Under the Global Umbrella
Welcome to Under the Global Umbrella — a podcast celebrating the people and organisations driving real change in diversity, equity and inclusion across the world
Created by Diversity Umbrella, this series shines a spotlight on the incredible winners and changemakers from the British Diversity Awards, the European Diversity Awards, the Rainbow Honours, and the Employee Network Awards.
Through honest conversations and powerful stories, we go beyond the headlines to explore the impact behind the accolades — sharing lived experiences, bold leadership, and the ideas shaping more inclusive workplaces and communities.
Because recognition matters — but understanding the journey behind it matters even more.
Under the Global Umbrella
Under the Global Umbrella Episode 3: Florence Henderson
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In this episode of Under the Global Umbrella, hosts Char Bailey and Kat Parsons welcome Florence Henderson, Head of Inclusion for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Moody’s. Florence shares her inspiring journey from joining Moody’s in an administrative role to becoming an award-winning inclusion leader, recognised at the 2025 European Diversity Awards. Together, they explore the power of business resource groups, senior leadership and adapting inclusion strategies across different countries and cultures. Florence also discusses menopause in the workplace, wellbeing and why diverse perspectives are essential for business success. Warm, honest and full of practical insight, it is an uplifting conversation about respect, everyday kindness and creating workplaces where everyone can truly belong.
Welcome back to Under the Global Umbrella, a podcast celebrating the people and organisations driving real change in diversity, equity, and inclusion across the world. I'm Char Vailey and I'm taking you on this journey with none other than the CEO of Diversity Umbrella.
SPEAKER_01It's me, Kat Parsons! We have created this series to shine a spotlight on the incredible winners and change makers from the British Diversity Awards, the European Diversity Awards, the Rainbow Honours, and the Employee Network Awards.
SPEAKER_00Through honest conversations and powerful storytelling, we go beyond the headlines to explore the impact behind the accolades, sharing lived experiences, bold leadership, and the ideas shaping more inclusive workplaces and communities.
SPEAKER_01Because recognition matters, but understanding the journey behind it matters even more. Shah, lovely to see you. Lovely to see you. Hello, Hi Hair. Hello. Hi Hair with uh headphones on. It's under control today. We are interviewing someone completely wonderful today, aren't we?
SPEAKER_00I'm very excited about this person. Not only because they are one of our award winners, but also because they are warm, they give great hugs, and they are one of those people who makes everyone feel special.
SPEAKER_01Florence Henderson.
SPEAKER_02Hi Florence! Hello, thank you for having me. Thank you for that welcome.
SPEAKER_01Not a problem at all. Florence, where do you work? Who are you? Tell us everything.
SPEAKER_02My name is Florence Henderson. I am the head of inclusion for Europe, Middle East, and Africa at Moody's. Um we've just moved into our new offices today in uh central London in the city, so we're very excited. Um I'm even more excited and absolutely petrified to be here today.
SPEAKER_00Oh it's so interesting that you say you're petrified to be here today because you are a person who comes with a lot of power, a lot of strength, and somebody who really does drive inclusion into the heart of everything you do. You were named, and I remember this very vividly, head of diversity inclusion at one of our biggest awards, the European Diversity Awards, last year in 2000-25. And I'm curious to know what that meant to you.
SPEAKER_02Actually, got goosebumps now, just from the way you said it as well, because this is my day job, and I go in nine to five-ish. This is my day job, but I love it. I love what I do, and I love the people I meet. If I work somewhere and I'm enjoying where I work, the people I work with, the culture, I'd like everyone else to have that same sense as well. So that's what I try to exude, and to be recognized as for going in and having a good time seems like, oh wow, okay, thank you. I literally am somebody I actually joined Moody's um in 2013, um, and I joined as an admin because I decided that the point of my life um I wanted to take a slower pace, I wanted just to do a nine to five and go home, so I took an admin role. But over time, um I moved into this this role for the last sort of five years, and it's one that I mentioned at the time I didn't know that I wanted, I didn't know that I could do this role, but I blomming well love it.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that is but I mean you you undersell yourself slightly there about oh I wanted, you know, I just thought I'd have a little nine to five, you know, didn't want too much stress. Like, whenever we've spoken, you are everywhere doing everything, and you are incredible in terms of managing your networks at Moody's. Tell us a bit more about that.
