Embracing diversity and providing inclusive workplaces are vital for our continued success. This is also important for the plurality of our publishing lists.
Diversity is considered both in recruitment processes and in day-to-day processes. Diversity is not only about gender and age. We are also aiming to find talent from underrepresented groups. One way of reaching these groups is anonymous recruitment processes which are aimed to remove unconscious bias. This process has successfully been implemented by Bonnier Books UK and Bonnierförlagen. Over the coming years, some businesses are looking to open local hubs to better reflect the diversity of the markets they operate in.
All employees at Bonnier Books must be treated fairly and be offered equal opportunities. Salary reviews are conducted in line with local regulations in our markets and followed up by the businesses to minimise any pay inequity. Additionally, Bonnier Books UK discloses more in-depth information relating to its gender pay gap as part of its annual Diversity and Inclusion Plan.
The businesses also engage in local multi-stakeholder initiatives to strengthen their competency and develop relevant tools. For instance, WSOY joined Inklusiiv Community in 2021. The initiative gathers organisations which are aiming to build more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces.
Our vision is for our workforce and our publishing lists to be representative of society
What does diversity and inclusion mean for Bonnier Books UK?
Ultimately, our vision is for our workforce and our publishing lists to be representative of society. This is “the right thing to do” from a social perspective, but at the end of the day it is about building a modern, relevant publishing business that will thrive creatively and commercially for decades to come.
How will you realise this vision?
We have identified three key areas: recruit, retain and develop talent from all backgrounds and build a truly inclusive culture, where everybody can thrive; work hard to spread the love of reading and listening to books to all people; and broaden our talent pipeline, reaching out to the changemakers of tomorrow and persuading them to consider a career in our industry. These three areas all come together in our newly launched Diversity and Inclusion Plan.
Could you please tell us more about the Diversity and Inclusion Plan?
To achieve meaningful progress, we knew we had to be accountable and to be accountable we had to measure. Our first step was to commission research into our workforce, publishing list, recruitment pool, and gender pay gap. It was invaluable in helping us to identify our priorities as a business – these priorities then informed our action plan. One of the key findings of this research was that our recruitment pool broadly mirrors our workforce, demonstrating to us the need to be more pro-active in our approach.
As proud supporters of the BBC Creative Allies initiative, we are committed to creating positive change at Bonnier Books UK using the RIVERS six streams of inclusion. This is a toolkit that provides a route for creative sector organisations to recruit, develop and retain diverse talent.
The action plan has been put together with a long-term view – we know we will not achieve meaningful change overnight and that progress will not always be linear. We do not see diversity and inclusion as a level for competing with other publishers, and so we are committed to being open, transparent
and sharing our learnings along the way.
Perminder Mann
CEO Bonnier Books UK
Bonnier Books is owned by Bonnier Group.
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