Yahoo Finance DIAL Global Summit: CEOs pledge to move the dial on diversity
Founder and CEO of DIAL Global Leila McKenzie-Delis is joined by a panel of leading CEO’s to discuss the CEO Activist Pledge: Moving the DIAL on Diversity. DIAL Global and their founding partners have come together to call on all UK organisations to sign up to their four-goal pledge on diversity, inclusion, belonging and equity.
PANEL:
Leila McKenzie-Delis — CEO and founder of DIAL Global
Steve Murrells — Chief executive officer of the Co-operative Group
Dean Curtis — Group managing director of risk & business analytics at RELX
Helen Calcraft — CEO of Lucky Generals
Niamh Furey — Managing director UK and Ireland at Fresenius Kabi Limited
LEILA:
To set the scene, why would you say the CEO activist pledge is crucial in 2022? What made you a founding member?
STEVE:
If we have a look back, there is no doubt that this pressure cooker around a more inclusive society for the country, but also businesses, has been bubbling away since the moment COVID shone a light on the unfairness in the country and across the globe. It can’t be right that the colour of your skin or where you come from dictates your life chances. This pledge is so everyone can do a collective movement for change.
That change happens when it is championed by CEOs and the leadership team. If we could get up to 100 CEOs pledging behind this, we would see some momentum in how UK businesses treat this subject.
Our four focuses are:
Committing to ensure we have an inclusive workplace
Committing to the fact we will measure our progress every year and use the 10 commitments of D&I to hold us accountable
Promise to share and implement our D&I plans with each other
Ensure it has clear accountabilities back to the CEO and leadership team
Leadership is becoming a leader shift into a new era. This is about a movement, evolution and driving through numbers and platforms that our CEO’s have, to drive change for society at large.
LEILA:
Why do we believe that it’s so important for other organisations to get involved and take a stance on inclusion right now?
DEAN:
The corporate world has a responsibility and transformative power to drive positive change in D&I throughout our organisations. A few years ago, CEOs and executives weren’t speaking out on societal issues and I’m glad that’s changed. You can’t build respect and trust unless people know what you stand for as a leader or organisation.
LEILA:
Why do you personally care about embedding inclusion and belonging in your workplace culture?
NIAMH:
Fresenius Kabi is part of a large global healthcare company and our services are there to treat critically ill patients. Our UK customer is the NHS and their workforce is more diverse now than at any point during its history. It’s important that we align with their strategy and workforce.
For me, it comes down to our values as a company and our corporate philosophy — caring for life. If we truly want to care for life, we need to be able to understand and see things through the eyes of all our patients and only then can we truly deliver the best possible care. I see myself as an enabler.
I see my role is to ensure that every employee feels accepted and appreciated for their uniqueness. If they can feel that, then they and we as a company can truly make an important contribution to healthcare and for me, that’s what success is.
LELIA:
We all feel this sense of do we belong or do we not belong and a large part of the role of a CEO is that of an enabler. Why is it so important to remove the obstacles that could stand in the way of different types of people?
DEAN:
The different views, backgrounds and experiences and making sure that everyone is heard really does provide an opportunity for businesses to improve the outcomes that they’re getting over what they’ve got in the past. All statistics show that diverse teams outperform those that aren’t and it’s encouraging now that we’re starting to see that.
LEILA:
What advice would you give to future leaders to act now?
HELEN:
Diversity is a journey, not a destination. This is part of human evolution and we’ve got a huge amount of learning and growing to do. Diversity has to be a movement — not a department. It needs to involve every single person in your organisation as a team sport.
It’s also critical that those of us of an older generation can learn from the younger generation. We’re having to catch up based on our lived experience, whereas younger people are much more open, revolutionary and politically motivated to create that change.
Finally, it’s not enough to say ‘let’s turn attention to action’ as it’s not just action — it’s accelerated action. What can I do to make this happen faster?
NIAMH:
My advice is to open your mind and don’t be afraid to learn. Seek support and guidance as nobody expects you to know the answer. Reach out to DIAL GLOBAL and other CEOs and attend these summits. See things through the eyes of your staff and not just your own.
STEVE:
This isn’t a quick fix. Be ready to be criticised. There will be many that value what you’re doing but many who aren’t open to this issue.
LEILA:
It’s about feeling that fear and doing it anyway. Better to say something than nothing at all. One final thought from To Kill a Mockingbird — you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.
