Carney and Bank of England executives get diversity training

• Radhakrishna N S
• 17 May, 2019

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By: Radhakrishna N S

THE Bank of England (BoE) governor, Mark Carney, and other top bosses have attended multiple training sessions as the bank steps up efforts to boost diversity in its workplace.

Carney was among the 180 top employees who went through the sessions to tackle unconscious biases which may affect their decisions in the workplace.

The BoE and the Treasury have faced criticism following failure to show progress in diversity in the workplace even as the bank is trying to raise the number of women and ethnic minorities among its staff and senior level management.

The top executives took part in activities to recall and apply their new knowledge in official meetings.

Joanna Place, the BoE Deputy Governor and chief operating officer, in a speech to the Women of the Square Mile conference said: “Inclusive leadership is integral in achieving the culture we want within the Bank. This is why we have sought to develop our senior leadership through sessions in inclusive leadership behaviours this year and are following this up with a programme of practical ‘nudges’ that remind leaders of the session and what they can do differently in everyday behaviours.”

Place was quoted by the Telegraph: “In 2018 we extended the use of anonymous recruitment (previously used for our early careers programmes) to all of our recruitment processes. This means that when hiring managers sift they do not see the candidate’s name, age or personal information. This ensures the process is unbiased and more objective as it is only focused on information relevant to the vacancy.”

Since 2013, the proportion of the female staff members in the top positions at the BoE has moved up from 17 per cent to 31 per cent, while the proportion below senior levels is up to 46 per cent.

The BoE aims to raise the proportion of women at the top level to 35 per cent and below the senior level to 50 per cent by 2020.

For black and ethnic minority (BAME) staff members the proportions are 19 per cent at lower levels and 5 per cent in senior management, below the 20 per cent and 13 per cent targets.