Inspiring change: championing inclusive leadership

Our panel of inclusion and diversity experts as they reveal how leaders can adopt a greater pace of change when it comes to I&D in the workplace.

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almost 2 years ago

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In today's competitive labour market, showcasing your organisation’s inclusive and diverse culture, and commitment to the cause, has never been more important. With companies battling in the same talent pools, having a diverse and inclusive culture will set you in good stead to attract the best professionals above your competitors.

Leaders have a central role to play in creating a fair, inclusive, and diverse organisation with equal opportunities for everyone, regardless of their background, identity, or circumstance.

At the end of 2022, Reed partnered with the CIPD to produce ‘Inclusion at Work 2022’, a survey report that highlighted the need for companies to focus their approach on inclusion and diversity (I&D) in the workplace.

Key findings from the report:

23% of respondents agreed that senior leaders feel uncomfortable talking about inclusion and diversity.

23% of the senior decision-makers agreed with the statement that senior leaders wrongly believe they already have an inclusive and diverse organisation.

22% of leaders still don’t understand how an inclusive workplace and diverse workforce can benefit the organisation.

21% of employers agreed that senior leaders just pay lip service to I&D in their organisation.

Tangible action on inclusion and diversity is part of how senior leaders’ performance is judged in 29% of organisations.

On the back of the report, Reed’s Global Managing Director, Ian Nicholas, Jill Miller, Senior Policy Adviser for Inclusion and Diversity at the CIPD – author of the report, Hannah Awonuga, Global Head of DEI Colleague Engagement at Barclays, and Sandra Kerr CBE , Race Director at Business in the Community, dissect the key leadership findings of the report and outline what leadership teams can do to create a more inclusive and diverse workplace.

Our panel

Hannah Awonuga, Global Head of DEI Colleague Engagement, Barclays

Hannah is the Global Director, Head of Colleague Engagement within the group DEI function at Barclays. Hannah has been working in banking since she was 17 years old, and for the past 11 years has spent time leading remote teams in the retail bank, business, and corporate bank, before transitioning into diversity and inclusion.

She is also a multi-award-winning DEI thought leader and speaker. Over the past two years, she has won the 2021 WeAreTheCity rising star award, was named among the 2021/2022 most inspirational diversity and inclusion professionals by D&I leaders and was listed in the 2021 top 25 most influential DEI practitioners by HR Magazine.

Hannah was recently appointed as a non-executive director for the UK government membership body ‘Progress Together’ which has been set up to increase socioeconomic diversity at senior leadership level across the UK financial services.

Dr Jill Miller, Senior Policy Adviser for Inclusion and Diversity, CIPD

Jill is a Senior Policy Adviser for Inclusion and Diversity at the CIPD. Her work focuses on the areas of gender, age and neurodiversity and she has recently led work on race inclusion. Earlier in her career, Jill specialised in employee wellbeing and small business growth through good people management.

Her role is a combination of rigorous research and active engagement with policymakers, academics and HR professionals to inform projects and shape thinking on key inclusion and diversity issues. She frequently presents on people management issues, leads discussions and workshops, and is invited to write for trade press as well as offer comment to national journalists.

Jill joined the CIPD in 2008. She has a BSc in Psychology, MSc in International Business and obtained her PhD in Management, examining the effect of the informal organisation on performance, at Reading University.

Ian Nicholas, Global Managing Director, Reed

Ian joined Reed in 2004 as human resources director (HRD) of one of its businesses, and he also opened and ran a specialist HR recruitment arm. In 2007, when Reed merged its recruitment businesses, Ian was appointed as HRD for the newly formed Reed Specialist Recruitment.

In 2013, while retaining his HR responsibilities, he was appointed as managing director for RSR managed services and during a two-year period of successful growth he led the re-shaping of the business into what is now known as Reed Talent Solutions. It was in 2015 that Ian was appointed chief human resources officer with responsibility for all people strategies across the Reed Group and in 2017 he was appointed to the Reed Global board.

In 2020 he became the Global Managing Director for Reed, as well as a chartered fellow of the CIPD.

Sandra Kerr CBE , Race Director, Business in the Community

Sandra works together with business leaders and government policy makers to influence action on race in the UK. The Race at Work survey in 2015 with 24,457 responses and in 2018 with 24,310 responses provided the evidence to establish the Race at Work Charter announced by the then Prime Minister which now has more than 500 employer signatories.

In 2012, Sandra was awarded an OBE in the New Year’s Honours List for Services to Black and Minority Ethnic People. On the back of this, Sandra was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday honours list in 2019 for Services to Equality and Diversity, before publishing the Race at Work Black Voices Report in August 2020 and the Race at Work Charter 2020 report in October 2020.

