and their line
manager’s commitment to tackling
diversity. Both employers and line
managers are still seen to be the most
committed to the issues of race and
gender. Disability and age are still further
down the priority list.
Other findings in the last 12 months
include:
• Employees earning over £160,000
place the most importance on a
diverse workforce.
• Those aged over 60 believe that the
diversity agenda is not important.
• Non Financial Services employees
consider their Employer and their line
manager to be more committed to
diversity than financial services and
management consulting employees.
• Compliance teams have the most
positive impression of employers
and line managers commitment to
diversity. Operations & Middle Office
and Administration staff sit at the
other end of the scale.
• Sales staff see the biggest gap between
the firm’s commitment to diversity
and that of line managers.
• There is little difference between the
sexes perception of their manager’s
commitment to the issue of diversity,
however, men believe their employer
is more committed than women.
• In line with the last two years, the
60+ age group, is the only group not
to consider gender diversity in the
top two priorities for employers and
managers.
• The biggest gaps between line
manager and employer perception
were within the 20 - 29 age group.
• Staff earning £80,000 - £100,000
salaries consider their employers to
be the most committed to diversity,
those earning £140,000 - £160,000
believe they are the least committed.
• Staff earning £160,000 plus showed
the highest levels of manager
commitment.
There is no doubt that diversity remains
a priority for clients and candidates.
However, respondents do not appear to
be able to confidently identify the tangible
business benefits of a successful diversity
policy.
5. 5
3. Importanceof
Diversity
How important do City staff really think diversity is?
All tables in this
section are graded
along a scale of 1 to
5. With 1 signifying
‘Not Important’ and
5 signifying ‘Very
Important
Function
Fig 3.2
HR employees most
strongly believe in the
importance of variety in
the workplace. Strategy
and Change staff also have
a positive opinion.
Sales and Distribution
sits at the other end of the
scale with an indifferent
view of the importance of
diversity.
Sector
Fig 3.1
When looking on a sector
level basis, we can see that
Management Consulting
employees see diversity as
marginally more important
than other sectors. There
is little difference between
the opinions of financial
services and non financial
services employees.
Sector Average
Financial Services 3.47
Non Financial Services 3.43
Management Consulting 3.64
AVERAGE 3.50
Function Average
Administration 3.33
Compliance 3.33
Finance 3.28
HR 3.94
Internal Audit 3.25
Operations & Middle Office 3.73
Revenue Generator 3.52
Risk & Governance 3.45
Sales & Distribution 3.00
Strategy & Change 3.83
Technology 3.38
Other 3.80
AVERAGE 3.50
6. 6
Joblevel
Fig 3.3
Gender
Fig 3.4
Age
Fig 3.5
Women believe diversity
is more important in the
workplace than men do.
This could be due to there
being fewer women in the
city than men and therefore
a greater focus for them on
the importance of diversity.
Respondents aged over 60
years old place the least
importance on diversity.
The age group 40 - 49
years places the most
importance.
When looking on a job
level basis, AVP staff most
strongly believe in the
importance of diversity.
Just one level above,
Managers have the lowest
opinion.
Job Level Average
Analyst/Executive 3.60
Associate/Manager 3.39
Associate Vice President 3.69
Manager 3.33
Vice President/Senior Manager 3.56
Director/Executive Director 3.60
Managing Director/Partner 3.46
Other 3.31
AVERAGE 3.50
Gender Average % of respondents
Female 3.77 28.6%
Male 3.40 71.4%
AVERAGE 3.50 100%
Age Average
20 - 29 3.61
30 - 39 3.46
40 - 49 3.65
50 - 59 3.38
60+ 2.40
AVERAGE 3.50
7. 7
Salary
Fig 3.7
People earning the highest
salaries (£160,000 plus)
place the most importance
on maintaining a diverse
workplace. Those earning
£120,000 - £140,000 and
those at the lowest salary
bracket; less than £40,000
believe diversity to be of the
least importance.
Race
Fig 3.8
Those of Bangladeshi origin,
place the most importance on
diversity, shortly followed by
Asian other (non Chinese),
Black Caribbean and Black
(other). These are all ethnic
minorities in the City, and
therefore could be seen
to value a more diverse
employer. Those of Mixed
Race and of White British
origin place the lowest
importance.
