Accelerate Change & The ED&I Agenda, Promote A Sense Of Real Belonging & Power Long-Lasting Organisational Impact:
Practical Implementation, Action & Interventions For Impactful & Integrated Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Strategies
Unbiased Recruitment & Talent Management • Engaged & High-Performing Inclusive Cultures • Allyship At Work • Engaging The Hybrid Workforce • Disability & Accessibility: A Business Priority • Employee Mental Health & Wellbeing • Empowering Neurodiversity • Advocating Social Mobility • Supporting LGTBQ+ Employees • Racial Inclusion & Equity • Reimagined DEI Leadership • Intersectional Outlooks • Data, Measurement & Long-Lasting Impact
08.30 Registration, Informal Networking & GIC Welcome
09.00 Morning Co-Chairs’ Opening Remarks
Mabinty Esho, Head of DEIB, Comic Relief
Sarah Fox, Former Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Virgin Media O2
UNBIASED RECRUITMENT & TALENT MANAGEMENT
OPENING KEYNOTE
Fresh Strategies
09.10 Revolutionise Recruitment Practices & Combat Hiring Biases To Attract & Retain Top Talent, Diversify Workforces & Create Inclusive Pipelines For All Applicants
- Advocate best practice strategies to broaden enrolment scope which attracts a diverse talent pool and fosters an inclusive working culture
- Revamp and revitalise! Innovate business-critical recruitment practices and strategies to eliminate bias and diversify your talent pools
- CV blindness, agile job descriptions, standardised interview processes…. what practical steps can you take to reduce bias in your hiring practices?
- It isn’t just about recruiting new talent… what about engaging your current talent? Deep dive into your post-hire practices to cultivate clear career journeys and maximise talent retention
Jonathan Briggs, Group Head, Talent Acquisition & Diversity & Inclusion, Aviva
ENGAGED, HIGH-PERFORMING & INCLUSIVE CULTURES
09.30 Embed Engaged & Inclusive Workplace Cultures That Drive Employee Wellbeing, Psychological Safety & Ultimately Fuel Personal Performance & Wider Business Goals
- How can you stand out from the crowd? Uncover the latest strategies and innovative frameworks to cultivate a collaborative, engaged, inclusive and high-performing organisational culture
- Prioritise the balancing act between critical business requirements and employee expectations for engaged employees that drive performance goals and ultimately boost business success
- Foster a supportive culture that encourages open conversations, allows mistakes, and encourages further EDI learning to provide a nurturing environment for all employees
- Adapt communication strategies and combat communication hurdles to build a community founded on psychological safety, wellbeing, and inclusion
Janina Norton, Global Head of Culture, AXA
Ramona Williams, DEI Change Manager, Amazon
Adam Sunderland (He/Him), Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, Heathrow
Bree Goxhuli, Head of Inclusion & Diversity, British Airways
Nelson Derry, Global Head of Culture, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Formerly Aesop
10.00 Bonus Session, Reserved for Talking Telent
ALL-ACCESS WORKSHOP: ALLYSHIP AT WORK
Take Away Same-Day Implementable Initiatives!
10.15 The Role Of Allyship In Supporting Employees From Every Background To Feel Safe & Valued
DEEP DIVE: ENHANCING INCLUSION THROUGH WELLBEING
10.35
Matt Elliott, Chief People Officer, Bank of Ireland
10.55 Morning Refreshment Break & Informal Networking: Share Your Insights – Collate Your Collaborations With Our Ideas Board Today
DITCH CVS & INTERVIEWS (FAIR ASSESMENT OF CANDIDATES)
11.30 Recruiters Have Been Using CV’s & Interviews Forever To Assess Candidates. Discover Why These Don’t Work, And What To Do Instead
Jane Hatton, Director, Evenbreak
DATA, MEASUREMENT & LONG-LASTING IMPACT
11.45 Tackle Strategy Target Areas & Demonstrate Commitment To Employees By Maximising Data & Insights To Conquer Measurable Goals & Drive Meaningful ED&I Change
- Navigating the data minefield! Examine best-practice approaches for utilising data to set measurable targets, inform decision-making, and drive meaningful EDI change in your organisation
- What isn’t working right now? Benchmark your development and delve deep into the drawbacks of your current D&I strategies to create insight-led initiatives that specifically target these areas
- Data will always be sensitive, so how can you create an organisational culture where employees are comfortable disclosing extra information that could be helpful for further EDI strategies?
