IMMEDIATE RELEASE: London, 4 March 2024: New study gives first look at FTSE 100’s religiously inclusive firms
London, Salesforce Tower: Today, the two most faith-and-belief-friendly workplaces in the U.K. — Baringa Partners LLP and Rolls-Royce plc — will be honored at the first annual Faith at Work Conference at London Salesforce Tower. They took highest marks in the first UK edition of the corporate Religious Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) Index and Monitor.
Both organisations have fully integrated religion (including non-theistic beliefs) as part of their commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). In doing so they have created workplaces where employees of all faiths and beliefs feel a sense of belonging, which is a benefit to retention, recruitment and ultimately revenue.
This inclusive environment related to religion and belief is facilitated by organisational communications, policies and programs. These include:
This inclusive environment related to religion and belief is facilitated by organisational communications, policies and programs. These include:
- – Featuring religion on the company’s main diversity pages
- – Sponsoring active faith and belief employee resource groups (ERGs)
- – Sharing best practices with other organistions
- – Addressing religion in diversity training
- – Providing access to spiritual care, including in the case of Rolls-Royce, chaplains
- – Being attentive to how religion impacts stakeholders
- – Accommodating the religious needs of employees
- – Having clear procedures for reporting discrimination
- – Encouraging employees to attend religious diversity professional conferences
- – Matching employee donations to religious organisations
- – Equitably celebrating or honoring holy days of employees
Joining Rolls-Royce on the top ten faith-friendly firms listed on the FTSE 100 are BT Group, Schroders, Whitbread, HSBC, Ocado Group, Phoenix, Anglo American, United Utilities and St. James Place, according to the REDI Monitor. Joining Baringa on the top firms on the UK REDI Index are Ovo Energy, NATS, Thames Water, and Rolls-Royce, which is the first FTSE 100 company to opt in to the REDI Index.
The number of UK companies opting in to the REDI Index survey increased by 150%, from two in 2023 to five in 2024. While newcomers Baringa and Rolls-Royce took the top spots in 2024, OVO Energy and NATS, which took the top spots in 2023, both showed progress, both substantially increasing their scores over the past year. Thames Water, a new participant this year, rounded out the top five companies on the UK REDI Index.
The 2024 UK REDI Index and this first-of-its-kind REDI Monitor study of companies on the FTSE 100 list seek to add to the understanding of how companies are including – or not including – a focus on religion in their overall commitments to diversity.
These top ten faith-and-belief-friendly companies from the FTSE 100 with top scores on the REDI Monitor and the five companies from the REDI Index will all be honored today at the inaugural UK Faith at Work conference, The Economics of Faith & Belief Inclusive Workplaces, held in Salesforce London Tower.
This conference is aimed at senior leaders across business and government to explore the research and best practice which links faith & belief friendly workplaces with greater employee wellbeing and improved organisational performance.
By gathering together leading employers from across the UK, in both the public and private sectors, we will explore how organisations that embrace a faith & belief inclusive culture can gain a competitive advantage in talent acquisition, retention and overall productivity.
REDI Monitor vs. Index
The FTSE 100 Corporate Religious Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) Monitor tracks the growing movement among companies on the FTSE 100 list that are including religion and belief as a core part of their diversity initiatives. RFBF staff analyse the main diversity pages of companies on the FTSE 100 list, coding up the ways their diversity commitments include – or do not include – religion and belief. This is the first year to monitor the FTSE 100. The US Fortune 100 has been annually monitored since 2020.
The REDI Index is an opt-in international benchmarking survey that companies use to benchmark their progress in (and be recognized for) including religion and belief as an integral part of their overall commitment to workplace diversity, equity and inclusion. It covers 11 topics, as shown at right.
Comparison with the Fortune 100
About 8-in-10 companies (79%) on the FTSE 100 make some reference to religion on their main diversity pages. Among the US Fortune 100 companies a slightly smaller share (73%) do so.
Both the FTSE 100 and the US Fortune 100 companies are much more likely than the overall US Fortune 500 companies to mention religion, with fewer than half (43.8%) of US Fortune 500 companies mentioning religion in 2023.
A clear indication of the degree to which religion is actively included as part of an organisation’s DEI priorities is whether the company has faith-based or interfaith employee resource groups (ERGs).
Indeed, while most FTSE 100 companies have one or more types of ERGs for race, abilities, gender, sexual orientation, and so forth, fewer have ERGs related to religion or belief. Among FTSE 100 companies, 12% have such ERGs. On this score, a larger share of US Fortune 100 companies (19%) have faith-related ERGs, according to our ongoing analysis of Fortune 100 diversity pages.
“These data, while showing progress, indicate that much more attention needs to be placed on including religion and belief as a DEI focus not only among companies on the FTSE 100 list, but in companies on both sides of the Atlantic,” said Brian Grim, the study’s lead researcher and president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation.
Organisations interested in participating in the US and global edition of the REDI Index have until 15th March to submit their surveys. Results will be announced on 21 May 2024 in Washington DC at the Annual Dare to Overcome Faith@Work National ERG Conference.