Ethnic group Average % of respondents
White British 3.37 43.9%
White Irish 3.35 4.2%
White (other) 3.46 20.9%
Mixed Race 3.22 2.3%
Black African 3.46 2.7%
Black Caribbean 4.00 0.4%
Black (other) 4.00 0.6%
Indian 3.84 12.1%
Pakistani 3.67 0.6%
Bangladeshi 4.50 0.6%
Chinese 3.68 5.0%
Asian other (Non Chinese) 4.10 2.3%
Other 4.10 2.5%
AVERAGE 3.50 1.7%
Salary Average
Less than £40,000 3.75
£40 - 60,000 3.54
£60 - 80,000 3.33
£80 - £100,000 3.62
£100 - £120,000 3.29
£120 - 140,000 3.24
£140 - 160,000 3.76
£160,000 plus 4.00
AVERAGE 3.50
8. 8
4. Commitment
toDiversity
Looking at employee perceptions of commitment to the
diversity agenda.
Sector
Fig 4.1
Commitment of Employer
Financial services employees believe their firms to be less committed to diversity programs than non-
financial services staff. On average, Management Consulting employers are marginally less committed.
When comparing to last year’s report, we can see that non financial services firms have seen the biggest
improvement in their commitment to disability diversity whereas Financial Services has seen the
biggest drop in commitment to the same area.
Barrier Financial Services
Non Financial
Services
Management
Consulting
AVERAGE
Race 3.78 3.80 3.88 3.80
Gender 3.76 3.64 3.84 3.76
Sexual Orientation 3.63 3.62 3.56 3.62
Disability 3.43 3.71 3.40 3.46
Religion 3.59 3.56 3.48 3.56
Age 3.46 3.62 3.08 3.41
AVERAGE 3.61 3.66 3.54 3.60
All tables in this
section are graded
along a scale of 1 to
5. With 1 signifying
‘Not Committed’ and
5 signifying ‘Very
committed’
9. 9
Commitment of Line Manager
Managers in non financial services firms were considered to be more committed to diversity than their non financial services and
management consulting counterparts. Compared to last year, financial services has seen a drop across all barriers, whereas non
financial services has seen an increase. The lowest commitment was found within management consulting for age and disability.
Barrier Financial Services Non Financial Services Management Consulting AVERAGE
Race 3.62 3.73 3.69 3.64
Gender 3.63 3.67 3.79 3.66
Sexual Orientation 3.48 3.58 3.49 3.49
Disability 3.48 3.60 3.32 3.46
Religion 3.59 3.58 3.42 3.56
Age 3.55 3.67 3.30 3.52
AVERAGE 3.56 3.64 3.50 3.56
Function
Fig 4.2 Commitment of Employer
Barrier
Administration
Compliance
Finance
HR
InternalAudit
Operations&
MiddleOffice
Revenue
Generator
Risk&
Governance
Sales&
Distribution
Strategy&
Change
Technology
Other
AVERAGE
Race 3.67 4.07 3.85 3.90 3.67 3.61 3.57 3.82 3.72 3.83 3.90 3.67 3.80
Gender 3.50 4.00 3.80 4.20 3.92 3.42 3.57 3.65 3.67 3.67 3.91 3.75 3.76
Sexual
Orientation
3.38 3.79 3.71 3.80 3.73 3.39 3.13 3.60 3.28 3.55 3.82 3.64 3.62
Disability 3.13 3.71 3.54 3.85 3.67 2.97 3.13 3.35 3.17 3.26 3.72 3.56 3.46
Religion 3.13 3.93 3.61 3.55 3.17 3.37 3.50 3.60 3.22 3.45 3.81 3.42 3.56
Age 3.22 4.00 3.39 3.40 3.42 2.97 3.13 3.65 3.17 3.21 3.57 3.47 3.41
AVERAGE 3.34 3.92 3.65 3.78 3.60 3.29 3.34 3.61 3.37 3.50 3.79 3.58 3.60
Compliance teams have the most positive opinion of their employer’s dedication to diversity. Operations
and middle office staff have the most negative opinion, most specifically within disability and age. When
looking at last year, all functions have a more negative opinion of employer’s commitment to diversity
except for Compliance and Revenue Generator staff.
