Christos Tsaprounis shares his passion for D&I

On International Men’s Day today Fair Play Talks to Auto Trader’s Head of People & Culture, Christos Tsaprounis.

Christos Tsaprounis describes himself as a ‘people geek’ and a diversity and inclusion (D&I) advocate with expertise across many different industries. Having spent four years at the Co-operative Bank before joining Auto Trader in 2014, he now focuses on creating an inclusive space for all staff to thrive in. 

Since joining Auto Trader, Tsaprounis has picked up several awards, including the Recruiter magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Impact Award. He is a Leadership Fellow of St. George’s House, Windsor Castle, Trustee of Survivors Manchester and works with various other charities and community groups across the UK. Tsaprounis – also a highly sought-after D&I speaker – talks about his passion for making a real difference in the D&I space, and shares some of the D&I initiatives that he is involved with at Auto Trader.

FAIR PLAY TALKS: Why did you specialise in the D&I profession? What are your aspirations in this role?

CHRISTOS TSAPROUNIS: My motivation is deeply personal especially as I grew up realising that some aspects of who I am do not always fit into what is acceptable in society’s norms. Early on I developed an appreciation of the challenges one faces when they are perceived to be different, but also the potential of each and every individual; we are so brilliantly unique. I was so lucky to have studied in Greek, American and UK educational institutions, being inspired by great teachers in environments that really opened my eyes to the benefits of what diversity of thinking and inclusion can bring. My professional career has taken me around different businesses, from family owned to multinational corporates and from the Greek Navy to Manchester charities. People, culture and D&I have always been my focus; but it was only when I joined Auto Trader, almost five years ago, that I found myself in an organisation that has a genuine desire to make a real difference in all those areas.

FAIR PLAY TALKS: In your opinion, how vital is the D&I role within organisations today?

CHRISTOS TSAPROUNIS: I think it is absolutely vital for the success of the business that cares about its people and its customers. One important question to answer though is who carries out the D&I role? In my opinion, it can’t be just one individual, but a group of people from across the business. I am not disputing that parts of the role require indepth knowledge, experience and skills, as well as dedication of time and energy to drive change, so having specialists is important, but it should really be everyone’s job to contribute to create a diverse and inclusive organisation. 

FAIR PLAY TALKS: What’s the most rewarding part of your role?

CHRISTOS TSAPROUNIS: Being able to see the effect our work has on people, but also the success of our business. Receiving feedback from colleagues about how they are benefiting on a personal level gives me incredible satisfaction; most of the credit is due to the individuals themselves who are truly inspiring, but it is humbling to realise that the support we provide as a business plays a part as well.

FAIR PLAY TALKS: What are the top challenges you face as a D&I professional? 

CHRISTOS TSAPROUNIS: D&I is constantly evolving and rightly so. That brings with it the challenge to keep yourself up to date with the legislation, best practice, ideas, language you use, practices that work, and practices with good intentions but not the right outcomes. You need to keep yourself informed, as well as continuously educating people across your business. 

Combining the needs of each person in your organisation with the commercial and operational needs of your business is also challenging. Yes, they go hand in hand, and our business wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for our brilliant people. We strongly believe that, but in practice there is a balance that you need to keep and choices you need to make almost on a daily basis.

It is not always easy to know what is right as it is a really multi-faceted and complex area. It requires a lot of care, consideration and consultation with various people across your own business and trusted partners outside. I think that is why sometimes businesses postpone dealing with issues relating to D&I when they realise that there is more than one solution. Like most problems, involving more people in finding solutions can lead to better outcomes.

FAIR PLAY TALKS: Which diversity spectrums are you focusing on the most and why?

CHRISTOS TSAPROUNIS: We take into account all aspects of diversity and for now we have decided to concentrate on LGBT+, gender, race and ethnic origin, disability and neurodiversity, age and social mobility. We have identified that there are areas where our employee make-up is not representative of the communities in which we operate in, including our customer’s communities. Secondly there are aspects that our colleagues are passionate about, and there are issues within our industries that require positive and deliberate action in order to bring change.

Although we haven’t seen big changes in the numbers as we would have liked, we are definitely moving in right direction. We are attracting and retaining more women, more LGBT+, disabled and neurodiverse people and people from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds. But it’s important not to lose faith. Just because we are not seeing big numbers, doesn’t not mean our initiatives are necessarily not working. It’s a long process and you have to be in it for the long run to see results, especially when it comes to hiring more women in STEM.

There aren’t enough women in some roles, such as developers and software engineers. However, we are doing a lot of educational outreach to educate and highlight jobs for girls in STEM so we can contribute to develop the pipeline.  

Over the past few years we have taken part in the Disability Confident Scheme and have achieved the ‘Disability Leader’ level. We have successfully been hosting summer paid internships for disabled students as part of the Leonard Cheshire Change 100 programme. Three interns from that programme have been offered a permanent job with us after completing their degree. We are taking part in the Autism at Work initiative with the National Autistic Society and are in the process of recruiting two people for a six-month placement, which will hopefully lead to permanent employment.

I don’t necessarily agree with setting unrealistic quotas because trying to achieve them can lead to undesired and wrong behaviours. I believe it’s important to take positive action and measure what you are doing, so you can establish if you are getting the desired results. 

FAIR PLAY TALKS: Are organisations doing enough to become more ‘inclusive’? In your opinion, what more could they be doing?

CHRISTOS TSAPROUNIS: I see there are good things happening – examples of businesses and individuals come up every day. Being part of the Inclusive Companies Network, we get access to so many brilliant people from a variety of industries. However, there are areas where we have not even scratched the surface and trying to tackle issues that are complex and hardwired into our societies is no easy task. Organisations should focus on the long-term benefits of inclusion and measuring the impact of what they are doing.

FAIR PLAY TALKS: What advice do you have for others aspiring to work in the D&I field?

CHRISTOS TSAPROUNIS: Start by educating yourself and never forget to keep on learning. Read as much as you can, talk to people that are willing to share and engage in debate. Use your experiences to fuel your passion, but always remember that D&I is wide ranging so don’t narrow your focus only to areas of personal interest.