Equality Monitoring and Customer Profiling

What is it?

Equality Monitoring involves the gathering and analysis of equality data from individuals. This information is used to assess access, representation, outcomes and satisfaction for people from different equality groups.

 

Customer profiling is a general term for gathering and analysing any customer or tenant data for service improvement and other purposes. It can include equality monitoring but also other data, e.g. financial, behavioral etc. From an equality perspective there are some key areas that equality information and its analysis can be used for:

Tailoring of Services

Information gathered on communications or home visits can help organisations remove barriers or better respond to individual needs. For example gathering information on communication needs can enable organisations to ensure tenants who need correspondence and information in large print get it in large print.

 

Planning services.

Information can give you an understanding of who your customers are and their current and future needs. It can also help you identify changes in tenants profile overall and at more localised levels such as estate levels. This can inform future business plans and service developments.

 

Changing patterns and behaviour.

Information from customer profiling can be used to better meet the current and future needs of tenants.  For example finding out about how tenants interact with digital technology.

 

Assessing whether people across the protected characteristics are accessing services and are having similar levels of outcomes and satisfaction

For example:

  • Your financial inclusion service is mostly used by older people although you have a high number of younger people falling into rent arrears.
  • Equality monitoring of your board may reveal that women, disabled people and people from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds are under-represented.
  • Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual tenants are less satisfied with customer service.

Data analysis is carried out to identify areas of over or under representation, higher levels of (dis)satisfaction, different outcomes or relevant patterns for particular groups. Any findings from the analysis will require further investigation and the building up of a story of the different factors that may be influencing what you have found. Following this further exploration, organisations can identify actions needed to improve (where needed)

 

Top tips:

Only ask for the information if you are going to analyse and use it.

Think about at what points you are going to collect information and what you are trying to measure. Sometimes equality monitoring information is gathered through broader customer profiling exercises.

Think about the questions and categories you are going to use in terms of how you will analyse the data later on. You may need to compare your monitoring data with other sources of data such as the Census 2011. Having similar categories will make this process easier.

If you are part of a common housing register work with partner organisations to develop standardised monitoring questions and categories across the organisations.

Our model categories equality monitoring form for service users with guidance notes explains why certain questions and categories are recommended and potential sources of external data to compare against.

Ensure staff and tenants know why you are asking equality monitoring questions and what the information will be used for.

Publicise how equality monitoring and its analysis has been used to make a difference in terms of identifying actions that have led to service improvements, better representation and positive outcomes.

Equality monitoring now involves the collection of data relating to sexual orientation, religion or belief and in some cases gender identity. It is important that staff are comfortable in asking these questions and can respond to any queries or concerns tenants, applicants, service users or employees might have. A useful document that can assist with this is Stonewall’s guide – What’s it got to do with you.

Be mindful of Data Protection considerations. Who has access and how you collect, store and use any information must be in compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Gender Recognition Act 2004.

 

When publishing equality data you need to be careful even if the data has been anonymised that individuals are not identifiable from the information.  You will find lots of useful resources on the Information Commissioner’s Office Website on this and they have also produced a Code of practice on Anonymisation: managing data protection risks.

Information

Accessing Member Resources

Some resources are for Tai Pawb members only and you will need a password to access them. If you are a Tai Pawb member and need details of the password or copies of documents in a Word version or alternative format please contact helpline@taipawb.org or call 029 2053 7630.

Tai Pawb Model Category Equality Monitoring Forms

 

Tai Pawb Evidencing Equal Outcomes Toolkits

 

Tai Pawb Good Practice Briefings

 Presentations from Tai Pawb Events

 

Useful Information

 

Sources of statistical data

Information

Please note the material in this section is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Tai Pawb is not responsible for the content of external resources.

How Tai Pawb can help:

Provide guidance on equality monitoring questions and categorise to use

Provide feedback on your equality monitoring forms

Help you identify and draw up a plan in terms of where and what you need to be equality monitoring for different services or in HR functions

 

Help you analyse equality monitoring data, explore the story behind what the data is showing and identify any further actions needed.

Help identify and analyse equality data for Local Housing Market Assessments

Help with the analysis of employment equality monitoring data

Assist with analysing equality information to inform the development of equality schemes, equal opportunity policies and equality impact assessments.

Information

For further information or to discuss potential consultancy or training support please contact helpline@taipawb.org or call 029 2053 7630.

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