10. 10
Commitment of Line Manager
Barrier
Administration
Compliance
Finance
HR
InternalAudit
Operations&
MiddleOffice
Revenue
Generator
Risk&
Governance
Sales&
Distribution
Strategy&
Change
Technology
Other
AVERAGE
Race 2.88 4.20 3.71 4.00 3.75 3.32 3.48 3.67 3.50 3.71 3.69 3.50 3.64
Gender 3.00 4.13 3.66 4.25 3.75 3.18 3.52 3.70 3.39 3.76 3.74 3.58 3.66
Sexual
Orientation
2.88 3.86 3.61 3.90 3.58 3.08 3.17 3.44 3.17 3.50 3.60 3.61 3.49
Disability 2.88 3.93 3.57 3.95 3.75 3.11 3.17 3.46 3.00 3.26 3.58 3.58 3.46
Religion 2.88 4.20 3.57 3.95 3.50 3.18 3.39 3.62 3.28 3.57 3.68 3.42 3.56
Age 3.11 4.07 3.55 3.95 3.67 3.08 3.05 3.63 3.22 3.45 3.64 3.47 3.52
AVERAGE 2.94 4.07 3.61 4.00 3.67 3.16 3.30 3.59 3.26 3.54 3.66 3.53 3.56
Compliance and HR teams see their line managers as the most devoted to diversity. Administration and Operations & Middle Office sit
at the other end of the scale.
When looking at last year, the biggest drop was for Administration staff who believe their line manages are no longer committed to
Race. A drop of 1.55 from 4.43 last year.
The largest negative shift in sentiment is in Sales & Distribution where the commitment of line managers to diversity is perceived to be
less than the commitment of the firms they work for.
All tables in this
section are graded
along a scale of 1 to
5. With 1 signifying
‘Not Committed’ and
5 signifying ‘Very
committed’
11. 11
Joblevel
Fig 4.3
Managing Director/Partner level staff believe the most strongly that their employer is committed
to diversity, in particular; race. Those at Associate/Manager level believe their manager is the least
committed to age diversity. Almost all levels had a drop in the level of commitment by an employer this
year, however, Managing Directors saw increases across all barriers, with a 0.41 increase in commitment
to religion this year.
Commitment of Employer
Barrier
Analyst/
Executive
Associate/
Manager
Associate
Vice
President
Manager
VP/
Senior
Manager
Director/
Executive
Director
Managing
Director/
Partner
Other AVERAGE
Race 3.77 3.57 3.74 3.68 3.96 3.84 4.00 3.91 3.80
Gender 3.79 3.57 3.84 3.78 3.85 3.69 3.86 3.69 3.76
Sexual
Orientation
3.70 3.39 3.77 3.47 3.77 3.57 3.71 3.59 3.62
Disability 3.46 3.37 3.48 3.37 3.61 3.35 3.64 3.41 3.46
Religion 3.59 3.35 3.68 3.53 3.63 3.53 3.86 3.55 3.56
Age 3.62 3.06 3.55 3.47 3.34 3.35 3.36 3.50 3.41
AVERAGE 3.65 3.38 3.68 3.55 3.69 3.56 3.74 3.61 3.60
Commitment of Line Manager
Barrier
Analyst/
Executive
Associate/
Manager
Associate
Vice
President
Manager
VP/
Senior
Manager
Director/
Executive
Director
Managing
Director/
Partner
Other AVERAGE
Race 3.59 3.57 3.77 3.57 3.76 3.51 3.93 3.66 3.64
Gender 3.56 3.53 3.74 3.65 3.88 3.43 4.14 3.55 3.66
Sexual
Orientation
3.51 3.22 3.68 3.35 3.66 3.37 3.79 3.59 3.49
Disability 3.48 3.39 3.52 3.36 3.59 3.31 3.64 3.53 3.46
Religion 3.63 3.40 3.77 3.47 3.61 3.41 3.86 3.59 3.56
Age 3.61 3.33 3.71 3.51 3.60 3.26 3.54 3.56 3.52
AVERAGE 3.56 3.41 3.70 3.48 3.68 3.38 3.82 3.58 3.56
Similarly to employers, Managing Director/Partner level staff perceive their line managers to have the highest commitment to
diversity. The lowest perception lies one level below at Director/Executive Director level. The greatest perception gap between the
employer and line manager is perceived by Director/Executive Director level staff.
