EXCLUSIVE: Why ASOS wants to be more ‘accountable’ for D&I

While ethnicity pay gap reporting isn’t mandatory, some organisations have taken it upon themselves to reveal their data. And most recently, that includes online retailer ASOS.

Here, Reward Strategy caught up with Daisy Black, head of belonging and engagement at ASOS, to find out why she believes the business needs to be held accountable when it comes to diversity and inclusion (D&I) and the company’s plans to boost its ethnic minority female representation at leadership level.

Why was it important to ASOS to share its ethnicity pay gap data, even though it isn’t currently compulsory?
We believe that sharing our ethnicity pay gap data is an important step towards improving ethnic minority representation and building a truly inclusive culture. It’s not going to achieve that by itself, but we think that being open and honest about where we are as a business means that we can change things for the better, faster. We also think people should be able to measure our progress and hold us accountable.

Do you believe ethnicity pay gap reporting should be mandatory, like gender pay gap reporting?
We think people should be able to hold companies accountable on progress and we’d like to see more businesses take the step to publish their ethnicity pay gap data. Rather than waiting for legislation, businesses can help drive change faster, that’s what we’re aiming for.

Could this be the key to creating a truly inclusive and equal workforce?
This is a really important starting point but there are a lot of things that go into creating an inclusive and equal workforce. Simply publishing the data won’t drive inclusivity: taking action will. Over the past year, we’ve looked at every aspect of ASOS from the perspective of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) – from the brands we stock to our models to the DEI training and development opportunities we provide our people and have already started taking action in the areas that matter most. We won’t be able to achieve our goals overnight, but our efforts are being recognised and having a tangible impact.

What advice would you offer other businesses who are unsure of sharing their data?
Our data shows that we still have a long way to go, we’re not shying away from that. But we have a goal as a business to have a truly inclusive and diverse workforce and we think making this data public will help us achieve that and that’s what’s most important to us. We’d encourage every business who has that same ambition to consider sharing their data. It might feel uncomfortable, but we believe it’s ultimately the right thing to do.

Have you witnessed any positive changes within the culture at ASOS following the publishing of the data?
This is the first time we have published this data, but we’ve had a positive response from our people, who appreciate that we’re taking our goal to be a diverse team seriously by making this data public when we’re not required to.

What’s next for ASOS in its in diversity and inclusion drive?
Diversity, equity and inclusion is a key part of our business strategy. Through our Be Diverse goal within our Fashion with Integrity programme, we aim to reach over 15% ethnic minority representation across our combined leadership team by 2023, alongside 50% female representation, reflecting UK demographics.

Earlier this year, we launched Future Leaders, a 13-month development programme prioritising the 200+ ethnic minority women in mid-level roles across the business. 71 ASOSers are on the first cohort, with another cohort launching in January. We’re also recruiting more women into our technology departments, with the goal of more than 40% female representation in Engineering, Product and Science roles by 2030 (this figure stands at 28% currently). By 2025, ASOS will launch its Technical Skills Development Programme for Women in Engineering and Science to upskill women in these areas.

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