reWorked: the Workplace Inclusion Podcast (EW Group: Diversity and Inclusion Consultancy)

In episode 5, Rachael talks to Dominie Moss, founder of The Return Hub, a unique recruitment firm about what her company is doing to challenge the return to work status quo.

People returning to work after a career break, having children, travelling – whatever the reason – can face an uphill struggle to be taken seriously in the job market. The transferable skills they possess can be a real asset to our organisations, but they are all too often overlooked. Dominie Moss is changing that with her organisation, The Return Hub, which places professionals who want to relaunch after a career break or transfer their careers into the financial services sector. 

Rachael and Dominie discuss the barriers candidates face, best practices companies can adopt in their recruitment processes, and whether the automation of recruitment will help overcome unconscious bias. 

Connect with Dominie on Twitter or LinkedIn.

You’re listening to Reworked, the EW Group podcast on company culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

People Management Article: Fewer than one in five women feel confident returning to work after maternity leave

In episode 6, Rachael talks to Gary Jackson, Group Director of Communications and Customer Success at Mears Group about the importance of diversity communications.

Rachael and Gary discuss the importance of diversity communications in your organisation, from how critical is good comms on diversity and inclusion, to how getting it right can move you from an organisation that has diversity and inclusion initiatives to one that lives and breathes those values in a meaningful way. Today everything is value led and driven, so it’s important to let everyone know who you are as a business and what you stand for collectively, says Gary.

From recognising a ‘one size fits all’ approach to internal communications doesn’t work, to identifying the importance of clear messages and creating a storytelling culture, Gary shares his insights and experiences in transforming how diversity is positioned at Mears.

Connect with Gary on Twitter or LinkedIn.

You’re listening to Reworked, the EW Group podcast on company culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website. 

In episode 7, Rachael breaks down the popular buzz phrase inclusive leadership in our new 'How to reWork' mini-series.

In this episode, Rachael tackles 'inclusive leadership'. It's a popular buzz phrase just now, but what does it mean? Rachael answers all your key questions, including:

 • What do we mean by 'inclusive leadership'?
 • What would you seen an inclusive leader doing?
 • How do you know if you are an inclusive leader?

Along with great examples of inclusive leadership, this episode covers all the important fundamentals you need to understand and develop inclusive leadership skills.

Get in touch to learn more about EW Group's bespoke inclusive leadership training and  how we can support you organisation in becoming more inclusive.

Connect with Rachael on LinkedIn or Twitter.

You're listening to Reworked, the EW Group podcast on company culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

In this episode of the reWorked podcast, Karen Fonseka, Diversity and Inclusion Specialist, talks to Edmund Newell, Principal and Chief Executive at Cumberland Lodge, about social mobility.  Edmund is an economic historian and priest in the Church of England, he was previously a Research Fellow at Nuffield College in Oxford, Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, where he was the founding Director of the St Paul’s Institute, and Sub-Dean of Christ Church, Oxford.

Sharing their personal stories, Edmund and Karen discuss social mobility in education, through to recruitment and the workplace. They explore some of the obstacles facing individuals and how organisations can help support and make their roles more accessible and workplaces more inclusive. They also discuss the need to improve accessibility to the workplace through apprenticeship schemes and mentor programmes which focus on developing practical skills needed in the workplace. 

Edmund also shares an overview of the work Cumberland Lodge does to empower and help people overcome social division. Cumberland Lodge is a charity and educational foundation with a mission to empower people, and tackle the causes and effects of social division, with a particular focus on nurturing young talent. 

Follow Cumberland Lodge on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Follow EW Group on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news and thinking in diversity and inclusion.

EW Group and Challenge Consultancy have worked with organisations to build more diverse and inclusive cultures for over 30 years. Get in touch to explore how we can work with you to build safe and inclusive environments at work.

In this episode, Rachael talks to Rebecca Berry, Head of Culture, Diversity and Inclusion at Lloyds Register about driving culture change.

Rebecca Berry is the Head of Culture, Diversity and Inclusion at Lloyds Register, one of the world’s leading providers of professional services for engineering and technology. Rachael and Rebecca discuss the specific challenges of creating an inclusive culture at scale in a complex, global organisation, the vision for what good looks like and their ongoing commitment to cultural renewal.
 
Connect with Rebecca on LinkedIn.
Follow Lloyds Register on Twitter.

You’re listening to Reworked, the EW Group podcast on company culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

In this episode, Sush Bastola, Sales Director at the EW Group and Challenge Consultancy, meets Graci Harkema to discuss overcoming adversity and creating a culture of belonging in the workplace. Graci is a US-based diversity specialist. 

Graci shares her moving and inspirational personal story from being born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during civil unrest with little chance of survival, to being adopted, moving to the USA, realising her sexual orientation and ultimately  accepting herself for who she is. 

Graci says: “I was living for others’ expectations instead of accepting my own identities. For so long I saw my identities as my shame instead of my strength.”

Sush and Graci also discuss how employers can develop authentic leadership and truly be inclusive to support an internal culture which makes employees want to stay. Graci shares insights into how her past colleagues and employer supported her through her journey and helped her feel a sense of belonging in the workplace where she could be her authentic self. 

With increasing pressure from customers, staff, networks and communities to develop more ethical and inclusive practices, they explore how fostering an inclusive culture not only gives organisations a competitive edge in the marketplace, but also positively impacts the bottom line as a result of stronger collaboration and teamwork which directly contribute to the productivity and service the organisation provides. 

Follow Graci Harkema on LinkedIn and Twitter or visit her website. Graci’s memoir ‘Rising: From a Mud Hut to the Boardroom - and Back Again is now available for pre-order and will be released in Spring 2023. 

Follow EW Group on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news and thinking in diversity and inclusion or get in touch to explore how we can work with you to build safe and inclusive environments at work.

In this episode, Rachael Wilson is joined by Lateesha Osbourne to discuss her pHD research into black students’ sense of identity and belonging within higher education.

Lateesha is a psychologist who applies a DEI lens to her work and in particular has significant expertise in race equality. She has worked with EW and Challenge since 2015 when she joined our team as Training and Business Development Officer and, after being away for a little while studying for her doctorate, is now back as a consultant working on a range of innovative client projects. 

Lateesha explains the findings from her research which included gathering insights through focus groups with Black students on their experiences of racism. Lateesha analysed how experiences of racism affected the students’ sense of identity and belonging, and the strategies that they adopted to navigate the campus culture. Her findings provide us with a microcosm of other institutions and workplaces and an insight into the experiences of minority groups. 

Rachael and Lateesha discuss how these findings can be used to inform the ways in which we go about breaking down workplace barriers to inclusion and belonging. They discuss how creating a culture where employees feel able to speak up is crucial to employees’ wellbeing, progression and performance.  

Follow Lateesha Osbourne on LinkedIn or Twitter to keep up-to-date with her latest news and work. 

Follow EW Group and Challenge Consultancy on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news and thinking in diversity and inclusion or get in touch to find out how we can help you build a more inclusive workplace.