SPEAKER_02My network groups, um, I actually met with them on Friday morning this week. Um, we have what we call um a business, uh a BRG summit, and what we do there, we take all of our co-chairs globally to New York for two days to talk about inclusion.
SPEAKER_00Wow.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00Can I come to the next one next year, next week?
SPEAKER_02Maybe, maybe, maybe. And talking to my regional leads, um, my co-chairs, they said they wanted to have another opportunity to come together, to share best practice, to collaborate, and just understand what each other are doing. So we had that on Friday, and I told them at the time, I this is your side desk jobs, you've got a very pressurized job. We're five exiting it right now. So I understand the strain, but I want you all to be successful in what you do. So I'm there to help you, to support you, and um, so I'm fighting for them. So we have eight main um business resource groups from our mental health, our pride network, our women's, our disability, and etc. etc., and our multicultural and our black impact group. And then what we have is um inclusion groups. Now, what they are is some of our small offices, they don't have the critical mass to make up individual groups. So, what they do, they have the fantastic opportunity that they can celebrate everything, they can recognize and raise awareness on everything, whether it be for mental health, whether it be for women's issues, whether it be on disability, they have the opportunity to do all. So, with them, I have 18 different kinds of groups of people that I work with across the year. Yeah, we had three 2023, we had Madrid, Italy, Brussels, start, and last year we had two offices, tiny offices, north our Stockholm and Copenhagen office, and also our Zurich and uh Vienna office came in together in two different groups because they like we want to be involved so they can see what others are seeing. They're invited to join virtually, but they wanted the opportunity to bring that culture, um, raise awareness to the people in their offices as well. So that's that's yeah.
SPEAKER_00So your impact spreads globally then?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. So the governance that we have here that I share with you all across Europe is not just given just to Europe. It's repeated in Americas, it's repeated in APAC. So I have my counterpart is based in India, I have one based in India, and I have another counterpart who's based in Costa Rica, who covers all the Americas, including the US and Canada. So the approach is definitely global, and they have their own numerous 11 and one, I think 19.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I love you said this was a 9 to 5 job. That sounds like the most unnine to five 24-7 job.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, there was a period where I actually did cover the APAC region for about 18 months, and it was it was th yeah, it was I I would start about 7.30, 8 in the morning and finish around 7.30. But I I it's another group of people that I got to meet, and um so much so that when I went to India they all knew me and they were just it was just magical and it was treated like royalty when we went to India. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00Wow.
SPEAKER_02I love it. I just like meeting people. I'm nosy, I think.
SPEAKER_01That's what it is. That's a good part of the job. So that recognition, so in terms of so you went back to the office after the European Diversity Awards said, look at my nice shiny trophy. I hope it's got a nice position in your home somewhere. Um, what was the reaction from the business and what was your you know, how did it feel personally to you as well? Has it made a difference to your career?
SPEAKER_02My colleagues on the night were the loudest, and I was actually surprised that someone said to me that the whole room seemed to know me as well, and they were very excited that I'd won. And it was like floating on a little cloud for a little while. And I've said, you know, I'm not doing any more awards. This is my 15 minutes of fame. This was I didn't expect it's something I did not expect. My bosses, uh, my managers have been absolutely tremendous in making sure that this award was recognized. And so on various, I think two or three different town halls, there was my big face up on the screen so that everybody knew um that I won the awards. So it's really very, very much appreciated and recognized in the conversations I've had around at the end-of-year performance. And it was really funny because the year before, um, one of the tasks I had to do the year before was to create our intranet page on our intranet site, our page for inclusion. And I was like, I couldn't envisage it. I'm like, oh, I don't know how to do this, I can't see how this is going to work. So they say, well, we need a volunteer. So let me do it because I can't see it any other way. And I created this page that others use as a template, and I was very proud of myself. And I thought that 2025, I thought, oh my god, how am I gonna stop that? What am I gonna do?
