{"id":133347,"date":"2020-11-19T10:13:09","date_gmt":"2020-11-19T09:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/?p=133347"},"modified":"2020-11-19T10:53:08","modified_gmt":"2020-11-19T09:53:08","slug":"uk-black-comms-network-event-one-step-forward-two-steps-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/uk-black-comms-network-event-one-step-forward-two-steps-black\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Black Comms Network event: One Step Forward Two Steps Black"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last night\u2019s UK Black Comms Network<\/a> One Step Forward Two Steps Black event revealed new research finding that almost half (48%) of Black professionals have never received an internal promotion. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Moderated by the network\u2019s head of PR Addy Frederick, the panel discussing the research and what it means for the communications industry included Opinium Research\u2019s Susan Bello, Black Woman in HR\u2019s Adesse Okojie, Birchwood Knight\u2019s Seri Davies and COLDR\u2019s Kamiqua Pearce, founder and CEO of the UK Black Comms Network.<\/p>\n

\u2018We saw lots of companies speak out against racism this year, relating to the murder of George Floyd,\u2019 said Seri Davies when talking about the work that still needs to be done for PR and comms to be inclusive. \u2018Now the lights and cameras are away, what are you doing in your organisation to create an inclusive environment for everyone? A workplace where people feel safe to bring themselves and their opinions to work?\u2019<\/p>\n

In the first research of its kind for the PR industry, the report gathered data as well as one-to-one interviews with professionals working across the UK, across a mix of age groups and seniority levels, both agency and in-house level.<\/p>\n

Key figures include:
\n– 73% of communication professionals of Black heritage have received written or verbal praise
\n– 72% of communication professionals of Black heritage have not received a bonus
\n– 75% of communication professionals of Black heritage have not received a pay rise
\n– 79%of communication professionals of Black heritage have not received a promotion<\/p>\n

\u2018I haven\u2019t been promoted in five years despite receiving continuous verbal praise for my contributions,\u2019 answers one survey respondent. \u2018I am also every aware of who in the team has been promoted or who has roles created for them. None of them look like me.\u2019<\/p>\n

For what senior management, HR and recruitment teams need to do to break down their barriers keeping Black PR and comms professionals from promotion and leadership roles, organisations need to go further than tokenistic \u2018Hiring Black\u2019 and make real changes to company culture, believes Kamiqua Pearce.<\/p>\n

\u2018We all talk to each other; the Black community within PR is very small. We know what\u2019s going on. You\u2019ve got to be humble, honest and open. People are much more confident to ask what is in place.\u2019<\/p>\n

Seri saw the problems beginning right at the start of the hiring process: \u2018Recent PRCA research shows less than 1% in the industry are Black – that in itself is a barrier. There\u2019s likely to only be one Black person on shortlists. Sometimes feedback from interviewers can be \u2018this person was too nice\u2019 or \u2018they lacked gravitas\u2019 – a feeling that Black people can\u2019t hold senior roles because they don\u2019t look like people within the business, or their stakeholders.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018What needs to be transparent are those active measures that are being taken,\u2019 added Adesse Okojie. \u2018We need that change now, we need those black faces and voices at the table.\u2019<\/p>\n

Founded in July of this year, the UK Black Comms Network is now open for membership, with a mission to increase the number and seniority of PR professionals of African or Caribbean heritage in the UK PR and communications industry and the ambition of providing a space for professionals to make change in the industry. But with all the advice for fellow practitioners from the panel on pushing forward, the onus also remains on the industry and its existing power hierarchies to make change.<\/p>\n

\u2018This has been an interesting year,\u2019 said Kamiqua. \u2018More people are aware that racism is<\/em> a thing that happens. It\u2019s not going to be solved by hiring a chief of diversity. You might have created a culture you think is great, but someone could join and suddenly it\u2019s not a good place for Black people again. It needs to be baked into your overall inclusion plan so the commitment is year-round\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018We united in our challenges this year,\u2019 said Addy Frederick of the UK Black Comms Network\u2019s foundation. \u2018There is an opportunity here to be united in more positive things, so that more of us are here, and more of us stay in this industry\u2019.<\/p>\n

The UK Black Comms Network is now officially open for membership \u2013 find out more here on the website<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last night\u2019s UK Black Comms Network One Step Forward Two Steps Black event revealed that 48% of Black professionals have never received an internal promotion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":133359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7365,7272,3725],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133347"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/423"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133347"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133360,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133347\/revisions\/133360"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}