In this episode, Tash Thomas is joined by Dante Frederick, Diversity and Inclusion Partner at Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) to discuss diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the rail industry and the important DEI work GTR has been undertaking. 

Exploring some of the DEI challenges facing the rail industry, Dante shares insights into the initiatives GTR has put in place to improve diversity in their workforce, from inclusive recruitment practices to appeal to a more diverse range of candidates, to developing an inclusive culture where all employees feel valued are able to be their authentic selves. 

Tash and Dante discuss the lack of gender representation in particular roles in the rail force, and the success that GTR’s initiatives have yielded so far, such as a doubling in the number of female applicants applying for train driver roles and achieving a 50/50 gender split of new train driver hires. 

On the benefits of diversifying the workforce, Dante comments: “It’s not just a tick box exercise. There is so much value in diversity of experience and perspective. If you have a team made up of the very top of whatever the focus is, if they are all from the same background and same perspectives, there will have the same blind spots and they will make the same mistakes. And as soon as you diversify, even a little bit, that really opens things up for creative problem solving and catching things that otherwise may not have been seen. There is tons of data that speaks to this.”

Tash and Dante also explore the benefits of employee resource groups (ERGs) and share tips for successfully setting them up and how to take account of intersectionality in your approach to ERGs. They also discuss the importance of collecting diversity data and how this can help inform business decisions, but also the sensitivities many may feel sharing data on their protected characteristics. 

Follow Govia Thameslink Railway on LinkedIn.

Follow EW Group on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news and thinking in DEI or get in touch to find out how we can help you build a more inclusive workplace.

It's time to change the narrative on menopause at work. A one-size-fits-all approach cannot be applied to a diverse group of people who experience menopause and peri-menopause symptoms. So how can employers better support people affected by its symptoms and account for intersectionality?

 EW Group Managing Director, Rachael Wilson, spoke with two workplace menopause experts - Mel Healy and Jane Stubbs - about how organisations can take an intersectional approach to workplace menopause support. It is crucial businesses and leaders understand the health inequalities and cultural nuances that mean women from different groups (whether race, religion, disability, LGBT+, class or any other identity) will experience, vocalise and receive support for menopause symptoms very differently.

Sharing their own personal experiences, they also discuss the different approaches organisations can take to support those experiencing symptoms of the menopause in the workplace, from awareness training and staff consultation sessions, to reviewing policies and procedures.

Mel Healy is a sports therapist, bio-medical scientist and lecturer with a passion for EDI. She is particularly interested in how our different socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicity and cultural pressures affect us in the workplace. Follow Mel on Twitter at @MelinaHealy, and on Instagram at lets_talk_menopause.   

Jane Ordaz is a menopause awareness advocate and the Founder of a Facebook community group, the Global Menopause Community, to help other women experiencing menopause not living in their passport countries, offering non-country-based support.   

This is part 1 of a 2 part series discussing menopause at work.

Follow EW Group on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news and thinking in DEI or get in touch to find out how we can help you build a more inclusive workplace.

This week Rachael speaks to Mabel Garcia, People, Culture and EDI Manager for the construction division based in the UK at Ferrovial Agroman.

Ferrovial Agroman is the construction division of Ferrovial SA, a multinational civil engineering and services company headquartered in Spain. The construction division is involved in a number of high-profile infrastructure projects in the UK, including the extension of the northern line, High Speed 2, Crossrail and the Thames Tideway Tunnel.

Rachael and Mabel discuss how Ferrovial Agroman is overcoming one the industry's biggest challenges: the shortage of engineering talent. One report cited in The Engineer last year said that 45% of all unemployed engineering graduates are from a BME background. This is an uncomfortable fact for the industry. Rachael and Mabel discuss the business case for diversity, understanding the barriers to recruiting diverse talent and inclusive recruitment best practices.

Connect with Mabel on LinkedIn.
Connect with Ferrovial on Twitter or LinkedIn.

You’re listening to Reworked, the EW Group podcast on company culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

This week Rachael talks to Nikki de Vet, Organisational Effectiveness Manager at British Land, one of the largest property development and investment companies in the UK.

In this episode, Rachael and Nikki tackle two of the most burning questions in diversity and inclusion: how to get buy-in from staff at all levels for cultural change programmes and how do you measure the impact the work you are doing is having? Rachael and Nikki discuss what triggered the need for culture change at British Land, how to get diversity onto the agenda of senior leaders, barriers to change, getting buy-in from all levels across the organisation and how to measure the ROI on culture change programmes.

Connect with Nikki on LinkedIn.

You’re listening to Reworked, the EW Group podcast on company culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

In this episode, Yvonne Howard is joined by David Latten, Head of Procurement at Logitech, a multi-national consumer electronics manufacturer, to discuss the power the procurement function has to influence DEI across the supply chains they work with, and how Logitech has been working to drive gender equality in the tech and gaming industries. 

With a career spanning over a decade, David has a wealth of knowledge in finance and procurement. He comments “Being in the pivot point between the internal and external there is a huge and untapped potential for what procurement can do. Procurement can be a huge force for good and that’s really exciting. No one can do everything, but we can all do something.”

Sharing insights into Logitech’s values and its focus on promoting gender equality, David discusses Logitech’s partnership with Gender Fair, a coalition of companies focussed on influencing large consumer organisations to work towards gender equality and live up to the United Nations’ Women’s Empowerment Principles.

Yvonne and David also touch on the importance of diversity data reporting, policies, the role of leadership in driving change, ERGs, women in leadership and the challenges of hybrid working.

Connect with David on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/david-latten

The Coalition Home Page: https://genderfairprocurement.com/

Follow EW Group on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news and thinking in DEI or get in touch to find out how we can help you build a more inclusive workplace.

To mark International Women’s Day, we were delighted to welcome Pamela Jones to the podcast. EW Group Client Solutions Manager, Nana Umoh, and Pamela discuss the significance of the day and how organisations can better support women in the workplace to excel rather than just survive. 

Rather than just a day’s focus, Pamela stresses the need for gender equality to be an ongoing conversation, focussed on transformation change which tackles issues such as how women are positioned in the workplace, what their contributions stand for, and how they are recognised.

Pamela comments: “More work is needed around really speaking to power structures. How do we start engaging with organisational power structures to bring this parity to women? I think there needs to be more than just a policy. A lot of the time I speak to CEOs and Managers and they say, ‘we have a policy for that’. Whilst policies are useful, they are redundant unless put into practice and mobilised effectively.”

Nana and Pamela also speak about the work needed to increase the representation of women in the workplace at all levels, and the additional challenges faced by women from under-represented groups. 

Pamela Jones is an equality and diversity specialist, executive coach, public speaker and mentor who has held multiple leadership roles within financial services in the UK and internationally. She also sits on EW Group’s parent company’s (eQS) Board as a Non-Executive Director.

Follow EW Group on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news and thinking in DEI or get in touch to find out how we can help you build a more inclusive workplace.

In episode 11, Rachael offers help and advice on inclusive recruitment in the third part of our 'How to Rework' mini series.

