Interview: Karen Blackett, WPP UK boss and Government advisor, on how companies can tackle racism

Bosses need to help black and minority ethnic people progress in their careers to boost Britain’s apocalyptic GDP, a leading Government advisor and the boss of WPP UK has argued.

Karen Blackett, who runs the British arm of the ads giant and is a non-executive director to the Cabinet Office, said the Black Lives Matter movement’s resurgence was shifting perceptions but companies need to act now to overhaul cultures.

Blackett told the Standard: “What’s really evident especially with the ripple effects of Black Lives Matter is that systemic racism still exists.”

Former Mitie boss Baroness Ruby McGregor Smith found in a 2017 government report that helping black and minority ethnic people to progress in their careers at the same rate as their white counterparts could add £24 billion to the UK economy each year. “Given we’ve seen a 20% fall in GDP for April we could do with everything single bit of help to boost the economy.”

On the death of George Floyd, which sparked global protests against racism, she said: “As a black woman in the UK with a black 10-year-old son, I felt like I was grieving. I’m a child of the Seventies so I remember the Brixton Riots, the Toxteth riots, Moss Side riots when I was that age. That hornets’ nest was stirred. And now we’re in 2020 and not much has changed. There’s still that feeling of frustration.

“This is not the first time we’ve seen a black man killed on video but this time it feels like more people are paying attention, we’re all in lockdown and consuming more media and the story has changed. I’m seeing more empathy being shown towards each other and people asking ‘how can I help?’”

Blackett was made race equality business champion by former Prime Minister Theresa May’s and helped to devise the Race at Work Charter. The charter calls on firms to have an executive level sponsor for race, collect ethnicity data of staff, commit to zero tolerance of harassment and bullying, make clear managers are tasked with improving equality and help career progression through actions like reverse mentoring.

She also believes bosses should take action including: appointing an ethnic minority person to “every single decision board”, and sponsoring an ethnic minority employee to help their career and understand their difficulties and attend events to discuss race. “I know we can be British and we do not want to say the wrong thing or offend but we need to talk about it,” she said. WPP has begun holding company-wide calls in “safe rooms” where employees can talk openly – one saw 2000 employees attend.

Blackett also advocates for “ally training”, where employees are encouraged to stand up for fellow employees when they witness comments being made related to race. “It’s a bit like a mosquito bite – one is annoying but when there’s lot they add up and your arm swells up and it’s painful. Allowing allies to recognise that behaviour and call it out, rather than leaving it to the victim is important.”

Blackett argues that recruitment targets to improve the number of BAME employees in an organisation should be set over three to five year periods. “Otherwise you can hit targets for hiring people easily but it’s no use if they churn straight out of the back door.”