Corporate report

Action plan 2020 to 2022

Updated 13 November 2024

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2020 to 2024 describes how equality, diversity and inclusion are essential to the way that we operate, both as the UK’s competition authority and as an employer. As a competition authority, we have a duty to further the interests of citizens and consumers. We need staff from diverse backgrounds to help ensure we make sound decisions that are representative of the different perspectives within society. We also seek to positively influence the approach of the stakeholders we work with, where we can.

As an employer, we remain committed to promoting equality and diversity amongst our workforce. We take steps to ensure we are a great employer that values and welcomes the different ideas, skills, behaviours and experiences of our colleagues. We also aim to foster a culture that promotes wellbeing and mental health and provides support so all our colleagues can thrive.

We are mindful there isn’t anyone in the UK that hasn’t been impacted by Coronavirus (COVID-19). It has caused severe disruption and anxiety and our response to these unprecedented circumstances has meant that we’ve all had to adjust to different ways of working and living, whilst prioritising the vital business of the CMA. We’ll take time to reflect on the impact of the pandemic on our ambitions and when framing our remedies and interventions as a competition and consumer protection authority.

In order to deliver our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2020 to 2024, we have developed this detailed 2-year action plan. Our action plan will give us flexibility and agility to adapt our approach if required to meet our longer-term strategic Equality Objectives. This will ensure that initiatives are fully and effectively embedded, our people are engaged and the impact is clearly measured.

Each year, under the ‘umbrella’ of the 2-year plan, we will also have a rotating focus on a particular priority area. The immediate priority area for 2020 to 2021 is to deliver an ambitious programme focused on initiatives to support and champion our ethnic minority colleagues and improve ethnic diversity at senior leadership level. Working in partnership with our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group and Race Network, our Board and Executive have fully endorsed the CMA’s first dedicated Race Action Plan.

Supporting and overlapping with the work programme intended to achieve our equality objectives, the CMA’s Corporate Action Plan (CAP) 2020 to 2022 will focus on 3 key themes in response to the 2019 staff survey.

These themes are:

1. Career progression
2. Respect
3. Health and wellbeing with resilience

Our equality objectives

Under the Equality Act 2010, we have a legal duty as a public body to have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity, eliminate unlawful discrimination and foster good relations between key equality strands.

These include:

• age
• disability
• sex
• race
• religion or belief
• sexual orientation
• gender reassignment
• pregnancy and maternity

We are determined to do more than just meet our statutory obligations. We promote equal opportunities and we respect and acknowledge the diversity of staff who work within the organisation, and the consumers and other stakeholders that are part of the wider community we work with. Building upon the work we have already done with our staff and key Networks including Carers, Race, Rainbow and Women’s, our renewed objectives outline what we hope to achieve in the next 4 years, building upon our successes and lessons learned. 

Our Networks provide valuable challenge and resources to help drive our strategy and action plan forward and we are committed to supporting staff in volunteering to play an active role as part of their corporate contribution. 

Our 3 Equality Objectives as outlined within our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2020 to 2024 are:

1. Building a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects and understands the public we serve.
2. Ensuring all colleagues are valued and can contribute to our success.
3. Empowering and enabling all colleagues to thrive and prosper.

Building a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects and understands the public we serve

We seek to build a truly diverse and inclusive organisation that reflects the wider UK population and consumers we serve. Diversity brings different insights, creates challenge and encourages change and innovation.

Diversity has many facets including those protected characteristics as defined by equality legislation, but also encapsulates differing educational backgrounds, personality types, skills, cultural references and experiences.

In the past year, we’ve implemented a number of initiatives to embed our commitment to diversity. We’ve established diverse interview panels for senior roles to provide different perspectives and help to break down some of the barriers to progression for those from under-represented groups. We’ve taken part in the Stonewall WEI Index, benchmarking our LGBT+ inclusivity and reviewed our use of social media and outreach work to better showcase our diverse organisation through ‘employee testimonials’. We’ve engaged with other organisations, regulators and networks to share best practice and identify initiatives that have had the biggest impact elsewhere. However, we recognise that we still have a way to improve diversity within our leadership population, and particular improve BAME representation within our SCS population.

Over the next 2 years we will strive to be a more inclusive organisation where every single member of staff is heard, respected, valued, and feels comfortable being themselves.

Action Plan 2020 to 2022

Get closer to the consumer by embarking on a programme of engagement with consumer bodies, charities and the local community, to better understand the issues facing vulnerable consumers and to raise awareness of the work we do (Q2, 2020 to 2021 onwards).

Make smarter use of recruitment diversity data to understand and address the potential barriers applicants may face (Q4, 2020 to 2021).