Why is inclusive recruitment an important topic for organisations to tap into right now? On many levels moving to a diverse workforce is a game-changer. It's been shown that homogenous groups make less successful business decisions and are less innovative than more diverse groups. So if you can attract and retain more diverse staff into your organisation then your business performance and employee engagement should rise.

Along with her top ten tips for inclusive recruitment that you can apply to your organisation right now, Rachael answers all your key questions and cover the fundamentals for success.

Get in touch to learn more about EW Group's bespoke inclusive recruitment training and  how we can support your organisation in becoming more inclusive.

Connect with Rachael on LinkedIn or Twitter.

You’re listening to Reworked, the EW Group podcast on company culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

This episode looks at inclusive communications. Communications are important to every organisation. They can be internal or external, official or informal, and aimed at customers, employees or stakeholders. It’s vital that communications reflect the diverse groups of people a company works with. Without care, groups of people can quickly become excluded, overlooked or missed out. With inclusive communications, your organisation can interact with everyone it represents.

But what exactly are inclusive communications? It’s an area that organisations are often confused about or are unsure how to deal with. Rachael answers the key questions including: 

·      What do we mean by inclusive communications?
·      What are examples of inclusive communications?
·      Are ‘accessible communications’ different to ‘inclusive communications’?
·      Why is it highly beneficial for organisations to communicate inclusively?

Get in touch to find out more about our bespoke training courses, which include our Inclusive Cultures Training and Pledge, and our Inclusive Recruitment courses.  Also check out our Diversity Communications services.

Connect with Rachael on LinkedIn or Twitter.

You’re listening to Reworked, the EW Group podcast on company culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website. 

This week Rachael speaks to Anthony Francis, Agile Delivery Lead and Transformation Manager for Lloyds Bank.

Lloyds Bank is considered one of the “Big Four” banks in the UK. Operating since 1765, Lloyds employs more than 45,000 staff across England and Wales. Despite being a traditional bank, the bank actively pursues a diversity and inclusion agenda in the workplace. 

Anthony works as Transformation Manager and in a voluntary capacity, he is the bank’s role model and intersectionality lead, empowering the work of Lloyds’ network groups for women, LGBT, ethnicity and disability. He features in The Financial Times’ Top 50 BAME Future Leaders. In this episode of reWorked, Rachael and Anthony discuss the bank’s agile and intersectional approach to diversity and inclusion and how Lloyds is raising the standards of D&I for all workplaces.

Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn.
Connect with Lloyds Bank on Twitter or LinkedIn.

You’re listening to reWorked, the EW Group podcast on company culture. For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

This week Rachael speaks to Leng Montgomery, Diversity and Inclusion Lead at Cushman and Wakefield.

Cushman and Wakefield is one of the largest real estate services firms in the world, grossing $8.2 billion in 2018 and employing over 51,000 workers across 70 countries. Their portfolio spans from developing the new Stratford Westfield shopping centre to ‘The Walkie Talkie’ (a.k.a. 20 Fenchurch Street).

Leng is the Diversity and Inclusion lead for Cushman and Wakefield. He has a background in both the corporate and charity sectors, previously working as the Diversity and Inclusion Executive for Sainsbury’s following his time at the leading LGBT charity, Stonewall.

In this episode, Leng shares his personal journey as a trans man and speaks about the support and the setbacks he faced during his transition. His story highlights that there is still room for improvement of transgender awareness, rights and equality at work. Listen to this episode to hear Leng’s five tips to drive trans inclusion in the office.

Connect with Leng on LinkedIn.

Listen to Leng’s TEDx Talk.
Connect with Cushman and Wakefield on Twitter or LinkedIn.

You’re listening to reWorked, the EW Group podcast on company culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

In this episode, Rachael talks to Helen Hyde, Acting Partners’ Counsellor at the John Lewis Partnership, the largest co-owned business in the UK with over 83,000 partners and no external shareholders. The company operates John Lewis & Partners department stores, Waitrose & Partners supermarkets, its banking and financial services.

Rachael and Helen discuss the evolution of diversity and inclusion within the organisation, and the role that company values play in the development and sustainability of its culture. They also explore the benefits of being your true self at work and the positive impact that business leaders can have by leading the way on personal authenticity. 

Connect with Helen on LinkedIn.
Connect with John Lewis Partnership on Twitter or LinkedIn.

You’re listening to Reworked, the EW Group podcast on company culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

Meg Mathews talks frankly about her personal experience of going through the menopause and how it led to her becoming a leading menopause activist in the UK. Meg tells Rachael about what she thinks businesses should be doing to support their female employees. Listen out for her Hungarian vizsla Ziggy, who gets involved in the conversation too.


To hear more about Meg's activism and line of menopause products, follow Meg on Instagram @MegMathewsOfficial_ and Twitter @MegMathews.

Was this in the plan?  Blogger, author and activist Stephanie Nimmo, tells Rachael about her turbulent and inspiring story of being catapulted into life as a carer. She discusses what employers could do to keep carers in the workforce, as well the raft of valuable soft skills that carers develop: from stakeholder management to project management underpinned by a hefty dose of resilience. Steph also shares her personal experiences of supporting her sons as they join the workforce and the need for improved company-wide support for neurodiversity.

Follow Stephanie on Twitter, visit her website and read her blog 'Was This in the Plan?'.

You’re listening to Reworked, the EW Group podcast on company culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

Is your organisation keen to start its D&I journey but unsure where to begin? In this episode of reWorked, Rachael offers practical advice for companies who are about to take their first steps towards creating a diverse and inclusive workplace culture. Following the tips in this mini-guide will benefit your current employees from all backgrounds and help your organisation implement D&I as part of the business strategy. Benefits include; improved employee satisfaction and retention, productivity and the ability to attract and recruit candidates from a more diverse group.

Get in touch to find out more about how our 27 years of experience can help your organisation kick off its D&I journey. If you’re interested to hear how Lloyds Bank increased their diversity and inclusion agenda, listen to the recent reWorked podcast with Lloyds’ Anthony Francis.

Connect with Rachael on LinkedIn or Twitter.

You’re listening to reWorked, the EW Group podcast on company culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

This week CEO Jane Farrell speaks to Sandra Mellors, Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer for Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust.

Following a Care Quality Commission recommendation, and with patient outcomes at its heart, the Trust embarked on a major change programme that has had far reaching effects on the culture of the organisation and the lives of staff, patients and carers. Sandra speaks candidly about the personal impact of the Trust’s transformation, and the practical steps they took; from co-production of strategy with staff, patients and carers through to the adoption of reverse mentoring. The Trust has since received a CQC “outstanding” award and were named ‘Trust of the Year’ by the Healthcare Service Journal.

You’re listening to reWorked, the EW Group podcast on company culture. 

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

This week MD Lisa Jobson speaks to HeForShe-pledger Miles Ockwell, Detective Superintendent for West Sussex Police.

