This week’s diversity and inclusion (D&I) champion is Paula Leach, Chief People Officer (CPO) of FDM Group. Although she has never had a role specifically with the D&I title, every HR role that she’s worked in during the last 25 years (at both multinational firms and SMEs) has included many elements of it. “You don’t need to have a D&I title to create change in this space,” she maintains. Her advice to anyone who is passionate about D&I/wellbeing, “is to be bold and just start making things happen. After all, it’s the bold few who create momentum and change”. Here she outlines some of her D&I/wellbeing work at FDM, the challenges she has faced and the solutions that have worked for her.
FAIRPLAYTALKS: Tell us about your current role and what attracted you to the wellbeing/D&I space?
PAULA LEACH: My career in the last two decades has always been in the people space. I studied Business at University for my undergraduate degree with a major in Human Resources, and I have always been particularly interested in psychology, human behaviour and wellbeing. In fact, over 25 years ago my undergraduate dissertation studied the effect of ‘individualistic versus collective cultures on occupational stress’ and this was in the early 1990s, well before the inclusion or wellbeing movements. My purpose in life is to help myself, other individuals, teams and systems to optimise potential in pursuit of productivity and shared endeavour.
I have never held a position, which has the title of D&I, however, every single role I have ever undertaken has many aspects of it running through it. I have worked across all functions and disciplines of a multinational manufacturing business, as CPO in a Government Department and now as Global CPO of an organisation launching careers and building talent pipelines for business.
I very purposefully made the move to my current position because having worked in HR departments in large corporate and public sector organisations, I felt that I wanted to contribute more to shift the way we are incorporating the human experience into our workplaces. At FDM Group I have the opportunity to work with many organisations supporting their strategic workforce planning, such that we broaden the focus from financials and headcount to a wider systemic view, right upstream in the resourcing decision making cycle. I feel this is where leadership can make the most difference. I also love the fact that we are building opportunities for individuals who may not always find their own way to amazing careers, and we are able to facilitate that.
FAIRPLAYTALKS: What’s the most rewarding part of your role?
PAULA LEACH: Recently our consultants and internal employees got together to form a new employee network and they called this Network Unique. The network is for Autistic employees to share their stories and give voice to the wider awareness we need to build in order to enable and support their talent and creativity to thrive. Hearing their stories, as well as stories of ex-military personnel who have bridged the gap to civilian working lives, or returners to work after a career break finding their confidence and contributing, is thrilling for me. We support so many people to find opportunities to fly, and it is hugely rewarding to feel that I am now part of this fantastic mission.
FAIRPLAYTALKS: In your opinion, how vital is the D&I role within organisations today, and what steps are you taking to prioritise the wellbeing/D&I agenda in your organisation?
PAULA LEACH: I am passionate about this. I personally see diversity, inclusion and wellbeing as part of the overall ‘people experience’. This is a term, which is being heralded in a lot of literature and workplaces at present, and in my view rightly so. As AI and technology grow in significance in terms of knowledge and task work in organisations, it is an exciting time. D&I is very embedded in our model of working at FDM. We have the opportunity to leverage the very thing that enabled us to thrive and develop as a species on this planet and that is human creativity, innovation, problem solving and socialisation. The very nature of the future of work is human, and in order to optimise this, we need to be open to and celebrate every perspective. We are positioned in a really interesting place to be both leaders and challengers in this space. I am currently building a D&I strategy, which will enable us to challenge the status quo, alongside as diverse a cohort of talent as possible. It’s also an opportunity to cheerlead and champion everyone’s contributions, and supporting ‘enabling conditions’ at work to ensure that the talent that we develop and nurture, can grow with vigour and life!
FAIRPLAYTALKS: What are the top challenges you face as a wellbeing/D&I professional?
PAULA LEACH: I’m sad to say it but the top challenge is money. The way many organisations remain set up for funding, either externally through shareholders or internally through budget systems, does not take into account all the value of human creativity. Resources are still very much seen as resources, and being upstream enough in the decision-making process around funding and how best to spend our money to enhance inclusive practices is rare.
What I would like to see moving forwards, when organisation’s are designing their team structures and the resources that can be afforded, is a wider consideration of how to ensure that we build diverse and inclusive teams, rather than building a plan based on each resource being a number with a cost attached, and then looking at D&I/wellbeing as a consideration after budgets are all set. The way we choose to spend our precious organisational financial resources may change if we take into account these wider considerations further upstream. I spend quite a bit of my time advising organisations on this broader approach to strategic workforce planning.
The next challenge is data. There is a lot of data around, but organising this into insight, and relating this to the wider business context is not always a priority or asked for in a way that means we are developing the capability and the insight enters the decision-making forums. The critical element here is to ensure that we are able to use the data that we have to tell the rounded story with regard to inclusion and wellbeing in the workplace, which will help us to be much clearer about which interventions work and which less so. I believe the opportunity here lies both with the capability and capacity within organisations to analyse the data and provide insight. It’s up to senior leadership to ask appropriate questions to work towards root cause interventions that make a sustainable difference.