Lisa Witney, Global Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Deutsche Bank
WHY CARERS NEED TO BE A FOCUS IN YOUR D&I PORTFOLIO
12.05 KareHero Study
- The business case for supporting carers
- The importance of including carers at work
- The Carer’s Leave Act and Flexible Working Act
- How to build a carer inclusive workplace
Stephanie Leung, Co-Founder/CEO, KareHero
DISABILITY & ACCESSIBILITY: A BUSINESS PRIORITY!
12.20 Dismantle Barriers For Disabled Employees, Fuel Supportive Adjustments & Create A Company Culture & Environment Which Increases Employee Care, Support & Loyalty
- Ensure disability and accessibility doesn’t get lost in conversation: create a working environment in which disability fear is broken down, open conversations can flourish, and systematic barriers can be dismantled
- Guarantee disabled employees get the required and sought-after adjustments to work without barriers, ensure personal career development, and ultimately create an organisation that delivers heightened employee loyalty
- Normalise accommodations, minimise interview rounds and examine effective management training… explore the top methods and strategies for recruitment and hiring to ensure your organisation can confidently say they are disability-inclusive
Andrew Barnes, Head of Corporate Partnerships, Sense
THE SCIENCE OF CREATING A FAIRER WORLD OF WORK
12.40 Representation & Inclusion In The UK Police Force. A Case Study In Positive Action
- How Positive Action was used to increase diversity in the UK Police Force
- The campaign to communicate the benefits of representation, and that Positive Action was a fair way of achieving it
- Consideration of audience: how those who were resistant to change, and suspicious of Positive Action, were the main focus
- Avoiding the ‘D’ word – to mitigate suspicion and doubt
- Building advocacy – a long term approach
Ben Watson, Managing Director, Blue Goose
EMPLOYEE MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING
Cross-Sector Panel
Q&A
12.55 Innovative & Proactive Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategies That Culminate In Motivated, Engaged & Communicative Cultures To Drive Employee Productivity & Satisfaction
- How should organisations be equipping and supporting senior leadership with the tools and training to effectively respond to, and care for, their teams mental health and wellbeing?
- Refine your pathways: delve deep into your wellbeing support strategies to clarify where to seek assistance, shorten mental health support pathways, and ease anxieties for employees
- Work to live or live to work? Promote a healthy work-life balance and prioritise health and wellbeing strategies that culminate in an energised, motivated, and engaged workforce
- From mindfulness practices to in-house workshops and flexible work patterns, what does good mental health support look like in action, and how effective are these measures at meeting employee expectations?
Andrea Ann Henry, Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Network Rail
Iain Hadwin, Senior manager, Order management DACH, Bristol Myers Squibb
13.25 Lunch & Informal Networking For Speakers, Delegates & Partners
14.00 Peer-To-Peer Discussions:
A) Staff Networks
B) Supporting LGBTQ+ Employees
C) Ageism At Work
14.15 Afternoon Co-Chairs’ Opening Remarks
Birthe Mester, Global Head of Behavioural Insight & Culture Change, Deutsche Bank
Harry Benham (He/Him), Inclusion Specialist, QBE Insurance
THE SCIENCE OF CREATING A FAIRER WORLD OF WORK
14.25 Dan Robertson, Global Expert On ED&I Sets Out The 3 Key Strategic Challenges Currently Facing Global Businesses In Their Efforts To Promote Truly Inclusive Work Cultures
- Additionally, drawing on extensive research we will present a new model for embedded Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Corporate Cohesion within organisations. This new FAIRER Framework focuses less on processes as a means for inclusive cultural change, and more on everyday behaviours as a means of driving workplace belonging and inclusive thinking, actions and decision-making. This new FAIRER Framework set out a new stand for measuring lasting and meaningful culture change.
Dan Robertson, Managing Director, FAIRER Consulting
EMPOWERING NEURODIVERSITY
14.40 Understand, Empower & Advocate For Neurodiverse Colleagues With Flexible & Personalised Adjustments That Allow Employees To Not Only Flourish… But Thrive & Succeed At Work
- What can organisations be doing to improve individualised accommodations and adjustments that empower neurodivergent employees and drive enhanced performance
- With digital transformation showing no signs of slowing down, how can we guarantee that neurodiverse hybrid workers are supported with the tools and skills to succeed?
- Lets rewrite the narrative! Whether neurodivergent skills include creativity or complex problem-solving… how can we empower neurodiverse teams and promote their skills and talents for the future workforce?