Detective Superintendent Miles Ockwell talks to Lisa about why he decided to persuade the UN to accept the West Sussex Police force as the first UK Thematic Champion of the HeforShe campaign, which deals with gender inequality. They talk about the impact the project has had on gender disparity in West Sussex Police and in the police force nationally following its subsequent adoption by every force in the UK, as well as the challenges they face in the future.

Follow Miles’ work on Twitter @Supt_Ockwell.

See Sussex Police’s progress in terms of gender equality by reading their upcoming annual report by visiting their website.

You’re listening to reWorked, the EW Group podcast on company culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

In this episode of reWorked Matt Salmon, Head of Agency & Client Sales and Commercial Marketing at Channel 4, joins Gill, EW’s Marketing Manager, to discuss the origins, objectives and outcomes of C4’s Diversity in Advertising Award. Find out how it’s contributing to a more diverse advertising, broadcasting and cultural landscape and about the contribution made by the world’s largest piece of research ever carried out on diversity in advertising.

You’re listening to reWorked, the EW Group podcast on company culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

David speaks candidly about his career in D&I, from his work as an education and equality lawyer to his critical involvement as Director of Legal Policy in creating and implementing the Equality Act 2010. He discusses how having a disability impacted his likelihood of pursuing further and higher education whilst growing up, before going on to University to study Law. Jane and David speak about some of his proudest moments throughout his career and how the landscape of diversity and inclusion is evolving into the future. 

You’re listening to reWorked, the EW Group podcast on company culture. 

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

Reggie Nelson joins Lisa Jobson on the reWorked podcast to discuss how knocking on doors in one of London’s richest neighbourhoods landed him a dream job in the City. Reggie shines a light on why equal opportunities and levelling the playing field for those entering the world of work is an important priority for all workplaces. 

He has spoken about the importance of social mobility on platforms including BBC News, This Morning, TEDx and Sky News and currently sits on the advisory board at social mobility organisation upReach. 

Connect with Reggie on LinkedIn and follow his work on Twitter.

Is social mobility a priority for your organisation? Training in Recruitment and Selection will help your line managers and hiring teams access the best and broadest pool of possible talent. Or see how Diversity Audits identify areas where an organisation can further improve in terms of D&I. 

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

Join Lisa and Emily in conversation about Emily’s experience as a visually impaired candidate navigating the job market post-university and subsequently, the work she has led raising awareness around accessibility for disabled employees at Cambridge University Press and more widely within the Publishing sector through her involvement with Publishing Industry Enabled. 

You’re listening to reWorked, the EW Group podcast on company culture. 

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

Diversity & Inclusion Consultant and Resilience Speaker, Winston Clements, joins reWorked with Catherine Manser. Having been born with a rare bone condition, Winston fractured 150 bones by the age of twelve. But throughout his life, he has not let this condition withhold him from his aspirations. He since went on to University and is now a Diversity and Inclusion Consultant and frequent resilience spokesperson – his current ambition is to reach 1 billion people through his keynote talks. Listen to hear Winston's perspective on organisational involvement with the Black Lives Matter movement, the importance of intersectionality, and his experience in Britain as a black disabled man.

Connect with Winston on LinkedIn and listen to his TEDx talks.

It’s crucial for organisations to take an intersectional approach to diversity and inclusion. Get in touch with the EW team to learn more.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

Outvertising is a not-for-profit advertising and marketing advocacy group that collaborates with brands to push for increased and more diverse LGBT+ representations in ads and on our screens. Outvertising’s Chair, Mark Runacus MBE, joins Mitch to discuss how organisations can become more inclusive in their messaging, and the positive impact this has on society and in business.  

Mark has more than thirty years of experience working in advertising. More recently, he was awarded an MBE for his services to the industry and became the Chair this growing group that fights for better LGBT+ coverage in things we consume daily: from ads to TV.

In this episode, you’ll learn what steps you can take to create diverse and inclusive representations, why this is so very important, and how it plays a large part in employees feeling able to bring their whole selves to work.

Learn more about the work Outvertising does with brands.

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Or get in touch to explore how we can work to improve D&I in your workplace.

Karen Kennard first witnessed the difficulty of students being able to access information about education bursaries when her son embarked to University. She subsequently founded The Scholarship Hub, a social enterprise that offers a centralised database and support for students to explore funding opportunities for them. Karen talks to Lisa Jobson about the work of The Scholarship Hub and how the rise in tuition fees has created inequality from a socioeconomic perspective amongst students from many backgrounds.

Learn more about The Scholarship Hub by visiting their website and following them on Twitter.

Get in touch to explore how we can work with you to attract diverse talent to your organisation.

EW Group MD Rachael Wilson talks to former Royal Marines Lieutenant Colonel Chris Paton about the importance of trust in managing teams at work.

During his time in the armed forces, Chris Paton was responsible for advising on Afghan Strategy and plans to the Cabinet Office and National Security Council. He also saw active service in a wide range of places including Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Georgia, and Afghanistan. Chris has since founded the business wargaming consultancy Quirk Solutions, and specialises in working with public and private companies to stress-test their strategic plans.

Connect with Chris on Twitter.

You're listening to Reworked, the EW Group podcast on workplace culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to build inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter.

This month on reWorked, we are joined by EW Group diversity consultants Safina Nadeem and Yvonne Howard.

EW Group’s Business Development Manager, Luke Robinson, sits down with Yvonne and Safina to look back on 2020 from the perspective of Covid-19 and anti-racism. They explore the changes to the world of work, with training going online, and the positive actions organisations are making in response to Black Lives Matter. Find out what organisations can do year-round to create a truly inclusive and anti-racist work culture for their Black, Asian and minority ethnic employees, customers, and stakeholders. 

Connect with Safina and Yvonne on LinkedIn. 

Get in touch to find out how we can work with you to build an anti-racist and inclusive culture. 

EW Group MD Rachael Wilson travels to Paris to talk to HR and inclusion specialist Marianne Constans about driving cultural change within organisations.

Marianne is closely involved in the growing intrapreneurship movement across Europe. Intrapreneurship is the concept of using entrepreneurial skills to lead innovation or change within a large organisation, whether that means products, processes or working cultures.

"An intrapreneur is someone with entrepreneurial skills within a big organisation who spots an opportunity for change or innovation and then leads that change no matter what." Marianne Constans

Marianne provides a fascinating insight based on her own experience of implementing change around diversity and inclusion within the FTSE100 company Imperial Brands in Bristol.

To learn more about the intrapreneurship movement, check out these links:

The book Marianne co-wrote on the subject (currently only available in French)

The League of Intrapreneurs - a community of intrapreneurs based in London, with case studies and practical tools

The Intrapreneurship Conference - a global platform that organises conferences around the world

This TED Talk by Shoel Perelman on How a Company can Nurture its Internal Rebels

Connect with Marianne on Twitter.

You're listening to Reworked, the EW Group podcast on workplace culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to build inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter.

EW Group MD Rachael Wilson hosts demographic change expert Aaqil Ahmed for a special event in London to discuss the business opportunities for growth that are linked to changing customer demographics.