The final challenge is something I call ‘initiative-itis’. We could call this delegation, or lack of leadership/personal ownership. This is where there is a commitment to inclusion and wellbeing from the leadership, which then often gets passed to say the HR department, who enact and report on progress of the initiatives put in place. However, this is not leadership of an inclusive environment, and part of the reason why initiatives often fail. My experience would tell me that, whilst initiatives and interventions can help to provide support in organisations, the real sustainable change happens when leaders shape a culture, which puts diversity considerations continually at the heart of every decision and every communication and behaviour in the organisation. This is not a process, rather the essence of purposefully leading an inclusive culture through beliefs, behaviours and actions.
FAIRPLAYTALKS: Which diversity spectrums are you focusing on right now?
PAULA LEACH: To be honest we are focusing on everything and it can be overwhelming, but I can’t see another option. It’s easier to collect data in some areas, than others, to see where we are and how we are doing, so that impacts what we do in that space. But I am open for us to ensure that we are developing support across all areas of difference – the sharing of stories and creation of awareness outside of our own circles of experience is a key focus. The key success of a flourishing network within an organisation is the ownership within the employee community and the ‘grassroots’ energy. With our Unique Network, which was started by a collection of passionate employees wanting to share their stories, they find support for themselves, support others and raise awareness so those who may not experience Autism directly can be more mindful and educated, therefore reducing unconscious bias or behaviours. We have a similar situation with our LEAD Network, which has been driven by a group of passionate BAME colleagues and their recent series of activities, highlighting Black History Month, were inclusive and open for everyone to participate in. My job is to ensure that when this passion to share, support and learn exists, we provide the support for these networks to flourish.
The other area I particularly would highlight for the coming year is disability, because I am really keen to ensure that we continually challenge ourselves to be proactive and to champion ability and capability rather than focus on reactively adjusting our working world to enable people to fully participate.
FAIRPLAYTALKS: Are organisations doing enough to become more ‘inclusive’ to create that sense of ‘belonging’ for all employees?
PAULA LEACH: I think this has so much to do with three things: Purpose, trust and agency. This requires quite a different approach to leadership than we may have adopted in the past. I want everyone to feel that we are walking in the same direction, towards the same mission and that we all care about it. That is establishing purpose and clarity. Then as a leader, I need to get out of the way and create space for my fabulous people that I have hired to bring all their talents towards that purpose. Finally, I need to ensure that each and every person feels their responsibility keenly to contribute and their agency or ability to do so. This might be building skills, sharing team goals, so there is peer accountability, valuing and recognising contributions, etc. At the end of the day if we have purpose, trust and agency then, everyone has a value and ‘feeling valued’ is the core of belonging.
FAIRPLAYTALKS: What advice do you have for others aspiring to work in the wellbeing/D&I field?
PAULA LEACH: Just be bold. Look objectively at what is happening now, gather data where you can, and then imagine what you are trying to create. It won’t be hard to see what needs to be done, but don’t get caught up in corporate systems of action plans and reporting progress against process. Measure success on productivity and feeling. Challenge leaders to really look inside themselves as to whether their current daily, weekly practices, their behaviours and ways of working are supporting or stifling voices in their organisation.
FAIRPLAYTALKS: What advice do you have for those who are just at the beginning of their wellbeing/D&I journey?
Create conversation. Inclusion is inherently inclusive, so create as many opportunities for open discussion about how people feel, what helps them to feel good about their work and their purpose, and truly listen. Everything comes from here – everyone in an organisation needs to be compassionate, kind and humble to each other – and that isn’t just for leaders in the organisation, it works the other way too.
FAIRPLAYTALKS: For those already on this journey, which data/metrics, if any, should they work on to help them achieve the results they seek from wellbeing/D&I investment?
PAULA LEACH: Productivity towards purpose. I say that with intention because it isn’t just about productivity which is often measured in quite a binary way, such as X number of units produced against target, or X revenue supporting X profit. I see productivity towards a purpose, ie ‘what is the point of this organisation’? And then looking at the key measures of what you are doing. That could be a customer satisfaction measurement, for example. If we do the right things in the people space, then our productivity towards our purpose will improve, and as a result, I bet those X metrics probably will too!
FAIRPLAYTALKS: What advice do you have for D&I executives/organisations, who are struggling to move the agenda from conversation into action that drives desirable results?
PAULA LEACH: I just feel that we need to be bold and just do things. Often we spend so much time waiting for authorisation to spend on a project, or writing up a paper to justify why we should be doing something and most of what we need to do, just doesn’t even cost anything! We are just creating delegated initiatives to compensate for a lack of authentic leadership in this space. We may not be able to change other people, but we can do what we can. So I urge anyone who has a passion for this space, to stop asking for permission and just start making things happen. If we look back at history, that is how change actually happens. It is the bold few who create momentum and change through their own self-enlightenment and behaviour. After all, it’s all we truly have.
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