Civil Service Live
Becoming number one
This content is written by the Civil Service News Team
We live in an increasingly diverse society and yet in the Civil Service, a respected forward thinking employer, Muslims are still under represented. How can this be redressed?
Gus O'Donnell has publicly committed to making the Civil Service the number one employer for Muslims in the UK. However, there is still some way to go; despite the high education levels of Muslim civil servants they are under represented in the Senior Civil Service (SCS).
Daniel Foster, chair of the Civil Service Islamic Society (CSIS) and Nazir Afzal from the Crown Prosecution Service think this needs to change.
Speaking freely
A 2006 Civil Service Islamic Society survey indicated that though a majority of Muslim civil servants felt largely happy with the Civil Service and that their beliefs were respected, there was a sense that other colleagues where ignorant of Islam and 30% felt unable to speak freely about Islam in the workplace. And something is dampening the ambitions of Muslim civil servants; despite 86 and 98 percent believing that the promotion and recruitment processes, respectively, were fair, 45% didn't expect to enter the Senior Civil Service within their careers.
As Nazir pointed out, '50% of Muslims are under 25 - a tremendous resource.'
“Not to give preferential treatment, of course, but to make Muslims feel that the Civil Service is an available option.“
Daniel Foster - CSIS
But what can we do to change the Service? Firstly, there needs to be a greater appreciation of Muslim needs - for example those of prayer and of washing prior to prayer. The CSIS say prayer rooms and wash facilities make a huge to difference to Muslim employees.
Reaching Further
The recruitment process also needs scrutiny. In such a diverse society much talent can go missed if recruitment processes don't reach out beyond the traditional places. For example, go to Islamic societies at universities to recruit for the Senior Civil Service, 'not to give preferential treatment, of course,' Daniel Foster said, 'but to make Muslims feel that the Civil Service is an available option.'
The CSIS would like Muslims to be actively encouraged to apply to Fast Stream and promotion boards. Mentoring schemes too can make a big difference - and give people the confidence to see possibilities where before they just saw barriers.
Reaching out by the Civil Service and through Muslim networks is key Nazir Afzal believes, 'There is the assumption that people will come to us. But people don't. People are quite fearful of authority.' Increasing understanding, encouraging ambitions and using networks must all go hand in hand to effect change.
Not taking steps to look after people in an organisation is bad for business, through sapping morale and deadening ideas. And by not recruiting widely in society, the talent pool is smaller, and many talented people are completely overlooked. And if an organisation isn't representative of the people in society then it will struggle to successfully represent that society.
Link:
Civil Service Islamic Society (CSIS)
www.civilserviceislamicsociety.org