This special episode was recorded live in front of an audience at Henry Wood House in London.

Aaqil is the former Head of Religion and Ethics at the BBC and Commissioning Editor at Channel 4, and is now a Professor of Media at the University of Bolton. He specialises in working with businesses to pinpoint new opportunities to expand their reach in response to demographic change and the increasing need for cultural literacy.

"Cultural literacy comes from understanding the basics of what somebody believes in, and how they live their life, and therefore understanding that there may be certain things that they may do differently that we have to find a way of making it work. That may be in the language we would use as broadcasters, or the way we would try and sell or position ourselves as businesses to those people." Aaqil Ahmed

Aaqil offers up a number of real-life case studies from the media, FMCG and retail sectors around building cultural literacy and awareness, especially around religion and faith. These include the M&S Modest fashion range, Nike Pro Hijab, and how Bicester Village has developed its East Asian and Gulf Arab customer bases.

For more information, check out the Megatrends report from PwC on demographic change

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EW Group MD Rachael Wilson travels to Rome to speak to Italian business leaders about their diversity and inclusion plans.

"If you compare Italy now to 20 years ago, we've changed very very quickly. Companies are creating a new inclusive approach in order to transform diversity into business opportunity. It's a reality that's growing fast." Emelia Garito, TEDxRoma

Last week, Rachael was invited to speak at a conference in Rome hosted by EW Group's Italian partners, Diversity Opportunity. These are divisive times in Italy: the general election the day before the event had ended in a hung parliament.

Against such an uncertain backdrop, Rachael wanted to get a sense of the efforts that Italian businesses are making to adapt perspectives around diversity, and to address barriers to inclusion.

What she found was a genuine belief that diversity represents a source of team empowerment and business innovation.

As the only Brit in the room, Rachael took the chance to speak to a number of guests about the rising importance of workplace diversity and inclusion in Italy, and the progress made so far:

- Elvis Daniel, HR Business Partner at Stryker

- Emelia Garito, Organiser of TedxRoma

- Monica Ricci, HR Director, eFM

- Emiliano Boschetto, ‎Institutional Relations and Communication Manager at eFM

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To mark the recent 25-year anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, activists and EW Group consultants, David Ruebain and Agnes Fletcher, look back at their involvement in campaigning for disability rights during the 1990s. They delve into what has been accomplished for progressing visibility and equality for disabled people and what is yet to be done to make workplaces and society fair and accessible for people with a range of disabilities. 

Connect with David and Agnes on LinkedIn.

Listen, share, and let us know what topics you would like to see on reWorked in Series 4.

Need some support developing your diversity and inclusion strategy? Get in touch to see how we can work with you to attract diverse talent to your organisation.  

Rachael travels to Manchester to meet Phil Jones MBE, CEO of Brother UK, and to find out more about developing a company culture that is able to adapt to a fast-moving marketplace.

As the landscape of work becomes ever more complex, how can you as a company ensure you have a workforce that is adaptable, resilient and diverse enough to make smart business decisions?

Phil Jones MBE talks to Rachael about how to drive culture change, and the key values and behaviours needed to support a modern workforce. Do your people feel included enough to participate? Are they engaged to the level needed to boost innovation in a market as fierce and fast-paced as tech?

Phil shares personal insights and examples of the changes he made – large and small – that have seen Brother UK named as one of the Times Top 100 places to work, as well as an Investors in People Platinum Workplace.

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For Episode 6 of Reworked, Rachael travelled to Levenshulme in Manchester to look up an old friend who has turned her passion for workplace equality into real purpose.

Joeli Brearley launched the Pregnant Then Screwed campaign three years ago as a forum for women to share their stories about how they were treated by employers while pregnant or returning to work after the birth of a child.

I'm interested to hear Joeli's own personal story that gave her the impetus to get started. But also to understand more about how a passion becomes a project, how that project becomes a lobbying campaign with impact, and then a movement which captures the hearts and minds of working parents around the world.

Joeli Brearley founded the Pregnant Then Screwed campaign after a personal experience of discrimination when pregnant with her first child. The campaign now operates internationally and lobbies for legislative and organisational modernisation to ensure recognition, respect and change for working mums and dads.

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For Episode 7 of Reworked, Rachael talks to Jane Crombleholme, Head of Executive Education at the Alliance Manchester Business School, about the concept of anti-perfectionism and being 'just good enough' as a leader.

Is it harder than ever to be a strong leader? Leadership must be authentic, inclusive and empathetic, all while delivering a high level of performance and results.

Jane Crombleholme is the Head of Executive Education at the Alliance Manchester Business School, the oldest and largest in the UK, and the Chair of the Board of the NHS Stockport Clinical Commissioning Group. With her years of experience in management development, Jane is an advocate for a more relaxed (and therefore more authentic) take on models of senior leadership.

The episode includes Jane's three-point plan for taking the perfectionism out of your leadership approach.

Noticing, listening, and giving people the licence to make mistakes and learn from them are all key elements of this anti-perfectionist approach. It's a liberating concept, and the conversation ranges from strategic leadership and people management to creativity and wellbeing.

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As we journey across London, whether night or day but almost undoubtedly absorbed in our technology, how in tune are we with our physical personal safety in the moment?

Rachael speaks with Jillian Kowalchuk the creator of Safe and The City, a free app which merges police crime data on sexual assault in London with the stories of users. With this information, people are empowered to make informed choices about their travel routes, and businesses and communities know where to direct their efforts to create an inclusive environment.

From her experiences travelling, Jillian tells us she found knowing her surroundings allowed her to adapt her journey choices, which gave her the confidence to better manage her own safety. However, current technology tends to only provide information on the quickest routes to places, not necessarily the safest.

Safe and The City aims to alert people before they walk into known hotspots, so they have the knowledge to make safer choices. Attracting 7000 users in just 6 weeks, people are clearly recognising the need to be proactive about their safety day-to-day.

Jillian also highlights the opportunities for businesses and communities to use data to make London a safer and more inclusive city for us all. The data also has the power to enhance brand reputation; providing an invaluable insight into the perception of employees externally, in a similar way that Glassdoor operates for workplaces internally.

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reWorked is the diversity and inclusion podcast which unpicks the fabric of working culture. We’re launching our fourth season with a special preview of the themes we think are going to be top of the agenda in 2021. From the health inequalities brought to light by Covid-19 to the Black Lives Matter movement, diversity and inclusion was never far from our minds in 2020. What have we learnt and what has changed? 

In this Series 4 launch episode of reWorked, Rachael Wilson  sets out what individuals can do in 2021 to build more inclusive work cultures and what organisations can do to progress their D&I agenda. It might be in the form of rolling out company-wide training in diversity and inclusion to your teams. It could be to become accredited in diversity. Or it might be simply taking a stance on equality through specialist guidance. 

Listen to this episode to discover the range of priorities you can consider for 2021 and get in touch to explore how we can support you. 

Learn more about the Diversity Development Standard and how your organisation can become accredited in D&I this year.