Improve our declaration rates both through internal processes and for the staff survey so that we can better report and understand issues affected by particular groups (Q3, 2020 to 2021).

Improve the diversity of our SCS leadership population (Q4, 2020 to 2021).

Learn from other organisations about their successful approaches which we can use to improve our own diversity and inclusion practices (Q3, 2020 to 2021).

Improve our onboarding process by making clearer the role of our networks (Q2, 2020 to 2021).

Ensuring all our colleagues are valued

We strive to embed a culture where all our staff are appreciated, can contribute and be themselves. We want to welcome and value the unique ideas, skills, behaviours and experiences that our colleagues bring to work because this leads to a more engaged workforce who will make better decisions.

In the past year we have continued to deliver a wide range of programmes highlighting this ambition. We have established our Wellbeing, Inclusion, Diversity and Equality (WIDE) Steering Group to drive strategic direction of our activities and hold us to account on our progress. WIDE establishes a direct route to and from the Board to ensure all voices are heard. Our ‘Distinguished Speaker Series’ has seen us welcome a diverse range of business leaders sharing their stories and our ‘Tea and Talks’ have shared the lived-in experiences of our colleagues; including hearing impairment, hidden disability and different thinking, communicating and leading styles. We’ve promoted flexible working practices through the launch of new guidance and workshops for all colleagues and managers. We’ll learn lessons from our response to COVID-19 and use it as an opportunity to test and refine how we work more flexibly and inclusively in the future.

Over the next 2 years we will strive to be a more inclusive organisation where every single member of staff is heard, respected, valued, and feels comfortable being themselves.

Action Plan 2020 to 2022

Participate in the Cabinet Office Coronavirus (COVID-19) pulse survey to help us understand how we’ve been affected as an organisation, as teams and as individuals, how our daily work has changed since working from home, and how supported staff feel by their managers and senior leaders (Q1 to Q2, 2020 to 2021).

Develop a package of measures and steps to be more inclusive and confirm our organisational commitment to career progression and inclusion, better understand natural biases and build strong relationships with people from other cultures (Q3, 2020 to 2021).

Improve our LGBT+ inclusivity building on the work already being done, learning lessons from our first WEI Index submission and improving our ranking for 2022 (ongoing).

Ensure our commitment to inclusion is clear to all by celebrating achievements, social collaboration and raising the visibility of our networks (ongoing).

Continue to develop the analysis of our equality data on distribution of end of year performance markings and in year staff recognition awards so as to understand our progress in meeting our equality commitments.

Empowering and enabling all colleagues to thrive

We are committed to developing a pipeline of diverse talent for succession and ensuring all colleagues can progress in their careers, in the CMA and beyond. We will continue fostering a working culture that recognises and reflects the importance of good mental health, wellbeing and work-life balance, including recognising the particular needs of our staff with caring responsibilities. We’ll work hard to learn lessons from our response to Covid-19 around working in a more agile way, empowering people to be the best version of themselves, obtain the best out of their life and do the best for our stakeholders.

Our Mental Health at Work action plan outlines our concerted efforts to raise mental health awareness across the CMA; providing all with the knowledge, tools and confidence, to understand and look after our own mental health and the mental health of those around us. In the past year we have delivered an impactful Wellbeing Confident Leaders programme empowering managers to better understand and support wellbeing and mental health. Our Mutual Mentoring pilot will provide an opportunity for senior colleagues to be exposed to the barriers that under-represented colleagues may face and help support their development, confidence and aspirations.

Over the next 2 years, we will develop our programmes further so more colleagues can benefit. We will take a holistic view of diversity that looks beyond usual measurements by considering how colleagues with different ways of thinking and working can thrive. We will help staff link their career ambitions with their life goals at different stages in their careers and lives.

Action plan 2020 to 2022

Continue to support our diverse talent through considering the most appropriate working arrangements for them, including promoting flexible working, career conversations, 1-2-1 coaching, promotion of development programmes, equity in allocation of projects and senior sponsorship (ongoing).

Achieve greater depth of understanding and insight around our people and our business by rolling out our Mutual Mentoring pilot to help us appreciate the motivators and barriers faced by those aspiring to SCS (Q1, 2020 to 2021), full programme roll out with learnings from pilot (Q3, 2020 to 2021).

Promote a culture of respectful behaviours, wellbeing in our work and workplaces to create an environment where everyone can thrive. Encourage open conversations about wellbeing and mental health (ongoing).

Understand and embrace different ways of contributing, working and thinking styles by engaging with staff to explore inclusive project allocation, evaluation of performance and promotion. Identify outputs to address these issues (ongoing).

Sign up to the Mental Health at Work Commitment (Q1, 2020 to 2021).