SPEAKER_01So I think I might have done a little bit of a massive award.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think that's it's probably one of the biggest awards that we have, isn't it? It's one of the ones that really does change people's perception of themselves, it changes their perception of what their capacity is in the business, what they're capable of doing, the changes they can make. And I'm I'm really interested to know more about you. Like you've talked about in you've touched on intersectionality when it comes to all the different ERGs that you have and all the work that goes into bringing those people together. Um, but when it comes to you personally, what work did you have to do in order to get to the point of receiving that level of recognition?
SPEAKER_02Oh, that's a tough one. Um, oh god, because I find it so difficult to as the as the young people say, big up myself. I I big up you, big you up. Big up. Um I think even coming into this role, I actually came into this role to help out. I was so can you help out for a few months? Yeah. Um I was a project manager and it was it came in and I took her the role in January, feb January 2020, and then Covid, George Floyd, everything happened, and I became permanent in December 2020. But before I took on the role full-time, I actually messaged my family. I messaged a colleague, an ex-colleague who had a very senior role at Moody's and said to said to them, Can I do this? I don't, you know, this is I thought I needed to be more kind of you know, right on, kind of militant, more person. And my cousins, a couple of my cousins actually said, No, the kind of person you are and your temperament, you are you see fairness in everyone, um, and you're made for this job. And I was like, okay, let's see how it goes then.
SPEAKER_01Let's see how it goes. I think it went very well, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm not very good as believing in what I do because I do really see it as I am going out and doing, I am doing this. Is my day job, it is a job. I do love it, and I am supported and led by a fantastic team. The way we're structured and the governance that we have makes the processes and the paths not easy, but it just it just makes we we know which path to follow. But you do have to have the personality to be able to support and to be able to bring people on and to gain people's trust as well, and for them to understand that what you're saying and what you're trying to do, what is behind that.
SPEAKER_01And so I think I've done that. That's a really tricky skill to have as well, isn't it? You know, like I'm project management background as well, and it's all about KPIs and budgets and tracking and all of this stuff, these sort of hard skills. Yeah, and then this is sort of deemed as more of a softer skill role. And I think I even remember sort of saying, Oh, I don't really have those sort of fluffy skills, but you know, it's the hardest thing, isn't it, to actually be able to walk into a room, make people understand the message you're trying to get, bring them on board, listen to them, make them feel sort of heard and valued, and and build that trust in an exceptionally quickly amount of time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely, because I think and I said to you the other day that I'm not one of those person people that you're is going to be quoting uh facts or quotes or stats. That's not me. But if you come and ask me to support you with something, I'm gonna try my darndest to do that. I'm gonna be there for you, I'm gonna be in your corner as much as I can. Um, yeah, I'm not about the numbers, I'm about the I'm a more tactiley, feely touchy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Do you think what what do you think is the biggest misconception about diversity, equity, and inclusion?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because you mentioned, you know, having that thought of you're not militant enough, you're not this enough. So what do you think really breaks down that barrier for you? What was it that made you think, actually, I don't have to be this militant person in order to do this role? Um because it so it sounds like you sort of broke your own misconception about the role, and now you're continuing to do that by doing your job so wonderfully.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, um, I think I think initially I think some organisations and through some of the other network groups that I've joined, um, all it's been um eye-opening that some organisations uh have used DI or inclusion as we call it at Moody's because we feel that if you were doing the diversity piece correctly and the equity piece correctly, then you're being inclusive. So that's what we we we changed it about three years ago to inclusion, okay, including our programming as well. So everything is open to everyone. But on some of these conversations and and networking groups I've been to, where you've literally I've heard people say that it is it has been a tick-box exercise in some organizations where they'll have senior leaders in the front saying, yes, we're doing this, but it's difficult to see the them actually uh walking the talk. And what's broken it down for me over the years is the dedication and the leadership that we've had. And because it's something that's coming from our CEO, this is spoken about in the town halls, it's uh part of our scorecard. So it's something that's believed. And in any organization, unless you believe it, unless the senior managers believe it, it's not gonna happen. There is that that trust is gonna be broken, people are not going to they're not going to be engaged. So yeah, that that tick box that I I heard, you can't work that way.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I've worked in organisations as well where you sort of have the CEO that says the right thing, and then there's a launcher. It's sort of a bit like, oh you know, but uh you know the fact you're tracking it. Um we were talking the other day as well as part of a a a lunch event about actually having it as a performance metrics as as well. So your uh bonus, for example, would would actually be part of that that piece of work, which I think is quite key as well.