Stay up to date with EW Group news by following us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Listen, share, and let us know what topics you would like to hear discussed on reWorked in Series 4.

On 12th April 2018, two black men were arrested in a Starbucks branch in Philadelphia while waiting for a friend to join them.

Mobile-phone video footage of the pair being put in handcuffs in front of disbelieving onlookers soon went viral. The arrests sparked demonstrations outside the branch and wider outrage across social media.

As part of the company's response, Starbucks announced that it would close more than 8,000 of its US stores on 29th May to run unconscious bias training sessions for around 175,000 employees. It was an unprecedented move in high-street retail.

Jane Farrell co-founded EW Group in 1992, and is one of the UK's leading experts on diversity and inclusion. Jane recently appeared on Radio 4's Today programme and Channel 5 News to talk about the Starbucks incident and the resulting spotlight on unconscious bias training.

In this episode of Reworked, Jane speaks to Rachael Wilson about the rise and rise of the term 'unconscious bias' in public and professional discourse. Together they try to unravel the "Rubik's Cube" of how advantage and disadvantage operate in different workplaces. You'll hear Jane's own story and her formative experiences of inclusion/exclusion in and outside of work.

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For the tenth episode of Reworked we caught up with Gemma Lloyd, founder of the recruitment app Work180, which has recently landed in the UK.

Equality, diversity and inclusion often appear in organisational values and strategy. Work180 helps job seekers know before they apply which organisations walk their talk.

The Work180 app advertises the job roles of companies that have already been vetted on their equality-supporting practices. Businesses are assessed on their maternity/paternity leave and flexible working policies, their gender pay gap reporting, and a host of other key criteria. Job seekers can then be confident that the organisation they are applying to work with has an inclusive workplace culture.

The app has already been a great success in Australia, where it receives 90,000 job searches a month, and it will reach New York and San Francisco very soon. Gemma draws interesting comparisons of attitudes towards diversity and inclusion between the UK and Australia. With gender equality and the gender pay gap being on the forefront of public agenda this year in the UK, she thinks the app will have an even greater impact here.

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In episode 11 of the Reworked podcast, Rachael talks to Vix Anderton, a wellbeing specialist and co-founder of The Practical Balance.

The importance of wellbeing in the modern workplace cannot be underestimated. It has been estimated that 12.5 million working days were lost in 2016-17 due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety. But for many companies, approaches to dealing with the problem have only come in the form of short-sighted, box-ticking exercises.

So how can businesses make the structural and cultural changes necessary to entrench wellbeing as a core company principle? What can be done to reduce the pressure and expectation on employees? And what are the obstacles getting in the way, and how can we best move past them?

Vix answers these questions and many more as she talks to Rachael about the benefits that can follow when a company takes practical steps to incorporate wellbeing into its DNA. She also offers some invaluable tips on the steps we can all take to focus more on our own wellbeing in everyday life.

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For episode 12 of the ReWorked podcast, Rachael is joined by Victor Olisa, former Head of Diversity and Chief Superintendent at the Metropolitan Police.

Working for the Metropolitan Police is demanding. 12-hour shifts are becoming the norm, and a recent study revealed that 53% of officers are never or only rarely able to take their full rest break entitlement.

As Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Victor was tasked with the challenge of convincing these time-pressed officers to make his cause a priority. He tells Rachael the tactics that he used to ‘sell’ diversity and inclusion to the officers, and reflects on the positive changes to working culture and community engagement that he enabled.

Under Victor’s management, the Met saw a record level of BAME candidates join its ranks, with over 4,000 BAME officers recorded in 2016.

Yet despite this success, Victor is the first to admit that there is still a long way to go. Systemic issues with stop and search, BME mentoring programmes, and stress management remain. The podcast delves into these key problem areas, and Victor offers his own informed opinion on how they can be tackled.

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For episode 13 of the Reworked podcast, Rachael talks to Lauren Quigley, Business Growth Lead at the Mayor of London’s official promotional agency, London and Partners.

You may have heard the phrase ‘Behind every man is a great woman’. This year, London and Partners are turning that anachronism on its head. Women don’t stand behind great men; they power great cities, and the company’s #BehindEveryGreatCity campaign is setting out to prove it.

#BehindEveryGreatCity was launched at the start of 2018. The campaign aims to support and raise the profile of the capital’s top women entrepreneurs and break down the still-significant obstacles they face on the road to success: only 8% of the UK’s women entrepreneurs secure venture capital funding, for example.

Rachael talks to Lauren about hope for the future, and discusses how London and Partners are paving the way for women in business – delving into the importance of mentors, communities, and having the confidence to challenge investors.

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Naomi Dickson is chief executive of Jewish Women’s Aid, the only specialist organisation in the UK supporting Jewish women and children affected by domestic abuse and sexual violence. She’s been involved in the organisation for two decades, starting out as a volunteer. Last year Naomi’s tireless work to support vulnerable women was recognised when she was included in the BBC’s 100 Women list.
 
Naomi’s work intersects faith and vulnerable women. She talks to Rachael about how faith influences her leadership, the extent to which she thinks it’s important to reflect the diversity of the community her organisation serves, and the longer term ramifications of the recent media spotlight on anti-Semitism. We also ask: “what can organisations proactively do to mitigate Anti-Semitism and make sure Jewish employees feel included?”.

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For episode 14 of Reworked, Rachael catches up with Jim Gant and Keith Grafham, the team behind Feed Your Elephant, an exciting new start-up set to change the way people learn.

Have you ever stayed up all night cramming for an exam, only to find yourself drawing blanks the next day? That’s because our brains aren’t built to work that way.

Scientific evidence suggests that we learn much more effectively by absorbing small amounts of information over a sustained period. This is called spaced learning.

Jim has employed this science to create Feed Your Elephant, a series of applications designed to help you integrate new knowledge into your long-term memory. You can currently download the free apps to learn anything from capital cities, to the names and characteristics of wines.

However, the technology can also be used to supplement in-house training sessions. Spaced learning banishes the element of competition present in most other learning environments. It also uses the speed and accuracy at which you retain information to formulate personalised content and reminders.

Rachael talks to Jim and Keith about what the future holds for their spaced learning start-up. She learns the logistics behind the science that fuels it, and finds out how the company has already taken great leaps to boost confidence and performance in workplaces across the UK.

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In episode 15 of Reworked, Rachael Wilson talks to Rob Neil OBE, Head of Project Race at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the former Chair of the Civil Service Race Forum.

Rob provides a candid insight into his experience of being a black man in the Civil Service. With over three decades of lived experience, Rob offers a refreshingly honest analysis of the experience of minority groups in the workplace. He gives real examples of how he leads on diversity, how he is equipping his cohort of race ambassadors to do the same and talks about why he is calling on senior leaders to clear the runway so that progress on race equality can be made.