12. 12
Gender
Fig 4.4
Males believe their employer to be more committed to
the diversity agenda than their female counterparts. The
sexes’ perceptions are most closely aligned in respect of
age and diverge the most widely on gender. This could be
due to the continued debate for gender equality.
Barrier Female Male AVERAGE
Race 3.62 3.86 3.79
Gender 3.45 3.88 3.76
Sexual Orientation 3.42 3.69 3.62
Disability 3.28 3.52 3.45
Religion 3.36 3.64 3.56
Age 3.39 3.42 3.41
AVERAGE 3.42 3.67 3.60
Commitment of Employer
Barrier Female Male AVERAGE
Race 3.64 3.64 3.64
Gender 3.64 3.66 3.66
Sexual Orientation 3.51 3.48 3.49
Disability 3.47 3.46 3.46
Religion 3.53 3.57 3.56
Age 3.59 3.48 3.51
AVERAGE 3.56 3.55 3.55
Commitment of Line Manager
Women believe that their manager is more committed to
all aspects of diversity, than their employer is. However,
men believe the opposite.
When looking at last year’s results, we can see that line
manager’s commitment to diversity has decreased across
all areas for both sexes.
All tables in this
section are graded
along a scale of 1 to
5. With 1 signifying
‘Not Committed’ and
5 signifying ‘Very
committed’
13. 13
Age
Fig 4.5
The age group that shows the highest level of belief in employer’s commitment to diversity is 40 - 49. The biggest changes over the
year were seen in the 60 plus age group. This group saw a shift from the most committed to sexual orientation in 2014, to the least
committed this year. Disability and age were the only areas that this age group felt their employer were more committed to this year.
For the third year running, the 60+ age group are still the only group not to consider gender diversity in the top two priorities for
employers.
Commitment of Employer
Commitment of Line Manager
Barrier 20 - 29 30 - 39 40 - 49 50 - 59 60+ AVERAGE
Race 3.77 3.73 3.81 4.02 3.60 3.80
Gender 3.82 3.69 3.85 3.76 3.40 3.76
Sexual Orientation 3.57 3.60 3.71 3.62 3.20 3.62
Disability 3.52 3.40 3.50 3.44 3.70 3.46
Religion 3.46 3.50 3.65 3.65 3.60 3.56
Age 3.34 3.36 3.50 3.39 3.70 3.41
AVERAGE 3.58 3.54 3.67 3.65 3.53 3.60
Barrier 20 - 29 30 - 39 40 - 49 50 - 59 60+ AVERAGE
Race 3.73 3.65 3.62 3.59 3.70 3.64
Gender 3.80 3.68 3.61 3.62 3.40 3.66
Sexual Orientation 3.45 3.52 3.55 3.39 3.00 3.49
Disability 3.51 3.52 3.40 3.36 3.80 3.46
Religion 3.69 3.56 3.52 3.47 3.80 3.56
Age 3.55 3.57 3.48 3.35 3.90 3.51
AVERAGE 3.62 3.58 3.53 3.46 3.60 3.55
In contrast, 20-29 year olds saw their line managers as more committed to diversity than any other age group. The 50 - 59 age group
displayed the lowest levels of line manager commitment.
The biggest gaps between line manager and employer perceptions were within the 50-59 age group.
14. 14
Salary
Fig 4.6
Staff earning £80,000 - £100,000 consider their employers to be the most committed to diversity,
particularly race. Employees earning £140,000 - £160,000 believed their employers to be the least
committed to diversity.
