Carolyn Jameson (CJ): We try to address diversity in everything we do. For instance, we adopt flexible working hours. We don’t really have core hours and essentially we say to people, ‘you work to suit you’. It really helps personally for me − I’ve got three kids.
Continue reading “Interview: Carolyn Jameson, chief legal officer, Skyscanner”
I think there is something about risk aversion within the legal profession, and I think there is this notion that if you widen your intake, to diversify your staff base, you might somehow lower standards or you might compromise excellence. There’s no evidence for this whatsoever – and there’s partly no evidence because they’re not hiring these people in the first place!
Continue reading “Interview: David Johnston, chief executive, Social Mobility Foundation”
Diversity and inclusion within National Grid and the legal team has been a priority over the last 12 years. We have an aim to mirror the populations we serve. National Grid does a lot of work in communities; we are involved with work on power lines and digging up streets – we are out there and people expect to see a diverse workforce.
Continue reading “Interview: Alison Kay, chief legal officer, National Grid”
Do lawyers have a key part to play in diversity and inclusion (D&I)? My gut says yes, we have elevated responsibilities in terms of fiduciary duties and as regulated professionals, so I believe we should hold ourselves to a heightened standard, but everyone has a role to play. I wouldn’t want to say that legal has an obligation to do anything different to the rest of our colleagues, but the fact is we are often, as a profession, at the forefront of things. I don’t think anyone should abdicate their responsibility towards D&I – because it is ultimately about doing the right thing.
GC: Can you give me an idea of how and why you started Rare Recruitment?
Continue reading “Interview: Raphael Mokades, founder, Rare Recruitment”
GC: Is your diversity and inclusion approach primarily driven by internal factors or external pressures?
Continue reading “Interview: Sandie Okoro, general counsel, HSBC Global Asset Management”
Vodafone as a whole has a D&I strategy, which covers the three Cs: colleagues, customers and communities. ‘Colleagues’ is what we do for employees. We work hard to make sure there’s a talent and gender balance in every team, we look at career life stages, and then we look at making sure there’s an inclusive culture.
Continue reading “Interview: Kerry Phillip, legal director, Vodafone Group Enterprise”
GC: Is your diversity and inclusion strategy primarily driven from internal factors or external pressures?
Firstly, diversity is about the war for talent. It is extremely competitive to get the best people: to attract them, retain them, to encourage the best out of them and to help career progression.
Continue reading “Interview: Patrick Rowe, deputy GC, Accenture”
Our strategy is really driven by both internal and external pressures. The big focus is obviously on the fact that we want to retain the best people out there. I think it is paying off as we are ranked the most sought-after FMCG [fast-moving consumer goods] employer in the world and the third most sought-after employer across all sectors for the second year running, according to a survey by LinkedIn. I think our focus on inclusivity is actually key in retaining hires.
Continue reading “Interview: Ritva Sotamaa, chief legal officer, Unilever”