--- title: Hi , The Myth of Merit --- This week’s announcement that law firm Simmons + Simmons is setting targets to significantly increase the number employees from lower socio-economic backgrounds... | View in browser Hello there and welcome back to On Balance, our fortnightly round-up of news, views and research around the issue of diversity, equity and inclusion. This issue is guest-authored by Michelle Weston, CRO and Executive Coach at the Executive Coaching Consultancy.  The Myth of Merit   This week’s announcement that law firm Simmons + Simmons is setting targets to significantly increase the number of employees from lower socio-economic backgrounds in every part of the organisation by 2029 provides a timely reminder that, in some quarters at least, ambition and good sense about what it takes to attract the most talented people remain alive.   The idea that talent rises to the top is comforting — but misleading.   Flying under the radar since the beginning of the year, a steady trickle of studies has provided evidence which proves this important point.   In medicine, The Sutton Trust found that 75% of medical school entrants come from higher socioeconomic backgrounds, while only 5% are working-class. In the top 50 Arts Council-funded organisations, 30% of leaders and artistic directors were privately educated. In law, new figures from the Solicitors Regulation Authority showed that 70% of lawyers come from higher socioeconomic backgrounds.   Does this mean they’re inherently better? No.This means that talented people are locked out: just 10% of people from working-class backgrounds make it into higher managerial and cultural occupations.   The cost of an unbalanced talent pool to business is real.   A study from the Equality Trust shows that lack of socioeconomic mobility affects productivity, innovation, and long-term business success. It estimates the cost to the UK economy at £106bn each year.   Clinging to the “myth of merit” means that organisations that fail to tap into a broad talent pool are not just limiting opportunity but also undermining their own competitive edge.   It’s a strategy which is as effective as lining up for a marathon and expecting to win when wearing a battered old pair of trainers with the laces tied together.   To move beyond the myth of merit and recruit from diverse socioeconomic talent pools, action is required on two fronts.   Attraction - getting people into an organisation - is critical. Simmons + Simmons, like many of its peers, rightly understands that what happens outside of an organisation through the networks, programmes and outreach to underrepresented groups plays a vital role in helping people set ambitions for the profession which may otherwise be put aside.   Equally critical is a focus on progression. A study by KPMG found that employees from lower socioeconomic backgrounds took 19% longer to progress in the firm than their peers.   Improving progression requires an understanding and action on the roadblocks—the hidden curriculum, senior sponsorship, capital stock, imposter syndrome—that prevent talent from reaching its full potential.   How likely are organisations at large to take this type of action on this important issue?   According to the findings of a recent study in the American Journal of Sociology: not very.   It found that high earners live in worlds which are so separated from lower earners they are increasingly detached from the social and economic issues they face.   And where leaders exist in a world shaped by privilege, the need for structural change is invisible to them, or, as the recent DEI rollbacks illustrate, an inconvenience, like a stone in their shoe, which for greater comfort can be discarded.   The leaders in this mould are serving their organisations poorly. Backing talent is backing success. Proactively looking for people who can serve a business and its customers well in the future isn’t about taking a moral stand but a commercial one, ensuring their talent pool is as rich and capable as possible.   Companies that ignore this reality are not being neutral; they are choosing inefficiency and missed opportunities.   In the week that the FTSE Women Leaders review found the number of women in board positions in FTSE companies had reached 43% in 2025, up from 25% ten years ago, it is clear that strategic intent matched by concerted action can make a difference to talent progression.   Those who apply the same approach of setting targets and effecting change within their organisations - both in systems and culture - are the ones who find themselves at the front of the competitive race in the future.   Michelle Weston Guest Author \| CRO and Executive Coach at ECC The broken management pipeline Gen Z turns its back on the corporate ladder – Financial Times The CEOs joining Trumps anti-DEI fight are making a mistake Alienating the workforces that bosses rely on will backfire – The Guardian The irony of the DEI backlash The consequences of abandoning public commitments – The Spectator Charting a new route for DEI against the backlash Research from Iris Bohnet and Siri Chilazi - Financial Times How AI will increase inequality Rather than acting as an equalizer, social division will be greater – The Economist The End of Children The implications of falling birthrates around the world – New Yorker America’s companies hired more Black execs, then the backlash Analysis of the expected impact of the anti-DEI movement – USA Today   Only 5% of UK medical school students are working class A new study from the Sutton Trust – The Guardian Target retreated on DEI, then the backlash How customer action is impacting the US business – CNN Business FTSE 100: Women on boards reaches almost 45% The figures on representation on the boards of UK listed companies – City AM Up to 74,000 women forced out of work due to maternity The number losing jobs in the UK is up by 37% since 2016 – Personnel Today A third of UK workers would consider a temporary role for more flexibility Employees would consider leaving permanent roles – HR Magazine Subscribe for your own On-Balance The Executive Coaching Consultancy, Peek House, 20 Eastcheap, London, London EC3M 1EB, United Kingdom, 02077956556 Manage preferences | | --- |