Equality campaign for women falters

A CAMPAIGN to boost women's representation at work is in danger of foundering just over a year after its launch by John Major, as equal opportunity initiatives fall victim to the recession and employers' interest wanes.

Opportunity 2000 was set up to achieve a balance of men and women at all levels of employment by 2000, and encourages organisations to set their own targets for increasing women's participation.

However, employers who signed up initially to the campaign have failed to communicate its objectives to staff, and only a quarter of them have allocated a budget for achieving published goals.

The continuing difficulties in breaking down barriers to the recruitment and promotion of women into key posts is revealed in a report on the progress made by the first 61 organisations to join the campaign. These include Newspaper Publishing plc, publishers of the Independent.

Despite some pioneering initiatives on child care, maternity leave and assertiveness training, half the line managers interviewed could not cite any example of practical involvement by staff. A similar proportion said internal communication about the campaign had been ineffective or non-existent. 'There was one circular - then it went dead,' one senior manager said. In one organisation senior managers were given an campaign awareness video to show staff, but 'most did not bother' to do so, the report said.

'Top level commitment was judged to be crucial to the success of the campaign. When it was missing the lack of a clear, positive signal from the top was felt by Opportunity 2000 managers to be a major factor hindering their work.'

Most of those questioned complained that their organisations had not done enough to broadcast their commitment to equal opportunities to outside bodies and individuals. Half described their activities as 'reactive rather than proactive', and one manager admitted: 'We got more publicity than we deserved.'

A few organisations reported that their senior women were 'suspicious rather than supportive' and that some felt patronised. While three-quarters of the organisations surveyed had no specific budget for advancing the objectives of the campaign, most managers regarded the idea of earmarking funds for the purpose as 'an indication of the organisation's commitment. The major threat to Opportunity 2000 objectives is seen to be the recession, with a consequent squeeze on resources and down-sizing,' the report stated. 'Another frequently- voiced cause for concern is the ability of organisations and their chief executives to sustain interest and momentum for as long as it is necessary to achieve a real change in culture.'

Since its launch in October 1991, the number of Opportunity 2000 campaign members has grown to 150 and covers 5 million employees, or 23 per cent of the United Kingdom workforce.

Andreas Whittam Smith, editor of the Independent and chief executive of Newspaper Publishing plc, said he was pleased to be involved in the scheme but always realised that its objectives would take a long time to achieve.

In her foreword to the report, Lady Howe, chairman of the BOC Foundation and a founder of the campaign, wrote that 'renewed efforts need to be made to involve divisions, departments and particularly line managers in goal setting, and to publicise more widely measures of success'.

Opportunity 2000: First Year Report; Opportunity 2000 Campaign Office, 5 Cleveland Place, London SW1Y 6JT; pounds 12.50.