Orbis and the GEC: Interview with D&I lead, Jo Jewitt

Regular readers of our Connects blog will know that D&I is important to us at Orbis.

We believe that to support our partners with D&I, we need to begin at the beginning. So first we look closer to home to ensure that we are a truly successful representation of what we preach.

To that end we partnered recently with the Global Equality Collective (GEC), ‘a community working to bring about global equality across business and education’. We completed their survey on Gender Diversity within our team and are proud to announce that Orbis has been awarded a Distinction accreditation!

In Conversation with Jo Jewitt

We took this time to sit down with Orbis D&I lead Jo to talk about what attracted her to partnering with the GEC.

How did you hear about the GEC and decide to partner with them?

“I found out about them through a roundtable of industry leaders in HR, D&I and People that was formed at the start of lockdown, where a peer recommended them. In D&I it’s key to reach out to your community for ideas. Progress doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Like so much of what we do at Orbis, our D&I initiatives thrive on community and collaboration.

When I looked into the GEC I immediately connected with them. Their aims and approach harmonise with what we strive for at Orbis.

What stood out to you about the GEC?

“One thing that massively stood out was their approach of Supporting not Shaming.

It’s a challenge within D&I that unfortunately there will always be someone who wants to point out what you haven’t yet done. This stalls the conversation and slows down change. Whereas, when we talk openly online, we encourage others to do more. So even if we're two years behind another company in reaching a certain milestone, we’re still going to announce it, to shine light on D&I and cause a ripple effect of increased awareness.

I look at big leaders in D&I, like Google, LinkedIn, Netflix and the impressive things they’re doing, and it can be all too easy to negatively compare ourselves to those big corporates. At Orbis we are lucky to have the support of Founders who recognise our progress; they bring me back down to earth, reminding me that it’s all relative and we can be proud that we’re doing things for the right reasons. The GEC have a similar ethos.

The right reasons – tell us about that…

“Authenticity is such a central issue. Everyone in the industry will be putting some public emphasis on their D&I merit. But people see through it when it’s done for the purposes of Talent attraction, or a bit of PR. It can feel like tokenism.

I’ve found through conversation that people simply want to you be able to explain your ‘Why’.

An employee from a minority or underrepresented background may be put off by initiatives that don’t come from a genuine place. When you’re open about your purposes and include everyone in shaping the plan, people feel safer to get involved.

What do we hope to achieve with the GEC partnership?

Firstly, provide the team at Orbis with a safe and confidential platform for feedback. I receive plenty of positivity about our work, but I don’t want to take that at face value without digging a bit deeper. There are obstacles involved in face-to-face feedback. If someone has experienced discrimination in the workplace, I don’t expect that they’ll be comfortable discussing it in that same environment.

Secondly, understand where we are and identify what we can do next. There’s no point in me guessing how people feel, so we simply asked them. This provided a host of genuine, diverse voices and insights.

What’s the plan of action going forward?

We’ll share our results internally. Not just to say, ‘we did well’, but in full detail. Total transparency is the policy here.

Then, we offer the opportunity for the whole team to get involved.

We always want to involve the right people in writing policy. For instance, parents should be the ones shaping policy around parenting and work. Maternity and return to work policies should be decided by those in a position to be affected by them.

That’s why we welcome – more than that, actively seek – increased diversity within the business. More voices at the table means a better discussion that helps us to improve.

Would you say that People are a priority at Orbis?

We say here that people come first, that’s before making money, before doing deals – which may sound unusual, but in recruitment we’re influencing career journeys, so we’re fastidious about that.

D&I can be seen as non-business essential, especially in recent months many companies have had to scale back in this area. We never had this mindset. We think in these challenging times Inclusion is needed more than ever.

Externally, we have a responsibility as a recruitment business to make change. Dealing in people and jobs comes with what we see as a duty of care. When we place a candidate for instance, the responsibility falls to us for how they are treated. So, we try to encourage mindfulness across the industry.

Any closing thoughts?

Inclusion is a feeling. It’s not all about policy.

It’s about the sense of acceptance, safety, and openness when our colleagues walk in the door. (Whether that’s virtually or in-office)

It comes from line managers up to Managing Directors being actively involved in creating a culture of inclusion. You don't do that by winning an accreditation, ticking the box and moving on. It can’t be ‘left to HR’, and seen as something outside the core of the business. It needs to permeate every corner.

Change is continuous, so we must constantly evolve to make sure that true Inclusion is a reality, not just at Orbis, but everywhere our influence reaches.