Research project
Examining the scope for improving performance through diversity and inclusion in National Highways’ supply chain
- Start date: 1 August 2021
- End date: 1 July 2025
- Principal investigator: Professor Jennifer Tomlinson (University of Leeds)
- Co-investigators: Dr Danat Valizade, Dr Kathryn Watson, Dr Jack Daly (University of Leeds) and Dr Cheryl Hurst (University of Reading)
Description
This study focuses on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and the potential to improve performance and productivity through EDI initiatives, within National Highways’ supply chain, and more broadly the construction sector.
Underlying the commissioning of the research is the desire of National Highways to drive change and progress a more active EDI agenda, particularly throughout their supply chain. Recognising that the academic literature has mixed findings regarding the link between EDI and improved performance, this study analyses administrative (workforce and performance) data to examine the EDI and performance/productivity link and, in doing so, potentially strengthen the business case for EDI.
Through this analysis, the study provides data on how EDI interventions might produce performance and productivity improvements within National Highways’ supply chain and more widely the construction sector. The study considers conventional economic performance and productivity measures, but also broadens this to include HR and EDI-related indicators that potentially affect workforce capacity in the long-term, such as recruitment, skills gaps, and retention.
The findings from this research provide useful knowledge for other government departments as to how to cascade EDI best practice throughout supply chains but also for the construction industry as a whole, which has been identified as needing to improve EDI (Farmer Review 2016) to achieve a sustainable future.
Research Overview
National Highways commissioned researchers at Leeds University Business School to undertake an Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) project from July 2021 to June 2025. The research focuses on the supply chains serving National Highways, with a particular aim of trialling various EDI initiatives in two Regional Investment Programme areas. The intention was to explore whether and how action on EDI leads to productivity gains, defined in the broad sense.
The project design involved three phases. The initial phase was scoping and exploratory, involving desk research, qualitative interviews and focus groups with National Highways and its supply chain across the two schemes involved. The second stage was focused on field experiments – and the implementation of EDI initiatives – with two schemes or Regional Investment Programmes (RIPs), involving quantitative analysis of EDI, workforce and other administrative data pre- and post- intervention. The final stage assessed the impact of these initiatives, both in terms of core HR performance indicators (recruitment, skill mix, retention), and productivity indicators.