So, you got a good job, your career has blossomed, and your work life balance is great. Congratulations – you’ve worked hard and deserve it!
Or maybe you were just lucky?
We all want to believe that people get what they deserve, and that merit plays a significant role in deciding where people end up, much more than external factors that people can’t control. Most people believe that hard work is central to whether or not they will be successful. Luck on the other hand is perceived as much less important, and with hindsight, we often overlook the role that chance has played. It justifies those that ‘make it’s’ worth and story – but still they were probably lucky.
Luck is not distributed evenly. Not everyone has equal opportunities and as some doors open, life chances can close for others at the same time.
Despite its vibrancy and economic growth Greater Manchester is still burdened by stark inequalities across many aspects of daily life and the inequities apparent in our workplaces call for positive action. On all labour market indicators, there is considerable variation across the city-region. For people from minority ethnic groups in Greater Manchester, employment rates are over ten percentage points below the overall working-age employment rate, six percentage points below the national average, and with significant variance by locality. Only half of Greater Manchester working-age residents with a disability are in employment, lagging the England average, and 25 percentage points below the employment rate for the city-region’s working-age population as a whole.
This is why the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter has sought support from all Greater Manchester’s Equality Panels to help frame the employment issues that matter most to ensure that everyone across the city region can enjoy the same opportunities to access good work and develop and progress to their full potential. We are extremely grateful to all the panel members and their supporters for the enthusiastic way they have engaged to help make this year’s Good Employment Week so focused on seeking solutions to some seriously persistent and intransient issues.
Life is joined up so our approach to addressing equality in the workplace must also be integrated and intersectional. Focussing on one element, whilst of huge singular importance, will blind us to the subtleties of the linking shades of the more complex bigger picture. The Charter is determined to make a difference to workplace inequality across all domains and to establish mechanisms that lead to tangible impact particularly in terms of recruitment and progression.
This is why, for this year’s Good Employment Week, we have developed a game of online snakes and ladders – the ‘Game of Work’ – where a roll of the dice can demonstrate that small bits of luck can make or break your work experience and more importantly raise awareness that fair work practices will lead to happier and more productive employees.
There are so many good employers in the Charter movement who work daily on these issues to root out the prejudice and discrimination that can disguise itself as ‘luck’. With their help and example, we can transform the chances for all, so no matter your race, gender, disability, sexuality, faith or age you can enjoy the same opportunities to access good work, develop and progress.
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