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Coaching for intersectional inclusion
9 mins read

Coaching for intersectional inclusion

​Everyone has multiple layers to their identity, and no one is one label. There are other aspects of their identities to consider, and no one should be put in a box. Many businesses, which celebrate Pride Month, for example, are perceived as not doing enough for people who are underrepresented in more than one way.

Recent research by Culture Amp in ‘The Workplace Diversity and Inclusion Report 2024’ found disabled women and black women are more doubtful of their employers’ equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging (EDI&B) efforts than any other group.

This is likely because women might feel their entire identity and additional barriers aren’t being considered, if they are part of more than one underrepresented group. Some employers’ initiatives provide a base-level overview of inclusion for women, but they might only explore the perspectives of white women, for example, or women in general, with no specific solutions explored for LGBTQ+, disabled or black women, for instance. Each may have very different experiences of what it means to be a woman.

Coaching people within your organisation can help leaders and employees gain a deeper understanding of intersectionality and why it’s important. We interviewed Mary-Clare Race, CEO of Talking Talent, for her insight and best-practice tips on all things coaching and inclusion.

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Q: What's the difference between coaching, mentoring, and other types of training, especially when it comes to equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging?

A: These terms are often used interchangeably in the world of talent development, but we see a clear distinction between them that is especially important when it comes to EDI&B.

In a training situation, the primary goal is typically to transfer knowledge from the facilitator to the participant, to raise their awareness and understanding of a particular topic or skill and provide them with practical tips on how to put that skill into action for themselves.

In a mentoring situation, there is also an element of knowledge transfer, but in a more personalised, relationship based, one-to-one situation where the mentee is paired up with a more experienced mentor who is there to provide them with support, advice and guidance.

Coaching takes the relationship-based approach one step further and focuses on supporting and facilitating the coachee to actively step in and facilitate their own outcomes. It is not about giving them the answer but rather supporting them to find their own answer, their own way forward.

At Talking Talent, we favour a coaching-led approach because it enables a deeper level of behavioural change. The coachee must be actively engaged and motivated to do the inner work on themselves and the coach is there to hold them to account. However, there is a role for all three approaches when it comes to solving EDI&B challenges and real power in combining all three.

Q: How can coaching help businesses become more inclusive and diverse?

A: If you look at what it takes to really move an organisation forward with their EDI&B strategy, we believe you've got to take a systemic approach and build inclusion into your culture and in how people behave every day.

There are several ways coaching can help with this:

Leadership behaviours: by working with a coach, leaders become more aware of their own biases, preferences and how their own identity shapes how they show up as a leader. The coach can help them develop the skills needed to foster a culture of inclusion and hold themselves and others accountable.

Developing talent: in many organisations there are pockets of talent who have been overlooked because of some aspect of their identity. Coaching-led programmes can support under-represented talent to thrive and overcome what may be holding them back so they can fulfil their true potential. And by offering coaching-led programmes that address the unique needs of underrepresented individuals, organisations demonstrate their commitment to supporting the needs of all their employees - thus driving retention and engagement levels up.

Improving culture: at the heart of culture change is the need to move behaviours forward at an organisational level. We believe coaching is the most powerful way to do this for an organisation - by helping individuals and groups develop the self-awareness, emotional intelligence and relational competency to work effectively in diverse teams and build inclusion into the culture.

Q: In your experience, why are diversity and inclusion initiatives so important to organisations and their talent attraction and retention?

A: In our industry, there's been significant backlash against EDI&B efforts, particularly in North America, and this sentiment seems to be growing globally. The issue often lies in viewing EDI&B initiatives as separate from core organisational culture. For me, EDI&B is about creating an environment where every individual, regardless of identity, can thrive and contribute fully. This isn't just about ticking boxes – it's critical for attracting and retaining talent, and crucial for overall business performance.

Ultimately, EDI&B isn't merely an add-on; it's integral to effective leadership and to building success at all levels of your organisation. It's about fostering authenticity, encouraging diverse perspectives, and empowering individuals to contribute their best work. These principles are essential for any business striving to maximise performance and leverage a diverse talent pool, regardless of their specific commitments or strategies. It's about creating a workplace culture where everyone can succeed and where the organisation benefits from the full potential of its people.

Q: Who should be coached in inclusion and diversity within an organisation? And why?

A: When considering who should be coached in inclusion and diversity within an organisation, it's crucial to view these efforts as integral to successful business practice. While not everyone needs individual coaching, it's essential to ensure all members of the organisation are engaged in the journey towards inclusivity.

For leadership teams, coaching can be particularly impactful in fostering a culture where inclusion is act