Last year a new landmark report was launched by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), aimed at changing the diversity of the people building the critical national infrastructure - as they have not always reflected the diversity of the people and communities who will ultimately use it.

The “Diversity and Inclusion in Construction Report” sets out a practical roadmap for construction firms of all sizes to put measures in place that will lead to a more inclusive and diverse workforce.  This report then led to the CIOB asking its 50,000 members in more than 100 countries to adopt a new charter.

Now the time has come, for the automotive sector to commit to follow suit. Sixteen of the UK automotive industry’s biggest brands have come together to launch the sector’s first Automotive Diversity & Inclusion (DE&I) Charter.

Representing a fifth of the sector’s manufacturing workforce, the founding signatories have committed to take action in eight key areas, all with the aim of accelerating progress across all aspects of DE&I within their own companies.

Types of pledges include:

• Appointing a board-level DE&I champion to lead change from the top
• Embedding DE&I policies into company values
• Improving recruitment practices to encourage diversity of applicants
• Supporting career opportunities and development for every employee
• Creating more flexible working environments
• Reporting diversity data and progress to the Automotive Council on an annual basis.

It should be noted that by signing the Charter, companies are publicly recognising that creating a diverse and inclusive workforce is not only ethically responsible, but it is also good for business. Benefits include increasing employee satisfaction, motivation and engagement, leading to greater productivity and retention; improving decision making and problem solving; fostering greater creativity from diverse perspectives; and making companies, and the wider sector, more attractive to top talent. This being especially important as the automotive industry faces its biggest technological and industrial transformation in more than a hundred years amid critical skills shortages - as highlighted in a previous article.

Eyes now look to which sector will be next to step up, remembering that a Diversity and Inclusion Charter seeks not to “blame” companies, but to support them to do better.