12:02 pm, January 7, 2022
Reverse mentoring for leaders and developing an ambassador programme are among the early recommendations by the Institute of the Motor Industry’s Diversity Task Force.
The task force, which comprises 55 members across three working groups, was established last April as a year-long project to find ways for the industry to increase its appeal to a more diverse workforce.
The groups have been looking at race and ethnicity, physical and non-visible disabilities, as well as gender identity, and nine months on, an interim report has been published.
IMI president Professor Jim Saker said: ‘Even before we started this project, we were aware that there was much that we did not know.
‘So identifying the gaps in knowledge was the first and most important task for our experts to undertake, and we are enormously grateful to everyone who has embraced this huge undertaking by getting involved, enabling the work to move at a faster pace than we dared hope.
‘The first nine months have challenged and energised our experts, highlighting many gaps in knowledge and demonstrating that small adjustments can bring about significant improvement.
‘Now, each working group has presented their initial findings as well as several proposals to improve diversity within the automotive industry.’
The full report and final recommendations will be presented ahead of the IMI’s dinner on March 17.
Other recommendations include benchmarking professional standards against cultural competency and expanding continual professional development activities that effectively support diversity and inclusion within the automotive sector.
