Tell us a bit about yourself, background, and your current role?

I am currently the MD of Sanderson Government and Defence (SG&D), we are a talent solutions provider to key areas of UK government, focussed on DDaT and Commercial skills, and specialising in delivering solutions to mission critical problems. I started in the recruitment industry some 30 years ago, in London, in the heady days of recruitment sales driven bravado! I launched the SG&D brand 20 years ago to tackle the unique and complex challenges of hiring security cleared resources in the UK, this has since evolved into a full-service talent solutions provider offering total talent solutions and consulting services to customers across Defence, Central Government, National Security and National Policing. 

The pace of change we have seen in the talent marketplace has never been as fast, or as impactful, as within the last 10 years. In SG&D we have adopted social value as a key tenet of how we grow and improve our business, training all our staff in diversity and inclusion was a big step in levelling the playing field internally and positioning our solutions to be able to contribute more to both our customers and the requirements of the marketplace. I am super proud of the journey we have been on, the advocates and allies that we have developed, and the initiatives we are now building into our programmes that support more diversity in our supply, from gender and ethnicity, to social mobility and neurodiversity, these are becoming natural behaviours in our team and mean we are well set to continue to grow and develop long term meaningful relationships.

Did you ever sit down and plan your career?

Haha – I am not sure anyone in the recruitment industry did that at the outset. I was training to become a Sports Psychologist when a friend persuaded me to stay for one more year in London and do a sales job! I quickly paid off my student debts and realised that I had a talent for this. Once I had accepted that my dream of Sports Psychology had gone and a long-term career in recruitment beckoned the planning aspect was simply to work harder, longer, better than all my colleagues and rise to the top through sheer force of nature. This was very much a product of the environment I was in and the culture of business in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Looking back it was unfair on me, unfair on my partner, and unfair on anyone who had talent in the business that couldn’t commit in the same way. I am pleased to say we offer a far more balanced approach to success nowadays, don’t get me wrong hard work is often a key determiner of success, but we have the much-needed flexibility for our staff to be able to work smart as well as hard and fit it in around things that are important to them.

What one thing do you believe has been a major factor in you achieving success?

I find it really annoying when the response to a “one thing” question results in a “two things” answer….but (and I am sorry if this is annoying), there are two things. The first is the hard work and singlemindedness of my early career, that got me into position to be able to take advantage of other future opportunities, an entrepreneurial mindset needs to be backed up by that hard working mentality that means you have to be switched on 24/7 until you have built and developed a business to a level that allows you to begin to be able to switch off (by which time you are conditioned to the 24/7 approach sadly and so it proves challenging to switch off). The second, which has made all the difference in the last 10 years, is the ability to pivot and change based on the needs of our people, our customers and the changing face of the wider market place. The business I run now bares no comparison to the business that we started 22 years ago – and that is why it is so successful now.

What has been your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?

Balancing being a parent with driving forward a career (that required hard work, presenteeism, and a lot of sacrifice), and ensuring that I was present as much as possible and built a lasting and strong relationship with my children. When my children were little there was no such thing as statutory paternity leave (imagine that I had to take holiday for the birth of my children!), and working patterns were very much 8.00am to 6.00pm, x5 days per week. I was lucky, I had a very supportive partner who carried the heavy load during the weekdays, but I very much left work at the door when I walked in the house of an evening and gave my time to my children until bedtime (then back on the phone/laptop), and devoted my weekends to high quality time with my kids, building those lasting bonds. 

I envy the current generation and their ability to work flexibly, and the prioritisation we put on family, children, mental health and being present to your loved ones rather than present to our payroll. But I think I balanced my circumstances well and achieved the success that I wanted without detrimental impact on my children (who are both full grown adults and very close to me).

Why is being a male ally important to you?

There are two things that have heavily influenced my allyship. The first was some early diversity and inclusion training that we did in the business, which gave a voice to our female colleagues and raised some tough and challenging questions in a safe environment. It started to build and grow my awareness of white, male, privilege and began to challenge me to see this through a very different lens. Our trainer at the time (a big shout out to Chikere Igbokwe of Inclucive) put me onto a book called Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez which consolidated the training and really put into context the need for strong male allies. As a parent to a daughter, who I coached through women’s rugby to the age of 18 and saw the difficulties of being females in a male dominated world I have worked hard to be an ally to remove the bias, even the playing field, and understand the perspective. The biggest thing I learnt was that coaching girls versus boys required a different approach, it required a change mindset to other club members, parents, coaches and the players themselves. It was also hugely rewarding and by understanding and standing alongside we developed an environment that was both hugely successful but also delivered an enduring love of the game to the players involved. There are so many synergies with niche markets like Defence, or DDaT, and the need to not only talk the talk, but facilitate and drive change for the benefit of all, whilst changing minds and opinions and standing resolutely alongside everyone.

What motivated you to become a gender advocate, and why do you think it’s important for Managing Directors to actively promote gender equality?

I credit that to one of our staff members who called me out many years ago for playing at social value and not standing and living it myself. It was a brave statement, and quite right, I was approaching the whole topic as brochureware and not living the standards that we needed to be able to move forward as a business. From that moment on I have tried to stand at the front of all our initiatives, to do the research and reading in order to be informed on the topics, and to take the time to see perspectives and ensure fairness and equity. Without leaders adopting this approach there is no figurehead to follow, worse still an unengaged leader gives everyone the chance to opt out. I see that and understand that and so will continue to lead from the front because that fits my own beliefs, but also because in doing so our business has improved quantumly to it’s a sensible business approach for growth and resilience. 

Can you share specific initiatives or policies that your company has implemented to promote gender diversity and inclusion in the workplace?

