What does it take to reach the top position in Britain's Corporate Sector? Are a good education and ambition enough to guarantee you a fast-track route? Or are luck and being "in the right place at the right time" contributory factors? Do Asians actively opt-out of the corporate sector preferring to "go it alone" as entrepreneurs? Or are we like "fleas in a jar", leaping only as high as our conditioned reflex will allow? These and many more issues were discussed by CRE chair Trevor Phillips who described the "snowy peaks" syndrome as a trend that characterises the private sector. He was speaking at an HSBC-sponsored evening, organised by the Policy Studies Institute, entitled 'Private Matter: Race & the Private Sector' on Tuesday 9 December at Canary Wharf in London.

The event follows publication of new statistics by the Runnymede Trust that show that only 1% of senior managers employed by the UK's top 100 companies are drawn from ethnic minorities. And yet 7% of the working population is made up of Britain's ethnic minority groups.

"Across the private sector we have what I call the 'snowy peaks syndrome' - a mountain represents an organisation's workforce. At the base you find large numbers of women and ethnic minority workers whereas at the summit you find a small amount of white, middle class men. The snowy peaks won't melt overnight, but if there is a real commitment to equal opportunities and fair employment practices from the top we can reverse this trend." (Trevor Phillips speaking at JPMorgan's leadership day 2003).

Claire Ighodaro, President of CIMA; Ian Barr of Astar Management Consultants; and David Turner, employment correspondent, Financial Times joined Mr Phillips to discuss career progression in the private sector in front of an invited audience of business leaders and policy-makers.

Trevor Phillips commented on the importance of the event and the need to engage with the business community: "This seminar is a good opportunity for us to help companies understand how a simple rethink of their HR policies can help decrease inequality and increase their bottom line."

"Britons of African Caribbean, Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage are less likely to be employed, more likely to earn less, and most likely to have a slow climb up the promotion ladder. This leads to a situation where the nation's boardrooms are populated with a vast expanse of snowy white linen reflecting the white faces around the table", he added.

"My theory is that a company that does the job on diversity also delivers well at the tills. We are not in the business of imposing more red tape on the private sector, rather we are here as willing partners to help organisations eradicate discrimination from the workplace."

Mr Phillips outlined many factors that are already compelling businesses in the private sector to address diversity issues. Factors such as the changing demographics requiring inward immigration to support business, "in London 19% of business owners are from ethnic minorities and anyone dealing in the business-to-business sector has to accept that they are now dealing with new businesses with new types of owners". The burgeoning commercial value of the ethnic market and opportunity costs were also seen are critical in persuading businesses to behave differently.

COMPULSION v. PERSUASION

"A lot of attention has been focussed, both in the private and public sector, in persuading businesses to change, but I wonder if this is going to be enough", Mr Phillips stated. "All the evidence shows that persuasion alone encourages 'input' but has negligible effect on 'output', otherwise we would be seeing many more ethnic minorities rising up the slopes and the snowy peaks would be melting."

He firmly believes that leadership and the demonstration that things can change are paramount, "The reason that this is so important is that you can change things at the bottom of the slope and some will see it, but if you change things at the top then everyone will see it and everybody understands what is possible and what needs to be done".

Although he stopped short of advocating legislation or positive selection in Senior Executive Recruitment, Mr Phillips pointed out that changes in the Public Sector do filter through to the Public/Private sector partnerships and eventually through to Britain's 1.1 million private sector businesses. "80% of the nation's workforce is in the private sector so the real change in employment practices needs to be in this arena".

ADVANCING RACE EQUALITY IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR

The CRE has commissioned the Policy Studies Institute to undertake a research project into the private sector to obtain a strategic baseline picture of key facts and issues in the sector, both mainstream and race equality related. The resultant project paper, due for publication by the end of the year, will set out the context, challenges and opportunities for the CRE in its work to advance race equality in this sector.

The research will draw together the existing statistical information and research evidence on the private sector in terms of labour market activity, rates of unemployment, economic growth areas as well as identify the key strategic players in the private sector. The emphasis of the research is around economic activity and employment. Using this information the research should identify the key race equality policy issues in the private sector.