The report found many employers want to ‘do the right thing’ but are implementing EDI initiatives without an evidence base, and many don’t know the impact these initiatives are having or whether they represent value for money.

In a growing number of cases, particularly relating to positive discrimination and protected beliefs, the report finds that EDI interventions are proving to be counterproductive or even unlawful.

“Discussions around diversity and inclusion at work are often bogged down by performative gestures,” said business and trade secretary and minister for women and equalities, Kemi Badenoch.

Badenoch added: “This report by the Inclusion at Work Panel is a powerful new tool for organisations. It lays out the evidence for good and bad EDI practice and can empower employers to make fairer, more effective EDI decisions that represent proper value for money.”

The report found that employers face barriers such as a lack of accessible data on EDI interventions that work and polarised EDI debates. It also found many employers are not using data to make EDI decisions and are misapplying equalities legislation.

The report advocates for employers to make better use of evidence and data when making EDI decisions to increase fairness and opportunity and avoid EDI initiatives which alienate certain groups, cause division, and have no impact.

In order to continue to lead on the global stage, it is imperative that British business capitalises on the very best of British talent, wherever that talent is to be found.

Businesses routinely express the desire to source, recruit, retain and promote the very best talent whilst also calling for the evidence-backed ‘how’ to make this work in real, practical terms.

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LinkedIn data from 2020 found that the UK employs almost twice as many EDI workers as any other country; a CIPD survey from 2022 found only 25% of employers said they consult data before new inclusion and diversity activity is planned, and 25% said most of their EDI work is reactive – citing social and political events.

The review recommends that the government can best support organisations by providing the tools to assess the strength of evidence and data on what works.

This allows leaders and managers to choose practices with proven impact, and stop spending time and money on nugatory or counter-productive initiatives. The review also recommends that the government can also help employers better understand their legal duties in light of recent rulings.