Allies
Allyship is now a firm part of our organisation’s culture and operations. The movement goes from strength to strength, whilst still maintaining an ethos of ground-up, organic and authentic progress.
Within the Odgers Berndtson group of companies, there are ten allies groups;
As we know, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are a journey and there isn’t a clear destination. Rather, we all collectively and individually make a contribution to supporting each other in supporting all communities and ensuring that we grow in our knowledge and understanding of each other and our client/ candidate communities.
Allies are central to making this happen.
Membership of such groups is on a voluntary basis. Some people join on account of identifying with the requisite topic, but others are involved in order to support the agenda or indeed to educate themselves further. Each group has either a Chair or two Co-Chairs who loosely coordinate programmes of activity in an inclusive way.
Allyship can take many forms including organising events and writing content, but it can also be about calling in and calling out behaviours (#TNU/#TSU) or providing support and advice to colleagues.
#That's Not Us/#That's So Us
Allyship can take many forms including organising events and writing content, but it can also be about calling in and calling out behaviours or providing support and advice to colleagues.
It is notable that active Allies find it a rich and fulfilling part of their professional life. It helps them build internal networks and progress their own knowledge of the world around them.
“Leading an Allies Group makes my job even more exciting. It is something that I couldn’t do in another firm.”
Each group’s work manifests itself in different ways and the agendas change year on year. For example, the Disability Allies group have made a significant practical contribution to the business’s work related to the Disability Confident Level Three Programme, whilst equally delivering a range of awareness raising collateral internally.
OMG! has made tremendous inroads to individual’s personal experiences at work via an updated Menopause Policy and a Menopause Passport to enable work adjustments. Of particular note has been the range of Menopause Cafes that have been hosted where colleagues have had the opportunity to interact with experts in the field:
- Melissa Sookia of LIVVE (an online pharmacy for the menopause). To HRT or not HRT?
- Rachel Holmes of Linwoods and Jane of Vital Nutrition. Nutrition in the Menopause.
- Helen Normoyle of My Menopause Centre. A safe space for colleagues of all genders to learn about the menopause.
- Gia Mills of Skin in Motion. Skincare in the menopause.
There have also been glorious celebrations including;
- An Afternoon Tea for Pride Month
- A range of informative newsletters to highlight and promote Neurodiversity Celebration Week
- Welcoming Helen Philpot as Managing Director of the Sun Newspaper for International Women’s Day
- Bringing together colleagues with caring responsibilities in order to share experiences both as a group and via one to one “random” coffee breaks
- Working externally with the Talent Foundry and the 93% club via our Social Mobility Allies group
The groups have plentiful ideas as to what the future looks like for Allyship and some of the themes include;
- Intersectionality through the Ethnicity and Faith & Spirituality groups working further together
- OMG! continuing to work with GenM to develop a Kite Mark for our Services and Products
- Supporting colleagues to further use some of the learning and best practice that we have developed in their work with clients and candidates
It is clear that our Allies Groups operate on a range of different levels and have different modus operandi as befits such a plethora of subject matters. Interestingly, one of the interventions that caught colleagues’ eyes the most was a newsletter that focused on “Why I am an LGBTQ+ Ally.” Communicating individual’s personal stories and motivations really highlighted the diverse membership of the group and offered insight to the culture that they seek to promulgate. There will be more such newsletters coming out in the near future.
Call to action
Allyship is a constructive and fun way to make a contribution to the rich life of our business. We appreciate that not everyone feels they have a full grasp of the subject matter related to each of the strands that we focus on, but by getting involved, that can change. We therefore urge colleagues who are not yet allies to put up their hands and join in.
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