SPEAKER_02It is, yeah. We don't actually do that, but we have the conversations whereby I think people feel particularly post-Covid, that people feel a lot more comfortable talking. And if they feel that they wanted to participate in a BRG event or something, and well they weren't able to we know that you've got your day job and all the rest of it, but if there was a kind of a continual not being able to to be involved, we need to be having words with those teams. And what we have is as part of our structure, we have um the executive sponsors for each of our network groups are MDs. So senior oh yeah, you have to be an MD. They're all MDs in the organization. So they're there in those meetings, so this is how it's filtering down. Yeah. This is how it's filtering down.
SPEAKER_01Do you have um is there any competitiveness? I used to find this quite a lot with exec sponsors. If um, if if one uh business resource group, for example, who put a really good event on and it's hosted by this MD, that I always found there was a sort of bit of a shuffling in seats, a bit like, well, what are we doing for our next one? Like, well, what are we doing? We need to make sure it's better than this, which is only obviously only going to be good for the organisation. But I found that again they were almost asking for more from the from the groups so that again their their message was as as loud and and the event was as good as the last one.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, I haven't I haven't seen that as far as as far as I know. But they are um up, they are present, and if they're not, then I'll speak to them or Mamanja will speak to them. But what we have had as well is um our chief inclusion officer, he has the opportunity to go to the um MDB kind of annual conference and and make sure that they're aware of what's going on and they're on board. So those who aren't executive sponsors then come on board. And just recently we had somebody who um who we had to recruit for a new MD for another BRG. And um I'd already kind of appointed somebody, then someone at one of the other co-chairs from a different one said, Oh, I've got two more MDs who want to be you know exec sponsor. I'm like, Well, too late now, I'm sorry. I've missed the boat. Snoosy loose. Yeah, it's noogie loose, you have to wait for the next one. For the co-chairs, it is that bringing up their visibility, their opportunity to meet with those senior leaders and to meet others outside of their usual day day job. But for the MDs as well, it really does show their teams that they're engaged, that they they believe in the culture that we're trying to grow here.
SPEAKER_00Well, um, I'm gonna move on. You said earlier you talked about going to India, to New York, to all the and you are truly, you know, a leader in a in a global, global organization. Um, as a person who is intersectional and mixed race, I'm really keen to understand can inclusion look different in different countries and still be effective? And what does that sort of look like?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. As I mentioned, we have um my counterparts in India, in Costa Rica, um, who cover the whole APAC and America's region. We you cannot expect that what my colleagues in London want to see here about is going to be exactly the same as what my colleagues in India are going to be. So Diwali is going to be a whole different kettle of fish. We'll try our best here, but it's going to be a whole different kettle of fish in India. Okay. Um, so what we do is what we used to have is our business resource groups when um we English is Moody's sort of business language, so they actually it was an unwritten rule that everything had to be in English. Thankfully, thankfully, that changed. And so we're actually saying have your sessions, you can make them local language because they make you feel more comfortable. Um, some of the people who you're inviting in, external speakers who you're inviting in to speak, may not speak English. So why make everyone feel uncomfortable? It just gets that message across much much better. And we have kind of five areas of focus for our for our business resource groups all to follow as a foundation. And one of those is around championing diverse perspectives, which is one of that's also one of Moody's values as well. But also the our business resource groups being cultural ambassadors. So that means celebrating your cultures, and the culture may not be, you know, I'm black, so I'm going to celebrate Black History Month. Your culture may be you're a woman, that's your culture. Your culture may be from your you're from the pride community, that's your culture. So whatever your business resource group is, that is your culture, and that's your community. And we're asking you to celebrate what's best for locals. Because it's the people in the offices, it's still grassroots. We call them business resource groups, it's still grassroots. We want to hear from you. What do you want to hear? In the UK, we've had a massive campaign around menopause, which love the menopause. And but when you've taken it to, you can't say we've done it here, so you have to have it in another office. You've got to understand what the differences are. There may be a lot younger people there who don't realise it's coming, but it's coming. But you know, so you so you need to listen to what the employees uh want in those offices.
