Social Mobility Employer Index

The Social Mobility Employer Index is the leading authority on employer-led social mobility.

The 2021 Index is out now and available here.

The report features:

The Top 75 Employers for social mobility
Data and recommendations from our biggest-ever Employer Index with 203 employers represented
Insights from five years of analysing best practice

The Top 75 Employers for social mobility in 2021

About the Social Mobility Employer Index

Assess and monitor your organisation’s progress on social mobility

“Ensuring there are equal opportunities for people from all socioeconomic backgrounds to succeed in life will take continuous work from all employers, and it must be a collaborative effort. Through the data it collects and the individualised feedback provided to businesses who apply, the Employer Index helps get us closer to achieving that.”

Hollie Crompton, Social Mobility Lead, PwC

What is the Social Mobility Employer Index?

The Index is an annual benchmarking tool for organisations looking to understand how they are performing on social mobility and where they can improve.

The Social Mobility Foundation assesses the steps being taken to ensure that the employer is open to talent from all social backgrounds and every entrant receives bespoke feedback to improve their social mobility work.

The Index is free to enter and is open to all employers. It was created in 2017 and is now the leading authority on employer-led social mobility.

Why should my organisation enter?

Every entrant receives a tailored report outlining where they are performing well and offering recommendations for how to improve.
All organisations can opt to remain anonymous. Entering can simply be about evaluating how your organisation is performing.
Clients, employees and customers care about social mobility. Employer Index entrants have increasingly reported that workforce socioeconomic diversity matters. By taking part in the Index, you can demonstrate your commitment to diversity to your stakeholders.
Find the UK’s best talent. Social mobility is good for business. It ensures you reach a diverse pool of applicants and avoid ‘groupthink’. Taking part in the Index is a great way to find out if your recruitment approach is getting you the best available talent. We will help you reward potential, not polish.
Be a trailblazer in your sector. If we are to truly build inclusive and diverse workplaces, we need cross-sector prioritisation of social mobility. If you join the Index, others in your sector may follow and take action.

How do I enter?

Submissions open in March, though you can contact us at any time to review the current survey questions and request more information. Please email employerindex@socialmobility.org.uk.

To enter firms are required to submit answers to an online survey and supply data across seven areas, there is also an optional employee survey. Your organisation does not need to answer every section; however, your score will be affected if you do not. In your feedback report you will receive about all sections you did not enter to help guide you organisations approach to socioeconomic diversity.

How will I be assessed?

The seven areas we assess are: work with young people, routes into the employer, the attraction of staff, recruitment and selection, data collection, progression of staff and experienced hires and advocacy. The employee survey adds qualitative insights and contextualises the data provided in the employer submissions though it is not compulsory.

FAQs

Can any organisation enter?

Yes, the Index is open to organisations of all sizes in every sector.

Can organisations enter anonymously?

Yes, you can make an anonymous submission to the Index and we will only publish the Top 75 organisations. If you chose to enter anonymously but make it into the Top 75, we will contact to ask you if you would like to be published.

What is the Employee Survey?

The employee survey provides the context of internal culture to the data that employers supply.

Organisations can choose to send the survey of eight questions to their employees. We will then analyse the results and share them with you alongside a comparison to the national average of all participating employers.

Questions examine whether employees feel that their workplaces are inclusive of all social backgrounds. We also ask employees to anonymously self-identify their class background so that organisations can compare responses across different class groups.

It is not compulsory to use the Employee Survey. We do, however, reward organisations for their participation in the overall scoring.

Can I view a Word version of the Index questions?

Yes, once you have registered your interest in submitting to the Index, you will be able to download a Microsoft Word version of the questions from the online survey.

Is there guidance available on completing the Index?

Yes, organisations can download guidance notes from the online survey after registering your interest in entering the Index here.

If you have questions that are not covered in the guidance notes, please email.

2022 submissions

The 2021 Social Mobility Employer Index is available here.

Submissions to the 2022 Index will open next year. Interested in taking part? Sign-up to hear more information here.