My D&I Journey with:
Lyndon Campbell,
Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion,
HomeServe
My D&I Journey with:1. What was your journey into diversity and inclusion?
Like many in the D&I profession, this wasn’t part of a plan! Throughout my career, equity and inclusion has always been a prominent concern for me. I involved myself in both community activity and professional forums, and tried to authentically bring an inclusive culture into the workplace. I had never actually considered D&I as a profession but when a dedicated role was created in my workplace, l was approached by a senior colleague and asked to apply for the position. I was successful and, over a decade later, l have taken on newly created D&I roles across four different industries.
2. How would you describe a typical day in your role?
My main aim each day is to progress our D&I strategy, which encompasses multiple programmes. I work flexibly across our sites, ensuring l’m a visible and available presence to every level of the business. I tend to be in daily contact with our Exec team, who sponsor the D&I programmes, as well as with the various leads of our Inclusion Network. Many days will also see me presenting to one of our teams or networking with external partners. I also do a lot of work behind the scenes developing our programmes, creating learning material, planning internal communications, analysing our data and reviewing policies.
3. What is the best part of your job?
The best part is knowing that l’m contributing to an area that will improve the lives of the people that l work with, especially those that feel unheard. While there is a clear business case for D&I and l do set targets for every programme that l oversee, my greatest satisfaction is from the intangibles. It’s amazing to get feedback from someone that l’ve supported or to hear reports on how people feel safer and more valued at work. I also appreciate knowing that l’m contributing to the recruitment, retention and development of our people, in a way that provides fairer opportunities for everyone.
4. What advice would you give to someone looking to move into D&I?
Be aware that most of the work is done behind the scenes. For every public triumph, there’s been weeks or months of due diligence, communication, influencing, compromising and legwork behind the scenes. Passion for the role is important but it is resilience that will keep your head above water. D&I can be a lonely and, at times, traumatic role but this is balanced out by the opportunity to create authentic positive change for your colleagues and customers. This is an amazing role to be in but l’ve advised others that to make the role work, “l’m a pragmatist, not an evangelist”.
5. What are the main challenges faced by D&I professionals at the moment?
I think the main challenge is feeling insecure about the long-term stability of this profession. There’s a lot of negative press around D&I roles and a dangerous rhetoric, within our own shores and from across the Atlantic. It’s still a relatively new profession but one that will hopefully grow with time. I often equate D&I to how ‘health & safety’ was regarded 20 years ago. It was seen as an inconvenience and an overcorrection to many. Nowadays, it’s at the forefront of the thinking of every reputable company and most people would never think about working somewhere that didn’t uphold it to the highest standards. I hope to see D&I take a similar trajectory.
6. Name three skills that support you to succeed in D&I
The three most vital skills that l’ve developed are influencing, adaptability and resilience. D&I is a collaborative profession and it’s vital to engage people from every area of the organisation (and beyond) and be able to influence them into supporting your aspirations. D&I complements other areas, which means adapting to the work and priorities of others. As the role can often be standalone, there’s a need to adapt to every element of the work, from booking meetings to presenting in front of hundreds. There’s also pushback and ignorance from others, and you get exposed to the worst kind of behaviours. Developing resilience is very necessary.
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The Foundations to Being an Effective D&I Leader
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600+ DE&I and HR professionals have now attended our ‘The Foundations to Being an Effective D&I Leader’ CPD Accredited online training series.
- Level 1 is for professionals looking to move into a D&I role, or those who have been in a D&I leader role for less than 12 months.
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