We have implemented flexible working for all. We embrace part time working for return-to-work parents, we offer a strong maternity and paternity policy, and help the flexible transition from home back to work. We have gender balance across the organisation and equal pay. We have trained all staff in inclusion, and our staff have the confidence to speak out against negative behaviour. 

How do you personally champion gender equality within your organisation, and what role do you play in fostering a culture of inclusion?

I think my role needs me to be a vocal champion of for gender equality. That means I must lead by example, demonstrating my support through actions, decision and the language that I use (one of the more difficult elements, I often use the term “guys” to reflect the collective, changing that behaviour is tough, but I am conscious!). We must have appropriate policies, that promote gender diversity. I must be visible in speaking on the topic and highlighting our commitment and progress (this article is an example). And most importantly I have to listen to and trust the opinion of the women that we have in our business, and effect change to make things better for all. Critically it is not all about pushing women to the top, but about creating an equal opportunity workforce, which is equally true for our customers and the sector as a whole. Male dominated environments can only be diluted by offering fair progression to all, and by investing heavily in building the EVP of these environments to be better suited to people from all walks of life and both genders.

In your experience, what are some of the main barriers or challenges that companies face in achieving gender equality, and how do you address them?

I think the biggest barrier is around bias and everyone’s understanding of privilege. I personally benefited hugely from the training that we rolled out many years ago, but importantly every member of staff has to have that same understanding before the business as a whole can move towards true equality. We are also too loaded from a leadership point of view towards men, this is a product of the journey we have been on but is something we now need to proactively correct to give us better diversity of thinking and approach. We are on this journey now, and it will take time, but we have some fantastic female leaders of the future coming through the organisation now and we are stronger for them. And lastly, flexible working, and supporting flexi working practices, are key to ensuring that we allow our female colleagues to be able to flourish at work without the worry of their commitments outside of work. For our customers the principal challenge centres around future talent, particularly related to STEM subjects, we see that numbers are increasing but progression is nowhere near the 50/50 that is going to be needed to achieve true gender balance. This needs more coordinated investment in outreach, engagement, and the promotion of STEM and the Defence sector earlier in the education system.

How do you ensure that gender equality initiatives are integrated into the overall business strategy and priorities of your company?

We invest heavily in education, ensuring all staff members understand bias, privilege, equality and equity and the associated topics that surround this subject. One of the biggest impacts has been owning this myself, being seen to be personally developing on the topic, not being afraid to make mistakes, but being aware enough to correct them and be humble about the change required for us to move forward. We back this up with great policy, and ensure that our equity, equality and diversity initiatives are communicated regularly and there is opportunity for everyone to contribute with no fear and with an assurance that opinions and thoughts will be listened to.

Can you share any success stories or positive outcomes that have resulted from your efforts to promote gender equality in the workplace?

We have increased our female senior leadership (it was 0% and is now 25%) and have a fantastic group of female future leaders pushing to join the senior leadership team over the coming years (of our future leaders 75% are female). Alongside this we have improved our overall employee satisfaction, particularly around the topic of diversity and inclusion – with a marked increase in volunteering for initiatives that promote these topics. These are all great initiatives for our business, and I think it means we will have a robust, relationship driven, growth business for the future with fantastic gender balance at all levels – but it also wins us business! With Government requiring real evidence and understanding of their key social value pillars these outcomes are not only important to how we run SG&D, but also critical for long term government supply.

How do you engage with other stakeholders, such as employees and customers, to communicate the importance of gender diversity and inclusion?

All our employee one to one’s include activities under the ED&I banner, this ensures that all staff are aware, active and challenged to incorporate ED&I initiatives into their working day. We report on ED&I activities in our end of month all hands calls, ensuring business performance is not characterised by numbers alone, but with movement on key social initiatives. 

Externally we contribute to content and articles on the topic. We host and organise ED&I round tables with our customers to promote share of best practice. We sit on various committees and boards in our industry bodies that are focussed on ED&I.

Our activities now go beyond the internal with new services being offered to our customers to offer advice and guidance on both EVP and ED&I and how they effect the talent attraction processes. We recognise that not all organisations have the breadth and depth of experience to know what can be achieved and we are keen to support those customer organisations that don’t have this experience in house to go on a growth journey that builds in initiatives that are supportive to greater equality. 

How do you address intersectionality and ensure that gender equality efforts consider the diverse experiences and needs of all employees?

We create a platform for shared stories and shared experiences, both in our internal activities, but also through our round table activities with customers. By making a space for shared stories we are able to garner greater understanding and support, ensure that everyone has a voice and valid opinion (so critical to this topic) and that we are raising consciousness of the topic in a safe and collaborative environment both internally and externally. We seek to be inclusive by design, and are certainly on that pathway, but still have some road to travel until this is baked into our culture from top to bottom.

Looking ahead, what are your goals and aspirations as an MD and gender advocate, and what steps are you taking to achieve them?

Looking forward my aspirations are to achieve gender parity across all levels of the organisation and to be recognised as a strong ally and advocate for gender related issues, to achieve this we will:

1. Set ambitious targets – a clear goal being to achieve gender parity in senior leadership roles

2. Expand our initiatives – continue to develop and expand our activities to support women in their careers

3. Build partnerships – we can’t do this alone so we will continue to build partnerships – like the one we have with WED – that support gender equality and allow us to learn and contribute.

I really believe I have to lead by example with all of this to effect positive change. Through these commitments, ongoing dialogue both inside and outside our organisation, and a commitment to listen and challenge the status quo we can continue to advance gender equality both in SG&D and for our customers.