dIVERSITY
With offices in over 21 countries and a strategic aim to
increase revenue generated outside the UK to two-thirds of the
total, we fundamentally believe that the mix of perspectives, ideas
and cultures, which our people bring to the business, is a great
asset.
Together we are stronger
Customer insight is key to our success and the diversity of our
people helps us to understand the differing needs and aspirations
of the people in our markets. It's only by drawing on the
creativity and opinions from the widest range of people that we can
be truly innovative and responsive to our audiences and
customers. In fact, we see diversity as not just a "nice to
do" - but a business imperative which will help us attain business
success.
Click on a section below to find out more information:
Respect is at the heart of our business
In our offices, we strive to create an environment in which
all talented people can give their best irrespective of their
background. Our recruitment, development and flexible practices all
aim to attract and retain the very best of talent.
Our diversity policy links directly to our strategic aims and to
our Values. One of our seven company Values is 'Respect' and this
is explicitly defined as our ability to 'respect and harness our
differences'. Put simply, at the heart of our Values is a
commitment to understanding other people's views, needs and
cultures.
Our action on diversity
The BBC has set targets for ensuring that diversity is reflected
on and off air, supported by a number of initiatives aimed at
promoting diversity in the workforce. In the short term, we are
striving to meet the targets set for us by the BBC and in some
cases have already met our targets for 2012.
However, we believe we need to go beyond numerical targets to
see real change and we need the active engagement of everyone. Our
aim is to:
- work with our leaders to ensure they are fully committed to
driving and integrating diversity across the business
- ensure our recruitment and retention practices enable us to
employ and retain the best talent
- provide opportunities for our staff to understand and engage
with diversity issues
There are three independently run staff networks for disabled,
lesbian and gay (BBC Pride) and black and Asian staff (BBAF) at the
BBC. Each offers a support network for members along with a
range of educational and social opportunities. In addition to
raising awareness of specific diversity issues, the networks are
also a valuable consultative resource for the organisation and for
programme and content makers.
Our diversity initiatives
We have pioneered several special initiatives to provide
opportunities for people from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds
to gain work experience and skills to help with their personal and
career development:
- Our own Connectivity Award scheme enables journalism students
with experience of working with ethnic backgrounds to receive a six
month paid placement to encourage diversity in our content.
- Career Academies UK is a registered
charity, governed by an Advisory Board of senior business leaders
and educationalists. The scheme leads and supports a national
movement of employers, schools and colleges, working to raise the
aspirations of 16 to 19-year-olds interested in a career in
business. Our involvement with Career Academies means we are able
to open our doors to students who might not otherwise have had the
opportunity to work at the BBC, and provide them with valuable
experiences which we hope will be a great asset to their
futures.
- Working with the Tomorrow's People
organisation, we are piloting sessions for young people not in
education, employment or training, to foster a positive
outlook and self-confidence.
Reaching out to global audiences
BBC Worldwide's Sales & Distribution
business is Europe's biggest distributor of TV programmes,
with a network of offices from Sao Paolo to Sydney, Toronto to
Tokyo. The business prides itself on recruiting local staff, who
can converse fluently with clients and who completely understand
local trends and viewing habits, ensuring that BBC Worldwide can
secure the best - and best-placed - deals for its content.
In the last two years, our Content & Production
business has opened its own office in India and entered into
partnerships with local producers in Argentina, Australia, Canada
and Russia. Each of these companies is staffed with local
talent who understand the local culture and television industry. In
so doing, BBC Worldwide is able to enhance its expertise in
international production, while also investing in the local
creative economy.
Our Channels
business has invested in a huge amount of consumer research around
the world. We have used a mixture of interviews, focus groups and
audience segmentations from Norway to Mexico and from South Africa
to Hong Kong. While there are naturally some similarities around
the world in people's viewing habits, there are also a plethora of
subtle differences that we try to reflect in our schedules and
programme choices.
Pioneering accessibility for consumers
We believe in providing as wide access as possible to our
DVD product, the majority of which is published by our
joint-venture company 2|entertain. In order to do
this, all new releases carry sub-titles. We have also pioneered the
inclusion of audio navigation features, which include talking
menus, and we have been highly praised by the RNIB (Royal National
Institute for the Blind) for our work in this area. We access the
BBC audio description files and include audio description where
possible.
