Historically, local authorities were considered to be 'in the all clear' if they had robust updated policies and procedures, a mission statement, and a set of values which indicated their allegiance to equality, diversity and inclusion

However, these measures often became tokenistic gestures with no significant changes to the staff structures, attitudes and behaviours in the department/workplace. The key decision makers continued to focus on the apparent safety of interacting with colleagues who looked, dressed and behaved like them.

There is now an increasing recognition by decision makers that equal treatment, valuing diversity and equality of opportunity is necessary and vital: on moral/ethical grounds, as indicators of corporate social responsibility, and the need to adapt to the ongoing demographic changes.

The Equality Act 2010 allows organisations to treat one group more favourably if this is a proportionate way to help members of that group overcome a disadvantage or participate more fully. Within the Act, the term Positive Action refers to methods used to counteract the effects of past discrimination and the negative aspects of stereotyping – it’s not just about favouring some people over others, but is a way of helping employers encourage people from underrepresented groups to apply for jobs and promotions. 'Selection on merit' will still remain the overriding principle.

While implementing Positive Action does require sensitivity handling, it’s recognised that the benefits outweigh the difficulties (perceptions of preferential treatment, allocating budgets/time for new ventures etc.), and is now considered an effective process.

There are some good and effective examples of Positive Action schemes; mentoring schemes for Women and BME staff, staff network groups, job advertisements designed to reach members of underrepresented groups, to encourage applications through the use of community organisations and careers offices in areas where these groups are concentrated, recruitment and training schemes for school leavers and positive encouragement to employees from minority groups to apply for promotion opportunities.

Positive Action can be an important issue for councils due to the need of the public to be adequately represented by the key decision makers.

Sheffield City Council’s Positive Action Project Board has taken steps to improve its workforce profile, listing its three main ways to do so as Recruitment (encouraging more people from under-represented groups to apply for jobs and removing any barriers that may exist); Declaration (encouraging staff to declare their protected characteristics, e.g. race, disability, sexuality, etc.); and Progression (enabling people from under-represented groups to progress within the workforce).

A personal favourite story of Positive Action comes from the US National Football League (NFL). The NFL's aim was to increase the number of minority Head Coaches. Their innovative policy, called the Rooney Rule, mandated that NFL teams must interview minority candidates for Head Coach and other senior positions when vacancies arise, or else incur a substantial monetary fine.

While there has been criticism that the Rooney Rule is set as an example of tokenism or reverse discrimination, it is noted that prior to the Rooney Rule, the NFL hiring process remained static because the decision makers unwittingly held archaic biases concerning the intellectual ability of minority candidates to handle the high degree of organisational complexity. In 2009, four years after the Rooney Rule was introduced, the overall percentage of African American Head Coaches had risen from 6% to 22%.

Whilst staff and managers may be aware of discriminatory practices and unconscious biases, mere awareness is not enough to address the problem. Positive Action measures have proven to be effective because they oblige staff to cast a wider net and take careful account of potential high calibre candidates, those who may not necessarily have been considered in the loop of the 'recruitment, retention and progression' cycle.

Snéha Khilay is an equality and diversity expert.