Q&A with Dorothy Oduguwa
Meet Dorothy Oduguwa, Diversity and Inclusion Manager at Vodafone UK, and one of our incredible panelists at our upcoming event, Everyone Doing It Together III.
As the workplace becomes increasingly diverse, Dorothy believes “It is important for organisations to continue breaking biases and advocating for everyone’s chance to thrive.”
You can learn more about Dorothy and her insights on ED&I by reading our Q&A below.
What does true ED&I look like to you, and how can we collectively achieve it?
True ED&I looks like an embedded mindset that realises ED&I is crucial to:
- The people in our organisations and their ability to thrive
- The performance of our organisations through the diversity of thought that comes from diverse teams
- The engagement of our customers – diverse teams better reflect the communities we serve
What inspired you to take on a role focused on diversity and inclusion, and what continues to drive your passion for this work?
I was inspired by the prospect of creating the change that I would like to see. I have experienced barriers in my own career, and being able to work in a space where I can find ways to strategically break down these barriers is amazing.
What continues to drive my passion for ED&I is the tangible benefits I can see within organisations through our improved metrics but more importantly the impact on the people within organisations who feel like they can thrive at work while fully embracing their identities.
What are some of the most important lessons you’ve learned as a Diversity & Inclusion Lead, especially in a large organisation?
Don’t jump into solution mode too quickly. Every organisation and workforce is different. Take the time to learn and assess what the real issues are and target your solutions there.
Always think strategically – EDI is more than the cultural calendar. Thinking about long-term change and how this can be measured is important. If something is not being measured, the organisation likely will not see it as important.
How do you balance the need for immediate action on D&I issues with the long-term work required to change organisational culture?
EDI is both strategic and operational. I like to gain support from peers across the industry and from the affected groups within the organisations. Employee Resource Groups are hubs of expertise and lived experience that can help develop strategies for long-term change and drive initiatives for immediate action.
How do you ensure that diversity and inclusion efforts go beyond just ticking boxes and truly transform the culture of an organisation?
We are not expecting or selling short-term fixes to teams and the wider organisation. I always highlight the EDI, and true cultural transformation is a long-term thing. So, when looking at ambitions and goals, we need to be looking at the change we want to see in 5 -10 years
I also ensure that initiatives are not bolted on and therefore easy to just tick off, they are embedded across learning and development outside of ED&I training, it is an underlying theme in all training. It is ingrained in our Talent Acquisition practices.
What role do you believe intersectionality plays in ED&I, and how can companies address this effectively?
Intersectionality plays a massive role in ED&I; oftentimes, people align to multiple identities, and so only focusing on one can easily exclude many. It appreciates that multiple systems of oppression can be at play at the same time, greatly affecting individuals.
Highlighting and leading with intersectionality is something organisations can do by ensuring intersectionality is baked into things like reporting. We can often see reports on the representation of women, or Global Majority employees, or disabled employees or LGBTQ+ employees. But consider the nuanced insight we can get from understanding the representation of Black Women in the workplace, or LGBTQ+ employees identifying as Women.
This allows a more specific lens on where we can drive change and positive impact.
As a leader in this space, what has been the most rewarding aspect of your journey in promoting diversity and inclusion?
The most rewarding aspect is seeing improvements in the people at my own organisation but also bringing other organisations on the journey with us.
It’s great improving the system I operate within but it’s so inspiring being able to share knowledge and best practice with other organisations to also drive change.
ED&I is not a competition between organisations, it’s a collective commitment to creating a better environment across all companies and industries.
What advice would you give to someone starting out in a D&I role, particularly in industries that might be less familiar with these concepts?
Learn from your peers and never stop seeking out new knowledge. Legislation changes and best practice changes so ensuring you have a support system of people who can guide you is important.
As someone deeply involved in this work, what do you think is the most significant misconception people have about diversity and inclusion?
That ED&I doesn’t add value. I believe the value of ED&I is only getting greater.
We know that the workforce is increasingly getting more diverse, we know that businesses are increasingly facing new challenges to stay competitive and keep up with new social expectations and technological advances.
ED&I works to enable organisations to remain competitive through creating the right working environment for employees to thrive. We work towards employees feeling psychologically safe to share their creative ideas while problem solving. We work towards having diverse voices in the room to ensure that we are reflective of the environments we serve. And so much more. To me, it’s clear that ED&I adds value.
Why do you think it’s important to bring together voices at an event like this, and how can such events contribute to real change?
I’ve mentioned it before but there is so much power in learning from each other. We have all got different experiences and insights, and it’s likely many of our organisations are struggling with similar issues. So if I can grab an idea or concept from one of my peers to solve a problem imagine how much change we can make when we have 50, 75, or 100 of us interacting and bringing our voices together.
If you could give one piece of advice to leaders trying to drive ED&I in their organisations, what would it be?
I would say forge close relationships and understand how you can solve the problems of the business. I always align initiatives and my ED&I strategy to the wider People and HR strategy and also ladder it up to the organisation’s goals.
Whether you are working closely with a specific team or working to improve the broader organisation, if you can align your work to their problems the value that you bring will be clear to all.
Want to hear more of Dorothy’s insights? Join us at Everyone Doing It Together 2024, where she will share more experiences.