Khushboo Patel (She/Her), Head of Engagement & Inclusion, Formerly Metro Bank
ADVOCATING SOCIAL MOBILITY
15.00 Breaking Down Barriers! Cement Responsible Initiatives That Empower & Promote Social Mobility & Socio-Economic Inclusion To Create A Truly Diverse Organisation That Fuels Talent Retention
- Implement refreshed and sustainable strategies that support colleagues to play a positive role in increasing social mobility and access
- Uncover practical and innovative upskilling and progression programmes that guarantee equality of outcomes for people from different socio-economic backgrounds
- Dismantle and challenge inaccurate stereotypes and narratives to break down class and other divisions, and integrate all colleagues no matter the breakdown
- Retention from a socio-economic lens: identify talent and high-performers amongst those with diverse socio-economic backgrounds to invest in career development and fuel talent retention.
Dr Patrick Ismond, Head of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, RSPCA
RACIAL INCLUSION & EQUITY
Making Real & Necessary Change
15.25 Maintain The Charge On Racial Inclusion At Work! Cultivate Policies That Tackle Discrimination, Drive Personal Performance & Guarantee Inclusivity In The Workplace
- Deep dive into the barriers faced by minority communities at work, what are the challenges that come with this, and how can we make real and long-lasting organisational change?
- With the gender pay gap being mandatory and making real progress, how can we replicate these necessary improvements to tackle racial inequality to see a real impact on the bottom line?
- A spotlight on psychological safety! What steps can we take to create an inclusive company culture that is culturally aware, tackles microaggressions, and guarantees employees from all ethnic backgrounds can perform at their best?
Samantha Owo, Group Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Lloyds Banking Group
15.45 Bonus Session: Reserved for Auticon
16.00 Afternoon Refreshment Break With Informal Networking: Share Your Insights – Collate Your Collaborations With Our Ideas Board Today
REIMAGINED DEI LEADERSHIP
Double The Perspective…Double The Insights
Powered By Change Champions
16.25 Lead By Example! Engage & Empower Senior Leadership Teams To Diversify At The Top Level & Create Equitable Career Prospects For All Employees
- From reactive to proactive: develop tailored programmes for self-development that engage managers and directors in wider EDI changes, reduces the risk of tokenism, and pushes forward your equity agenda
- Empower rather than impose! Ensure that leaders and managers take ownership of their EDI agenda, champion their initiatives, and embed D&I strategies as a critical part of the overall business strategy
- Sponsorship, mentoring, buddying…. what tangible steps can senior leaders take to diversify leadership structures and create equitable opportunities for all employees?
16.25 Perspective 1
Zahoor Ahmad, Head of Social Mobility, Inclusion & Belonging, Co-op
16.45 Perspective 2
Yvonne Obi, Organizational Psychologist & Director Global Diversity & Inclusion, Standard Chartered Bank
INTERSECTIONAL OUTLOOKS
Cross-Sector Panel
Q&A
17.05 Examine Your Company Mosaic & Embed Intersectional Outlooks & Strategies To Combat Discrimination & Drive An Inclusive Organisational Cultures
- We have been talking about intersectionality for years… but how can we bridge the gap between talk and act on intersectionality? Examine new and innovative strategies to practically implement intersectional approaches at work
- Go beyond the surface! How are we looking at the wider picture and embedding intersectional thinking throughout EDI approaches?
- Embrace ERG and staff network collaborations to understand the many lived experiences of others and drive inclusive representation of all colleagues
- Accepting privilege: take a deep dive into your identity and understand individual privileges to open meaningful conversations, empower allyship, and drive inclusive workplace cultures
Jennifer Ashton, HR Director, BT Group
Emily Spelman, Inclusion & Belonging Lead, Santander
Taylor Mirkarimi, DEI Program Manager – EMEA Talent Acquisition, Amazon
Dami Gbadamosi, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Lead for Fraud Investigation Service, HM Revenue & Customs
Alessandro Storer (He/Him), Head of Inclusion & Belonging, OVO
Janet Tidmarsh (She/Her) Head of Inclusion & Development, Whitbread
17.35 Afternoon Co-Chairs’ Closing Remarks & Official Close Of Conference
Birthe Mester, Global Head of Behavioural Insight & Culture Change, Deutsche Bank
Harry Benham (He/Him), Inclusion Specialist, QBE Insurance
Can You Help Organisations Deliver A Meaningful D&I Agenda & Impact At The Diversity & Inclusion Conference?
For more information on how to get involved, call +44 (0)20 3479 2299 or email sponsor@thediversityconferences.com
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