We spend a great deal of our time, quite rightly, focused on technology and navigating market shifts to stay competitive. But let’s be honest, the real engine of any business is its people. For all our talk on diversity, equity and inclusion, I find one crucial piece of the puzzle is frequently overlooked: social mobility.
This isn’t some new buzzword to add to the corporate lexicon; it’s a fundamental business principle. It’s about making sure that talent can rise, regardless of where it started. Are we creating pathways where someone’s background isn’t the key determinant of their professional future? For any organisation that wants to be genuinely resilient and future-fit, building social mobility into its strategy isn’t just a ‘nice-to-have’. It’s one of the shrewdest investments you can make.
So, why should this be high on your agenda?
We all want our workplaces to be alive with different ideas and perspectives. But that’s simply not possible if we’re fishing from the same small pond for talent. When we actively focus on social mobility, we’re forced to widen our recruitment lens and start discovering exceptional people we would have otherwise completely missed.
The evidence, and frankly my own experience, shows that people from less privileged backgrounds often bring incredible resilience, a different kind of creativity, and sheer grit to the table. These qualities aren’t just admirable; they are commercially valuable. A team built with a true mix of lived experiences isn’t just more interesting, it’s sharper, more innovative, and better at solving problems.
To overlook this talent pool is a massive own goal.
It Starts at the Top: The Role of Leadership
Like any meaningful cultural shift, this has to be driven from the very top. If we want to make genuine progress on social mobility, our leaders have to do more than just sign off on the policy. They need to live it. That means being open about their own journeys, including the challenges, and making it normal, even expected, to talk about different backgrounds and starting points.
Of course, this requires proper investment. We need to equip our leaders with the right tools, whether that’s through powerful unconscious bias training or coaching on how to build psychologically safe teams. Storytelling, particularly when anchored in personal experience, is an incredibly powerful tool that humanises the entire agenda and builds real empathy throughout the organisation.
This has nothing to do with ticking boxes for a report. It’s about building a genuine culture of excellence where people feel they belong and can do their best work, no matter their starting point in life.
Making it Count: Using Data to Drive Real Change
While empathy is vital for the culture, it’s data that will shape your actions. You can’t meaningfully improve social mobility without first getting a clear-eyed look at the socio-economic makeup of your own workforce.
You need to start by asking the right kinds of questions:
- What type of school did your employees attend?
- What did their parents do for a living?
- Were they ever eligible for free school meals?
These indicators help you build up a much richer picture. Remember, any data collection must have a clear purpose, be managed anonymously, and be explained with care and respect to your people.
Once you have a baseline, you can benchmark your progress against industry or national averages. When it’s used properly, this data becomes your guide for targeted interventions in recruitment, promotions and learning and development, showing you exactly where the systemic barriers are.
Rethinking Recruitment: How to Break Down Hidden Barriers
Too often, it’s our own processes that sabotage progress. Bias can creep in everywhere, from job descriptions filled with jargon to the informal networks that hiring managers rely on. These systems can, without anyone meaning for them to, shut the door on brilliant people who don’t fit a narrow, traditional mould.
To open up your hiring pathways, you should seriously consider:
- Questioning whether a degree is truly essential for every single role.
- Placing more value on transferable skills and lived experience, not just formal qualifications.
- Funding all your internships so they’re accessible to everyone, not just those who can afford to work for free.
- Building real partnerships with schools, colleges and community organisations in different regions.
Just to be clear, inclusive hiring is not about lowering your standards. It’s about being much smarter about how and where you recognise potential.
From Surviving to Thriving: Building a Culture that Sustains Talent
Getting people through the door is just the beginning. Real social mobility is about creating an environment where they can genuinely flourish, develop and eventually lead.
- Audit your progression pathways: Are there invisible glass ceilings that seem to disproportionately affect people from certain backgrounds? Be honest with the findings.
- Offer continuous, meaningful development: This means regular check-ins, tailored coaching, and proper access to senior mentors to help unlock that long-term potential.
- Celebrate different lived experiences: Actively create platforms for people to share their stories. When you showcase employees whose journeys embody your values of growth and determination, it sends a powerful message.
Your workplace culture is the soil in which performance grows. When people feel truly seen and supported, they deliver.
Your Next Move: This is a Strategic Advantage
Let’s stop thinking of social mobility as a side project for the HR department. It’s a core strategic tool for boosting growth, sparking innovation, and ensuring your organisation stays relevant for the long haul. The companies that get this right are positioning themselves as dynamic, thoughtful and genuinely great places to work.
As HR leaders, we need to champion this journey. It won’t be easy; it demands consistent effort, frank conversations, and the bravery to dismantle systems that are no longer fit for purpose. The reward, however, is immense: a workplace that truly reflects the rich diversity of our society and a business that thrives on authenticity, not conformity.
The future of work isn’t just about AI. It’s about people, and making sure every single person gets a fair chance to show what they can do.
Useful Resources to Get You Started
If you’re looking to take this further in your own organisation, these are some excellent starting points:
- Social Mobility Commission: Offers a fantastic Employers’ Toolkit with practical guidance.
- Social Mobility Foundation: Runs the Employer Index, which is great for benchmarking your progress.
- Sutton Trust: Provides in-depth research and proven programmes.
- Bridge Group: A brilliant consultancy for evidence-led advice on inclusion.
- World Economic Forum: Look up their Global Social Mobility Index for a wider perspective.
- Book: Diversify by June Sarpong: A very thoughtful and practical look at making inclusion a reality.
