Joy and Celebration

"A colourful world is so much more pleasant." - Dr Chetna Kang MB BS MRCPsych

For me, this time of year is one of the most colourful ones – rich with heritage and culture. October saw the UK mark Black History Month and more than a billion people across the globe celebrate Diwali.

When I posted about Clifford Chance's Diwali celebrations in London, the comments were ones of joy. As Salma Firoza Khanam wrote: "Embracing and honouring diversity through celebrations like these truly highlights our commitment to inclusion and respect. Such a feel good and proud moment."

I felt super proud of the colleagues from the firm's Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist Society who put on an event that truly brought the colour and story of this festival of light to life.

Diwali is all about overcoming adversity and at the event Dr Kang's keynote addressed what this can look like in our everyday lives. She spoke of diversity bringing colour to our lives, as well as challenge. If we know ourselves then we can embrace it.

“How much time are you willing to invest in your essence?", she said. "Those who invest time in their essential self can find a home for themselves in moments of stress - they are not dissuaded by those things around them.”

Her underlining point was that unity can flourish in diversity - a concept that aligns with Diwali, which is all about bringing people together regardless of background and differences in beliefs. Throughout this edition of Nina's Notes , there are moments of celebration but also reflection. And with more festivities to come until the end of the year, I hope that we all find moments of joy to celebrate.

As always, I would love to hear your opinions ?and would love to hear your ideas too. Please do share your thoughts, comment or drop me a line .

Celebrating the wins

“…the days of a one-size-fits-all approach to healthcare benefits are long gone.”

Celebration does not have to be big. It can be a moment of satisfaction that something has simply changed for the better.

An example of this for me is seeing organisations move to a more tailored approach to supporting their workforce. With each iteration of that support, we should celebrate the wins while being mindful that there is still more we can always do.

As a case in point, in this post I shared a feature article from Corporate Adviser which spotlights gender-specific healthcare benefits. The piece explores how tailored benefits can provide opportunities and challenges. I would argue it’s more of the former, especially when reading stats like these:

• Neglecting women’s health issues cost the UK economy ￡20.2bn a year (Axa Health research )
• Research from Bupa shows that 900,000 women experiencing the menopause have left work (Women and Equalities Committee 2022 )
• New stats for 2024: On average it takes 8 years?10 months from the first GP visit to get an Endometriosis diagnosis (Endometriosis UK Diagnosis Report 2024 )

To move the dial on these stats there needs to be many actions – yes to the support we give women in relation to benefits, but also the culture that supports us.

Later in the article I shared some thoughts on building an organisation’s inclusion proposition, which I would hope is embedded into any businesses’ thinking when it comes to employee benefits:

• Take an evolutionary approach: Society and your workplace are constantly changing so organisations can make small incremental changes to reflect these shifts and make adjustments according to the lived experience of your people.
• Data is the engine for change: If you’re not constantly reviewing your data and learning from it, you can’t be sure you’re focusing on the key areas to change to move forward.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate: You can the most inclusive benefits in the world, but it needs to be communicated to have impact.

Getting just some of this support right can help with a whole lot of other factors. LinkedIn News UK 's latest workforce report suggests women in Europe are 64% more likely than men to list a career break on their profiles. Top reason for women taking a career break: parenting.

For some women they would want to take a career break, others I'm sure would have stayed in work if the support – in work and outside – was there. So every time a new string is added to that support bow let's celebrate it as a win.

Reclaiming narratives

“(Black History Month) serves as a reminder that Black history is an essential part of our shared narrative.” - Kalela Mwenya CTA

I loved this year's theme for Black History Month – Reclaiming Narratives. You could take it in so many directions, and it was wonderful to see so many events take this to be a moment to celebrate cultural heritage.

As I explain in this post , we had an amazing evening at Clifford Chance in conversation with Andrew Onwubolu MBE, better known by his stage name Rapman.

He shared a range of insights on how spotlighting perspectives of Black people's experiences has shaped his work. Rapman most recently created, wrote and directed the hit original sci-fi series Supacell on Netflix. In it he raises awareness of sickle cell.

Some of his insights for getting into the Film & TV industry easily resonated across any workplace. Here’s just a few Rapman quotes I took away from the night:

1. “I was just someone who stayed on my path.” And so “When you feel like you should be doing what you’re doing that’s not an accident.”
2. “My dad would say ‘don’t be lazy, don’t be lazy’. So when I’m watching tv for too long then I’ll say to myself don’t be lazy. It was ingrained into me.”
3. “How do you think that it’s possible if you can’t see people (like you) doing it? That’s what I’m here to do.”
4. “You can’t be blind to doing a high-level of work... just keep on working and it will happen.”
5. “I was always hoping that someone would bring me in. That didn’t happen. Now I’m here and I can make that happen (for others).”
6. “Come some of the way and we’ll bring you further.” Rapman later reiterated this: “You have to come half of the way, and we will find you.”