Sponsored by the Permanent Secretary and Civil Service Race Champion, Richard Heaton, Project Race is a corporate initiative that supports the delivery of MoJ’s published objectives to deliver increased numbers of BAME staff at senior Civil Service level. The project facilitates honest conversations with the aim of becoming more comfortable and confident talking about race across the MoJ. Project Race is part of the Civil Service’ ambitious diversity and inclusion strategy to become the UK’s most inclusive employer by 2020.

Rob was awarded an OBE in The Queen’s 2018 New Year’s Honours list for ‘Services to Race Equality in the workplace and the community’. He was shortlisted as an Ethnicity Awards Top 8 BAME Workplace Hero in August 2018.

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In episode 16 of Reworked, Rachael Wilson talks to the Gilane Tawadros, Chief Executive at DACS, a not-for-profit visual artists’ rights management organisation.

DACS was set up by artists for artists to help transform the financial landscape for visual artists, campaign for artists’ rights and champion their sustained and vital contribution to the creative economy.

Yet, sometimes it is easy to lose sight of your organisation’s core purpose. Gilane talks about the importance of DACS rediscovering its purpose and reconnecting with the people it is meant to serve: to support artists’ work and their ability to produce their artwork sustainably. Without having this deep understanding of artists’ needs and what these needs will be in the future at the heart of the organisation, it becomes increasingly difficult to remain relevant.

Cultural change does not happen overnight. Rachael and Gilane discuss the steps DACS took to implement a cultural change to help reconnect with artists and embed across all levels of the organisation the mantra – does this help artists? – to help build confidence and clarify DACS core purpose to both artists and the outside world.

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Tom Shakespeare is one of the UK’s leading social scientists. He is Professor of Disability Research at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He has taught, written and researched widely on disability rights and bioethics. In 2011 he co-authored and co-edited the World Report on Disability for the World Health Organisation. Among other things, he’s currently researching how the pandemic has impacted disabled people in England and Scotland, and writing a novel about a time-travelling pub. Tom continues to find time to be a broadcaster and regular contributor to news and current affairs programmes. 

We talk about making complex ideas simple, strength in adversity, and about giving voice to the lived experience of disabled people through the pandemic.

Learn more about Tom's work and follow him on Twitter.

Get in touch to find out how we can work with you to progress your organisation's inclusion.

 In Episode 17, Rachael is joined by a good friend of EW Group, Ruth Cooper-Dickson, to discuss how to remove the fear of saying no. Ruth also shares her practical tips on how to create more time for yourself despite having a hectic work schedule.

 Ruth is our partner for all Mental Health England accredited programmes and a well respected specialist in the field of mental health and wellbeing. She is also the founder of Champs Consultancy and a patron of the national anxiety charity, No Panic. 

We’re all creatures of (bad) habits. Hear more about our 5-point plan for wellbeing and making more time for you!

1. Creating space for yourself through morning routines

2. Establishing work boundaries

3. Having ceremonies or routines

4. Setting the pace of your day

5. Building on your strengths

 For more on the Miracle Morning, click here.

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Babita Sharma is a broadcaster, journalist and author. A well-known anchor for BBC News, Babita was born the daughter of first-generation immigrant shopkeepers in Reading, Berkshire.

Her family’s story was the starting point for her critically-acclaimed documentary Booze, Beans & Bhajis: The Story of the Corner Shop which aired on BBC Four in 2016. She has since published a book on the social history of the corner shop in Britain (which was a Between the Covers pick on BBC Two) and will soon get to work on a children’s picture book series. Babita is a big believer in unblocking barriers to progression for diverse groups and was a mentor on a programme which EW Group designed for the BBC in 2014.

We chat about her career so far, class, representation and finding a platform for her very personal story.

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In this episode, Rachael talks to Caroline Arnold, an executive coach and one of EW Group’s team of diversity and inclusion specialists, about how coaching can help individuals and how it fits into the broader organisational picture.

More organisations are recognising the importance of offering coaching and mentoring to its employees to help create progression pathways into senior positions which work for men and women equally.

For example, PwC recently announced it will begin assigning mentors – usually partners – to help female and ethnic minorities employees access career-defining opportunities and help tackle its gender pay gap.

Caroline’s interest in coaching, especially women, stems for her own personal experiences in forging her career path and background in HR which showed her that women compared to men didn’t always feel able to negotiate their own salary and benefit packages.

Learn how you can power up your career with coaching.

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Born in Bradford and now living by the sea in the North East, Kate Fox is a poet, comic, radio journalist and wild swimmer. A regular guest on BBC R4, she is a doctor of comedy – it was the subject of her PhD – and identifies as neurodivergent. Kate and Rachael discuss what happens when some of these passions and talents intersect and explore what neurodiversity in the workplace means for your colleagues.

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Learn more about how you can support neurodiversity by reading our workplace guide.

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This week, Rachael is talking to Pat Cox – reader in Social Work and Social Justice at University of Central Lancashire – about the diversity and inclusion issues surrounding migration.

We effectively live in a world on the move. We are increasingly looking for meaningful work, opportunities, better standards of living and adventure. Migration is undoubtedly one of the overarching issues of the 21st century sparking political and moral debates about nationalism, patriotism and the rights of migrant peoples across the world.

Yet, we still have limited knowledge about the experiences of migrants in the UK. And we know even less about the lived experiences of migrants escaping from torture, war and even the impact of climate change.

Pat shares her insights into the matter, what it means to a reader and the importance of challenging people on their preconceptions and initiating new ways of thinking about migration.

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In this week’s episode, Rachael is talking to Karen Venn, Diversity and Inclusion Project Manager at Network Rail about a new project Karen’s spearheading with her colleagues, ‘Everyone’s Guide to Menopause.’

Menopause is still a relatively taboo subject regarding women’s health. The average age menopause is reached is 50, affecting approximately 3.5 million women in the UK. Menopause affects women in different ways. And since we’re now living longer and retiring later, menopause will undoubtedly affect our working lives in some way.

It’s not often spoken about even within personal circles, let alone openly discussing its impact on employees’ wellbeing within the workplace. Not often do we find employers who are proactive in supporting women during this time. Yet, Karen and her team at Network Rail are tackling the subject head on. 

Launching the ‘Everyone Matters Guide to Menopause’, along with a short film on the subject, helpful resources and a support group, Network Rail are light years ahead in their approach in ensuring everyone feels supported at work and cultivating an inclusive work environment.

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Securing an environment of respect in which your team is encouraged to think critically are essential threads weaving into the fabric of your inclusive culture. Feeling encouraged to speak up, challenge thoughts, and have difficult conversations are vital in workplaces – after all, the most cutting-edge, risk taking and creative of organisations stray away from a monolith of thinking and approaches. Feeling empowered to do this without facing embarrassment or hostility must be a given.

We’re joined in this episode by EW Group experts, Sharla Smith, Nina Mayler and David Ruebain, to explore the increasingly debated topics of safe spaces and psychological safety. Hear how they approach these themes differently and discover why they think work cultures build on safety are key.

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Sue Unerman is Chief Transformation Officer at MediaCom, which is the UK’s largest Media Agency. She is also the co-author Belonging - The Key to Transforming and Maintaining Diversity, Inclusion and Equality at Work.

