Advising the advisors
Mildon Supports Turley’s Drive for Inclusion, Equity and Diversity (IED) Change
Turley offers expert advisory services for the built environment and beyond, working collaboratively with its clients to deliver places and communities that thrive.
The company is employee-owned, enabling it to be agile and progressive as it strives for continuous improvement. Recently, the business has embarked on a Catalyst for Change programme as it seeks to further its approach to Inclusion, Equity and Diversity (IED). Mildon consultancy is supporting Turley in its drive to continue to be a progressive EO business and to make a difference.
The business first engaged with Mildon at a time when it was refreshing its IED plan. Key opportunities included closing its gender pay-gap and further diversifying leadership and decision making , and Turley wanted expert third-party perspectives to support leadership and to shape the future IED plan.
Chrysta Poppitt, Senior Director, Turley, comments: “We recognise the business benefits of IED which are well documented and the moral case aligns with our company values. We knew as a business that if we carried on with the same processes and same thinking that it would take us several years to get to where we wanted to be including making strides to reduce our gender pay gap, diversifying leadership and bringing wider aspects of diversity into focus. We are a progressive leadership with a strong moral compass and decided to address the challenge more directly through our 12-month Catalyst for Change programme.
“The Mildon team played an essential role in the programme, bringing diversity of thought to our decision-making process. We worked with Toby on some specific actions. One was his attendance at our regular leadership meeting where he was able to offer contributions through a IED lens. Toby brings fantastic insight because he is both an expert IED professional and somebody who has lived experience through his disability.”
Coaching and learning
Turley also worked with Toby on specific coaching and learning sessions, both for the leadership group, and for the company’s existing IED, Embrace, network.
“We realised we needed to support leaders with their learning and development and so we ran a day workshop with Toby centred on the theme inclusive growth,” says Chrysta. “This was really an excellent way for senior leaders to embrace the subject and develop learning. We were all in a room together and Toby made it a very safe-space environment where we could just share and be open and honest. Fear was the biggest factor for leaders – saying or doing the wrong thing – and Toby was great at supporting the team.”
Operational support
The Mildon team also supported Turley on a more operational level, overseeing the company’s IED plan refresh. Turley audited the plan with Mildon’s expert input, finding areas of strength and areas for further improvement.
Chrysta states: “As an employee-owned company, co-owner (our employee) voice is really important to our decisions, strategy and culture and we move forward together. We have a carefully crafted IED plan which is being shared throughout the business.
“We will be reviewing how inclusive and equitable our processes such as promotion and recruitment are, and whether any changes could be considered. For our industry, gender has been the biggest focus, but we also realise how important it is to look beyond to ethnic minority communities, disabled people, the LGBTQ+ community and more. We know that embracing these communities can add innovation and creativity to decision-making and drive us forward as a business.
“Ultimately, Toby and the Mildon team have been like an extension of our own team. Recent assessment of colleagues revealed that 90% of our senior leaders felt they had changed their behaviours and leadership approaches as a result of Mildon’s input alongside strategic advisors.
“I look at this activity in terms of both a sprint and a marathon. There have been immediate visible sprints of change such as behaviours and language used. The longer-term marathon is about culture change – continuous improvement that is never-ending. I’m sure that Mildon will continue to play a key role in our IED future.”
