Five years ago, when we created Hoxby, we had a mission: to help create a happier, more fulfilled society through a world of work without bias. Today, that mission is more pertinent than ever and we remain determined to make a positive, lasting impact. We know we have a responsibility, both to wider society and to our associates, to strive to become an inclusive organisation, one that is fully representative of the communities we live in. As part of that, we are committed to fighting racial discrimination at work, as well as creating a new system of work that eliminates bias altogether.
In November 2019, Hoxby became a signatory of the Race at Work Charter, created by Business in the Community, the membership organisation dedicated to responsible business. The charter supports companies and organisations who are tackling racially based disparities and set on improving race equality in the workplace. In signing the charter, Hoxby committed to being transparent in our actions as we work towards making our community more diverse.
We have appointed an executive sponsor for race – Huma Khan, People Director at Hoxby and part of our leadership team. We already have an anonymous curation process for all opportunities within Hoxby in order to eliminate bias, and are reviewing our application process to ensure that it’s explicitly open, fully impartial and accessible to everyone. We are also planning proactive steps to ensure that Hoxby is promoted to people from ethnic minority backgrounds. We have an active #voice_race safe-space channel within the Hoxby Slack community, as well as a public #theworkwithoutbias channel where all Hoxbies can engage in conversation about equality in all its forms.
Our mandatory diversity questionnaire has been completed by over 500 Hoxbies and, moving forward, we will set and monitor targets to increase racial diversity. At the same time, we will take action that supports ethnic minority involvement throughout our community.
We are dedicated to raising awareness of our Race at Work Charter principles throughout our community, as well as promoting opportunities to celebrate cultural and ethnic diversity (such as Black History Month and South Asian Heritage Month). We are developing a board-level explicit commitment to zero tolerance of harassment and bullying, which includes the introduction of a community code of practice to be signed by all Hoxbies.
Our journey is just beginning, and we certainly don’t claim to have all the answers. But we are listening, learning and taking stock. As we make long-term commitments towards positive change, we realise there is still plenty of hard work to do. We know we have to get this right. Not just by saying we will, but by taking action.
You can find further details on our mission. Please feel free to contact us at enquiries@hoxby.com to find out more about our Race at Work action plan or to discuss how we can collaborate to work towards creating a world of work without bias.
Lizzie & Alex