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Why diversity matters for Regulator Councils

As regulator councils set the strategic direction for the organisation, it is important that the membership of those councils should reflect the wider public, their patients and their registrants. But this has not always been the case, so we and the regulators have been working together to drive more diversity among council members.

A lesser-known role we play at the PSA is advising the Privy Council about the appointment of candidates recommended as council members for the health regulators. Our role is to check the recruitment process used and assess whether it is fair, open and inclusive.

In the past, the potential of many capable individuals to become council members may have been missed; either because they assumed council membership was not for them; or limited advertising for the role meant it was not seen by a wider, more diverse range of possible recruits. Equally, regulators may have held fixed ideas about the seniority and experience required to fulfil a council member role that may have resulted in recruiting from a narrow field of candidates.

While we cannot influence the regulators’ decisions about who to recommend for appointment, we do encourage them to adopt strategies we believe will deliver the widest and fairest competition.

The approach regulators are taking to ensure that they increase the diversity of their councils and recommend candidates from the widest possible field has become increasingly sophisticated, challenging any lingering assumptions about potential candidates and panellists.

Requirements

Good planning is essential to attracting the most competitive field of candidates. 

Regulators’ selection criteria should be broad and avoid unnecessary requirements that may deter a wider field of candidates (such as younger candidates or those with busy careers or businesses).

The approach to EDI

  • As part of planning, an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) should be undertaken. We want to see an EIA that has:
    • Considered the outcomes of previous processes.
    • Learned from external research and best practice.
    • Assessed barriers to participation and produced an action plan to mitigate those barriers with tangible actions.
  • The methods used to deliver a diverse shortlist, such as the advertising and search for candidates, should be informed by the EIA and action plan. For example, we expect regulators to use a mix of specialist and generic jobsites when advertising roles and to use their stakeholder networks, including representative groups.
  • If the regulator uses search consultants, these should have a track record in delivering diverse longlists and operate with the same commitment to EDI as the regulator.
  • Regulators must be open to reasonable adjustments, asking for these proactively and individually of both long and shortlisted candidates.

The selection process

  • Selections should be made by a diverse and well-prepared panel of three to five individuals.
  • Panel members should receive guidance on the selection process and EDI training. This usually includes training on understanding unconscious bias.
  • We recommend anonymisation of candidate identities at least until the end of the longlisting stage to ensure early decisions are made on merit alone.
  • An effective complaints process for candidates is also important to ensure that any concerns of unfavourable treatment are promptly addressed.
  • An Independent Panel Member (IPM) with a high level of experience in appointments provides the PSA with assurance about the process, specifically:
    • How well EDI matters were managed.
    • How well the process was chaired.
    • If they can recommend the process as demonstrably fair.

Is the regulator approach to EDI in council appointments working?

Recent evidence shows that it is. Regulator councils and the candidates who are applying to become members are more diverse across protected characteristics. However, some regulators are having more success than others and we urge regulators to learn from the successful approaches adopted by their peers.

We are also seeing more regulator initiatives, like council apprentice or associate schemes, to develop candidates and get (usually) younger input into council business. The PSA runs such a scheme and recently welcomed our new Associate Board Member Ruth Ajayi.

One of the Councils whose method has impressed us is the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). We asked its Chief of Staff, Laura McClintock to tell us a little about their approach.


General Pharmaceutical Council case study

As the independent regulator for pharmacy in Great Britain, we want our workforce to reflect the diversity of the public we serve and the professions we regulate. It’s vital that our council members are drawn from the widest possible talent pools, bringing with them a diversity of life experiences, ideas and perspectives, to enhance our decision-making. This is a core part of our EDI strategy and one that frames our work in relation to appointments to our governing council. This is also something that’s promoted through the PSA's Good Practice in Making Council Appointments.

Greater board diversity is about diversity of thought and experience, as well as the legally protected characteristics. While we’ve seen significant progress on gender and ethnicity at the GPhC, we know we have more to do on other characteristics and different types of registrant roles. For example, we know that pharmacy technicians are still under-represented in senior leadership roles in the sector compared to pharmacists and we receive fewer applications from pharmacy technicians for council member roles. We’ve been engaging with stakeholders to identify collaborative ways to break down some of those barriers and promote more participation in future recruitment rounds.

What’s working for us?

Moving the dial on board diversity takes a dedicated and co-ordinated approach, with a genuine commitment from everyone involved in the process. This includes the staff involved in running the appointment processes, any external recruiters, members of selection panels and everyone involved in the oversight and scrutiny process. 

Here are some of the practical steps which have helped us progress in this area:

  • Developing bespoke Diversity Actions Plans for each appointment round, covering all aspects of the process from design, procurement, attraction, application, selection and interview.
  • Mapping the learnings from external insights and research and applying these systematically to our own processes, including reports on specific characteristics for recruitment support and assessing how this would be implemented in the campaign.
  • Strengthening the EDI requirements in our tender documentation for recruitment support and assessing how this would be implemented in the campaign.
  • Conducting a skills audit and reviewing the core competencies and selection criteria, to make sure they don’t create unnecessary barriers, with emphasis on skills, output and lived experience.
  • Designing dedicated communications campaigns, to reach the widest possible talent pools and refreshing this for each round.
  • Improving our candidate packs to make them more accessible and inclusive, and testing them with focus groups prior to the campaign.
  • Adding positive and purposeful messages about adjustments, remuneration and support, to help encourage applications from candidates with caring or childcare responsibilities, disabilities or other needs.
  • Creating videos or other content with existing council members to help demystify the process, including adding selection panel photographs to the candidate packs.
  • Increasing the diversity of the selection panel and briefing them fully on EDI expectations from the outset of the process.
  • Creating learning packs and guides for the selection panel on affinity and confirmation bias, with case studies and examples of what this looks like and what to avoid.
  • Agreeing interview questions that enable candidates to share their broader experiences and create space to share perspectives on inclusion and values.
  • Minimising risk of bias in the process – avoiding artificial or pre-determined limits for shortlists, creating clear scoring methodologies and making sure presentation/unstructured parts of assessments include the rigour of a scoring matrix.
  • Monitoring feedback from candidates and actively using this to shape future recruitment campaigns.

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Disclaimer

Please note the views expressed in these blogs are those of the individual bloggers and do not necessarily reflect those of the Professional Standards Authority.