Commitment of Employer
Commitment of Line Manager
Barrier
Less than
£40,000
£40 - 60,000 £60 - 80,000 £80 - 100,000
£100 -
120,000
£120 -
140,000
£140 -
160,000
£160,000
plus
AVERAGE
Race 3.60 3.68 3.80 4.06 3.81 3.58 3.50 4.24 3.80
Gender 3.71 3.66 3.80 3.94 3.76 3.52 3.50 3.95 3.76
Sexual
Orientation
3.61 3.48 3.67 3.89 3.64 3.35 3.28 3.67 3.62
Disability 3.41 3.37 3.43 3.69 3.53 3.31 2.89 3.62 3.46
Religion 3.28 3.56 3.58 3.84 3.47 3.54 3.44 3.67 3.56
Age 3.52 3.32 3.41 3.68 3.24 3.27 3.44 3.48 3.41
AVERAGE 3.52 3.51 3.62 3.85 3.58 3.43 3.34 3.77 3.60
Barrier
Less than
£40,000
£40 - 60,000 £60 - 80,000 £80 - 100,000
£100 -
120,000
£120 -
140,000
£140 -
160,000
£160,000
plus
AVERAGE
Race 3.50 3.46 3.81 3.82 3.51 3.54 3.61 4.00 3.64
Gender 3.57 3.47 3.73 3.86 3.61 3.46 3.67 4.05 3.66
Sexual
Orientation
3.41 3.33 3.60 3.73 3.44 3.38 3.11 3.62 3.49
Disability 3.45 3.32 3.56 3.68 3.37 3.54 2.89 3.67 3.46
Religion 3.43 3.51 3.71 3.71 3.36 3.65 3.33 3.67 3.56
Age 3.57 3.38 3.59 3.75 3.27 3.42 3.72 3.68 3.52
AVERAGE 3.49 3.41 3.67 3.76 3.43 3.50 3.39 3.78 3.56
Staff earning £140,000 - £160,000 showed the lowest levels of manager commitment. Those earning the highest amounts
(£160,000+) have the highest perception of line manager’s commitment to diversity.
The biggest gap between employer and line managers’ commitment is for race. Those earning £100,000 - £120,000 believe their
employer is more committed to the issue of race, than their line managers.
15. 15
5. Theimpact
ofdiversity
So, if a more diverse workforce is implemented, what will
be the effect on a business?
When looking at the effects of a more diverse workplace, a majority of respondents in three categories
(staff retention, employee motivation and corporate productivity) feel having a diverse workforce
will have no effect. With regards to corporate productivity, over 50% of respondents fell that having a
diverse workforce will have either no effect or a negative effect.
Having said this, nearly 70% of respondents feel that having a diverse workforce has a positive, or
major positive effect on a firm’s attractiveness as an employer as it positively impacts problem solving
and driving innovation.
1
(Major
negative
effect)
2
3
(No effect)
4
5
(Major
positive
effect)
Average
Staff retention 1.0% 2.6% 42.4% 37.6% 16.4% 3.66
Employee motivation 1.2% 3.3% 45.4% 34.4% 15.7% 3.89
Attractiveness as an employer 1.0% 1.9% 27.2% 46.3% 23.6% 3.90
Corporate productivity 1.2% 4.1% 45.6% 34.6% 14.6% 3.57
Problem solving 1.0% 3.3% 36.8% 39.0% 20.0% 3.74
Driving innovation 0.9% 1.4% 35.1% 40.5% 22.0% 3.81
AVERAGE 1.0% 2.8% 38.7% 38.7% 18.7% 3.76
16. 16
AboutAstbury
Marsden
Astbury Marsden is an international recruitment firm
focussed on financial services, energy and professional
services.
We specialise in recruiting uniquely talented people in business technology, business
transformation, governance and specialist skills. We intimately understand the
dynamics of the financial services, energy and professional services markets; making
sure we know the people our clients need to occupy critical roles throughout their
business. We help clients determine the people they need and then we find the best
of them.
We have a global perspective and we are territory-neutral. We look for market
identifiers that we recognise, and apply our experience and intelligence to solve the
challenges they face. Our regional hubs established in London and Singapore allow
us to serve our clients across EMEA and throughout Asia.
You can find more out at www.astburymarsden.com
Singapore
Mark O’Reilly
65 Chulia Street,
OCBC Centre, #43-01,
Singapore 049513
+65 6709 5151
London
Adam Jackson
33 Cannon Street,
London
EC4M 5SB
+44 (0)20 7065 1222