My overall conclusion from the conversation with Rapman was the importance of hard work leading to someone finding you and supporting you in accelerating your career. What I loved though was that his insights were all based in his lived experience and heritage. When Rapman writes it’s with purpose - to raise awareness. He takes us halfway there and the rest of the onus is on us to find out more.

WOW: Celebrating the girl

"Education is formal and informal - this morning you’re here to do the informal.” - Jude Kelly CBE

Jude's quote was part of her speech ahead of The WOW Foundation ’s Speed Mentoring on the London Eye to celebrate International Day of the Girl.

As I posted , in her opening remarks she spoke of how there is a power in talking to “strangers” (safely, of course) and how just having a 15 minute conversation can be a game-changer.

It was wonderful to be among the group of mentors that together connected with 150 young people to discuss their ambitions, career paths, and ideas for achieving gender equity.

It was great to hear their ideas and perspectives. And as Jude said in her closing remarks: “We mentored each other.”

On International Day of the Girl, Jude reminded us that it is a moment to recognise the challenges girls face globally - whether it's access to education, gender-based violence, or underrepresentation in leadership.

She spoke to the importance of us all working together to create a world where every girl can thrive in a safe, supportive environment. Of course, mentorship is a powerful way to do just that.

Welcome celebrations

“Let us pray…that with strong faith and wise leadership the task committed to their charge may prosper and bear fruit.” - Rt Revd Dr Joanne Woolway Grenfell, Bishop of Stepney

As I shared on LinkedIn , it was a true joy to witness Bishop Joanne’s welcome and the commissioning of Alanna Harris as the Lead Chaplain of the Canary Wharf Multifaith Chaplaincy .

I had the privilege of being one of Alanna’s welcomers and to say a few words at the co-chair of the Canary Wharf Chaplaincy’s EDI Forum. As I said to the congregation:

“Alanna exudes positivity and care in her manner. Through our conversations over the last few months, I have found her considered in her advice and clear in her want to drive positive action. It is something I feel with all the chaplains in Canary Wharf.”

Welcome once again Alanna. I’m looking forward to see where your positive leadership takes the Chaplaincy.

What Can We Do?

"Make sure that you air your feelings, because you need to be able to tell people.” - Eraldo d'Atri sharing advice from his surrogacy journey.?

In the UK during November we mark National Fertility Awareness Week. I thought it was a good opportunity to reshare how we celebrated last year – with a live podcast recording of an episode of In/Fertility in the City that we held at Clifford Chance.

If you want to learn about a wide range of perspectives on infertility, baby loss, surrogacy and adoption it is definitely worth a listen.

In my first post on the event, I shared some of the phrases of advice that came through from those with lived-experience of infertility, baby loss and surrogacy: "Be Brave", "know your tribe", "just talk".

They're ideas that work for frankly any situation. In my second post, I shared the links to the podcast which can be accessed through the In/Fertility in the City website and Apple Podcasts . Hope you find some time to give it a listen.

Communicate, communicate, communicate

I'm going to come back to a couple of the points I made when exploring tailored support for colleagues earlier on. The need to communicate, communicate, communicate.

As our workforce populations change we need to ensure our colleagues continue to know the support that's there for them, and what inclusion looks like for our organisations.

So as I posted , it was a good to build new connections with our new joiners in our Newcastle office recently but also to (re)share what inclusion looks like at Clifford Chance .

I shared some examples of how we’re implementing our Change the Rules, Change the Culture, Change the Lived Experience strategy. The highlight was hearing from the affinity network leads who are driving the change. You can check out some of Clifford Chance’s Inclusion work on these webpages .

Data celebrations

“Every score is celebrated as it’s a journey” - Brian J. Grim

As highlighted in this post , Brian was our special guest at the Autumn gathering of the Canary Wharf Multifaith Chaplaincy 's EDI Forum hosted by a fabulous Cecil Peters at 摩根大通 .

Brian was sharing the REDI Index from the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation .

The Religious, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Index has been designed to support organisations looking to support Faith Inclusion in the Workplace.

It uses 11 main areas of scoring. Brian explained that through the discussions he was hearing in our Forum, which is made up for organisations across Canary Wharf to share best practice, we were meeting many of the markers.