In this episode, Sue joins Rachael Wilson to discuss what makes belonging different to inclusion, why majority groups are so vital to progressing the diversity agenda and the role we can all play in reimagining the workplace.

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How do you engage those groups who don’t consider themselves ‘diverse’ in the diversity conversation? This is one challenge our clients all have in common at EW. During the pandemic, many of us have been working from home, some juggling childcare and homelife between partners in a way we had not done before. In some cases, fathers have spent more time with their children. They’ve been there for bath time instead of on a commuter train. And they’ve experienced first-hand how flexible working can enrich their lives. 

As Elliot told us when he visited the EW podcast, now is the time for organisations to consider better supporting the fathers in their workplace. The benefits are tangible and measurable: from talent retention to productivity. 

Elliot and Rachael also discuss the intersection of fatherhood with race, disability and sexuality. Elliott speaks candidly about the emotional labour of being a black man in the diversity field.

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In our first episode back for 2019, Rachael talks to Victoria Hills, Chief Executive of the Royal Town Planning Institute, on her career journey and important lessons she’s learnt on the way.

Until April 2018 Victoria Hills headed up the UK's largest re-generation project in West London. She’s now Chief Executive of the Royal Town Planning Institute, the largest planning institute in Europe. Touching upon on the importance of role models, networking and taking a risk to get the career you want, Victoria reflects on the milestones in her career so far and the challenges of getting to the top as a woman. Whilst the field of planning is still largely dominated by men, there’s phenomenal change underway with more and more women entering the industry. But what can be done to ensure that the industry is as representative and diverse as possible? Victoria shares her insights not only on the barriers to diversity, but her tips you can adopt now to get the career you want.

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In episode 2, Rachael talks to Salma El-Wardany, TEDx speaker, BBC Radio London host, business owner and poet, about her experiences as a Muslim woman in the 21st century both in wider society and in the workplace.

Salma discusses her experiences growing up in Newcastle, fighting in the revolution during the Arab Spring in Cairo, working in the corporate world in London, and starting her own marketing business as a young Muslim woman. Salma stresses the importance of not just giving lip service to diversity, but the need to do something, to be constructive with our anger and challenge dominant narratives that normalise prejudice and discrimination.

This related blog also provides useful tips on what we could each do to impact lasting change and create more inclusive cultures.

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Nicki Pritchard is a Managing Partner and Founder at executive search firm Anderson Quigley, who specialise in working with and supporting organisations who have a social purpose in the public sector, from health and education to non-profit and beyond.

In this episode, Rachael and Nicki discuss the importance of the recruitment industry in driving diversity and inclusivity, and how Anderson Quigley has embedded EDI and social purpose throughout their business. Exploring how organisations can affect change and bring greater inclusivity, Nicki explains the culture at Anderson Quigley and the steps they have taken to encourage diversity at all levels of the business.  

Nicki says “We always champion new people who are coming into the business and bringing new skill sets, experience and backgrounds with them. It’s this breadth and depth of diversity that we really value – it’s what makes us a really good team to be a part of but it is also this diversity that makes our business hugely successful.”

EW Group has been working closely with Anderson Quigley for over three years, delivering training, consultancy and coaching support. Rachael and Nicki explain the impact of EW’s programmes and how they have helped Anderson Quigley create an inclusive culture which values diversity. 

In this week's episode, Rachael talks to Cherron Inko-Tariah MBE, former civil servant and founder of the Power of Staff Networks.

Cherron Inko-Tariah is one of those inspiring people who has turned her passion for staff networks into her specialism. Cherron is the author of The Incredible Power of Staff Networks, which is a go-to guide for setting up, getting buy-in and making a success of staff networks. She now works across the UK and internationally to support the creation of staff networks. In 2011, Cherron received an MBE for her services to the UK government and her work in the faith community with young people. In this episode, Cherron shares her insights and tips on what makes a successful staff network (and what doesn't) and how you can start your own staff network within your organisation.

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As December is Disability History Month, the topic of today’s podcast is disability in the tech industry. Winston Ben Clements, EW Group Disability & Inclusion Specialist, talks to Matthew Gough, HR Business Partner at Element, about the bias in algorithms and ways we can improve disability awareness in the tech industry.

Winston said: "As we start to think about the ways we can counteract bias, we need to look at our technology and processes. The people inputting the data project their own biases into the programmes and algorithms they are creating, introducing inherent bias into the system."

Matthew also shares insights into the culture at Element and the work EW Group has been supporting them with to build disability awareness across the organisation and a more inclusive culture for all.

Matthew said: "It's an exciting time within Element from a diversity and inclusion perspective. As part of our DE&I programme, EW Group recently facilitated a fantastic workshop on resilience and coping strategies, with a particular focus on those with disabilities. We are excited to continue our journey and build on our progress to date to create a more inclusive workplace for all. By building policies, processes and best practice, diversity and inclusion will become organic and engrained within the organisation."

Follow EW Group on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news and thinking in diversity and inclusion.

EW Group has worked with organisations to build more diverse and inclusive cultures for almost thirty years. Get in touch to explore how we can work with you to build safe and inclusive environments at work.

In this week's episode, we're changing things up. In our new "How to rework" guides, Rachael Wilson breaks down the big topics in diversity and inclusion, starting with unconscious bias.

In this episode, Rachael is tackling unconscious bias. From answering 'what is unconscious bias?' to discussing 'how does it affect us at work?', 'what's the science behind it?' and 'what can we do to address unconscious bias?', all grounds are covered.

Learn more about EW Group's bespoke unconscious bias training and how we can support your organisation in becoming more inclusive.

Connect with Rachael on LinkedIn or Twitter.

You're listening to Reworked, the EW Group podcast on company culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to create inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our website.

In this latest episode of our reWorked podcast, Polly Shute and Tash Thomas, EW Group Diversity & Inclusion Consultants, discuss how organisations can create authentic communications to acknowledge LGBT+ History Month in February in the UK and Pride in June.

With 2022 marking its 50th year, Tash and Polly share insights into the history of Pride as a protest, how it has evolved over the years and explore how brands can meaningfully support the LGBT+ community and Pride all year round.

Polly said: "It is important organisations remember Pride is an emotional brand and make sure they understand the history of Pride and what it actually means before creating an internal or external campaign. Discuss with your ERG networks, colleagues, communities and charities to engage with it effectively and make a positive contribution to your employees and clients."

Tash commented: “One of the challenges is some companies may not even be aware of what their staff demographics are – Out Now’s research in 2020 found only 45% of LGBT+ people in the UK feel able to be out to everyone at work. Just because they might not be visibly out and proud, doesn’t mean they don’t exist in the organisation.”

You can also download our factsheet with 10 top tips on how brands can meaningfully engage with Pride.

Follow EW Group on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news and thinking in diversity and inclusion.

EW Group has worked with organisations to build more diverse and inclusive cultures for almost thirty years. Get in touch to explore how we can work with you to build safe and inclusive environments at work.