Linklaters is piloting a talent development programme to support BAME staff in progressing their careers and to help the law firm understand and overcome any barriers to advancement.
The nine-month programme will use behavioural sciences to increase engagement and empowerment through a series of workshops, coaching sessions and online resources.
As part of Linklaters’ Diversity & Inclusion efforts, the programme is designed to help identify how differences can be harnessed to drive transformational inclusive culture change. It has been developed with Dr Doyin Atewologun from Delta Alpha Psi, a leadership and diversity consultancy.
The programme brings together participants with their line managers and partners, enabling dialogue across demographic differences. It also seeks to offer managers “a chance to improve their race fluency, race confidence and race thinking, helping to support career development and drive culture change.
Charlie Jacobs, senior partner at Linklaters and sponsor of the programme, said: “We’re taking an approach that is possibly unusual for our sector. Talking about race or ethnicity or personal backgrounds is something that a lot of people don’t find easy to do. But we’ve seen that opening up these conversations has given us a real insight. It’s allowed us to understand where we’ve come from, what drives us and how we do certain things could hold some people back.”
The programme will run until June 2019. Fourteen lawyers and five members of Linklaters’ business teams have been selected to take part from five offices.
Linklaters has been commended with various awards and recognition, including being named a best employer for race 2018 by the Prince’s Responsible Business Network.