How many do you think your company would meet? Here’s the list:

1. Religion is featured on company's main diversity page
2. Company sponsors faith and belief employee resource groups (ERGs)
3. Company shares best practices with other companies
4. Religion is clearly addressed in diversity training
5. Company provides spiritual care and/or chaplaincy services
6. Attentive to how religion impacts stakeholders
7. Accommodates religious needs of employees
8. Clear procedures for reporting discrimination
9. Employees attend religious diversity conferences
10. Company matches employee donations to religious charities
11. Company equitably celebrates or honours holy days of employees

(Bonus marks for: Other ways company promotes religious inclusion)

Hints & Tips

To understand the future, we need to understand the past

Earlier we talked about reclaiming narratives, and the reason it learn from the past so it can have a positive impact on our futures.

As prep for an upcoming panel on the future of DEI at the People in Law conference, I posted about an article from David Rice at People Managing People . The long read to consider some of those perspectives and the history of DEI.

I thought this quote from Judith Germain from The Maverick Paradox sums up how perceptions change over time:

“For years, people have defined culture as ‘what we do around here,’” said Judith. “It’s also ‘who are we around here?’ We need to focus on a culture of belonging and having an environment where many voices get to speak in decision making.”

Add diversity and stir?

As I explained in this post , Add diversity and stir? was the tag line to an energising workshop I had the pleasure of co-hosting with the marvellous Reign Lee for the Law Firm Marketing Summit .

As always, I loved hearing from the different voices in the room coming from a different perspective than me. Amelia Stirling posted that one of her takeaways from the session was the importance of client listening.

She wrote about the importance of understanding a client’s expectations around DEI rather than making assumptions (which we all can be guilty of).

Once you’ve listened, and you have the data, then it is about the follow-up. Have you shared it with your key stakeholder groups so - together - you can drive action/change?

(Count) Listen. Share. Change.

Building a win

“…the more novel an idea, the more people disagreed about its worth.” - Harvard Business Review article

Carry on the listening theme, I don’t know about you, but there’s been many a time in the past when I have spoken an idea out loud and its landed flat. As I posted on LinkedIn , my hope would have been to spark conversation and see if we could come up with something innovative.

The reality (in some cases) was for the idea to hit a wall. Where’s the evidence? How does that relate to here? We don’t do things like that here.

So something resonated with me when reading the Harvard Business Review article into how to build consensus around a new idea. The piece by Wayne Johnson from University of Utah and Devon Proudfoot from Cornell University ILR School outlined:

“Discussing how someone is evaluating something, rather than just weighing their opinion, can open up the conversation, and help teams determine what criteria are the most important or relevant.”

They see digging into the ‘why’ someone has a different view as a way to uncover risks as well as opportunities to refine an idea - and ultimately build consensus around it. They suggest asking:

• What ideas are you comparing this to?
• What made those ideas successful or unsuccessful?
• What would success look like for this idea?

The answers will help you better assess how your proposal aligns with those differing opinions. As I often say listening to diversity of voice and addressing those thoughts will lead to a more inclusive outcome. One that hopefully is innovative and helps drive the bottom line.

Through listening and evaluating… Together We Can!

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Here's a quick rundown of some events and opportunities I've posted about or reacted to over the last month…

• 14 November 2024: I’ll be joining a panel at CHRO & CLO Flagship UK Summit where we will be discussing “Al and Humans Collaborating: Navigating the Future of Human Resource”. ?Find out the day’s agenda at the Park Plaza, Victoria here and you can register via this link . I’m told using VIP-SPEAKER as a code should get you a discount!
• For any law students out there, November will see Clifford Chance host a series of insight days. Find our more in this post .
• 28 November 2024: I continue to be excited about joining the brilliant Elliott Rae , Jenn Barnett and Mark Lomas at People in Law Conference to discuss “the future of DEI”. I have the pleasure of being on the d&i Leaders (Diversity and Inclusion Leaders) list for Inspirational d&i Leaders 2024. More on the day’s events at the Ham Yard Hotel here and to book a place visit it is here .

Final Thought

"You want do to WHAT?"

As many of you know, I truly believe that sharing people's stories is the best way to get us all to understand each other and how we can better support each other to ensure inclusive cultures.

So hats off to Gareth Long for sharing his story with Elliott Rae , who in turn shared it with his network – and now I share it with you. Gareth simply wanted to work a day a week from hope to care for his son. The response: "You want to do WHAT?"

You can sense that this employer did not have the culture that would enable dads to be loud and proud about their caring responsibilities at work.

Of course, all organisations are different and support is tailored to individuals. Where the support it possible we should celebrate it.

Together We Can!

Thank you for reading this month's Nina's Notes . I hope it’s been useful. Please do drop me a line with any thoughts and you can follow me on LinkedIn .