SPEAKER_01So I suppose it's yeah, you're right, it's taking the same topic, isn't it, but just is a slightly different angle or spin. So again, um I've done it in very male-dominated spaces and everyone just looks absolutely horrified when you say the M-word and there's a lot of shuffling in their seats and all sorts. But again, if you link it to this is the power of inclusion, isn't it? If you actually, instead of just giving them 10,000 facts on the menopause, if you actually say, you know, this is your wife, partner, mother, you know, etc., it does very much.
SPEAKER_02Rather, uncle's son too, andropause, need your new. Yeah, absolutely. So and yeah, so bringing them into the conversation too.
SPEAKER_01How it personally affects them, yeah. And again, again, linking it as well. So um it's treatments for prostate cancer, isn't it? Can can cause menopausal symptoms in men. Yes. So again, they're still learning about the menopause, but in a in a different way that really resonates with them in terms of that education piece. And I remember um it's how to communicate, isn't it, as well? And I've I'm from a background where everyone loved a toolbox talk. Love a toolbox talk. Have you heard of those? No, so this is from a sort of a construction background. Everyone loves to have uh one piece of paper that's like a like you stick it above the kettle, you have like a moment in the morning where we're all sort of getting together, like what's the plan for the day, what are the safety hazards, those sorts of things, and then you'd have like this sort of library of toolbox talks to go through. Just a snapshot. And um, I'd created one for the menopause in a role that I was in, and it got printed out in like A3. It was massive about the menopause and like the 60 different symptoms of the menopause. It was embarrassingly massive. And I went to do this site visit with the all these guys, and uh this thing's on the wall, and they had no idea who I was at all. I was just cat, just sort of, you know, from head office. And um, yeah, they were saying, I said, Oh, how did you find the menopause toolbox talk? And they were like, Oh, we're all menopausal now, like, oh, you know, I'm having a hot flush right now. Like, there was a bit of that sort of jest about it, but actually. Within like two minutes, one guy was saying, you know, my my marriage is on the point of divorce. I didn't know what to do. I didn't realise this is how she was, I just went out and got chocolate and wine. That was my job. And again, so to be able to sort of educate people in the workplace like that on again, something, you know, it really resonated. It was amazing. Absolutely, absolutely. But from a cultural point of view as well, going back to what Char said about being global, that's a sort of topic that is not discussed in all cultures. So again, that's difficult, isn't it? How do you get that message out?
SPEAKER_02Well, absolutely, because when we started the UK menopause campaign, it nearly didn't happen because somebody in the US had heard that we were going to be doing this, and um my other my old boss at the time had said, but why? And they couldn't give an answer. It's just like, oh, it's a taboo subject, you can't talk about it. So we were like, no, this is for UK only anyway, and this is a subject that needs to be spoken about. It's affecting our employees, and there is a stat, I think it's about 47% of women, which I never who will leave work because of that brain fog, the hot flushes, the not being able to sleep, um, who will who will leave work because of it. But bringing that awareness and bringing making sure other people understand um why this person and just being able to talk freely. I yeah, I will tell people it's my menopause brain. I'm sorry. This this is yeah, this is it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and from a business point of view, that's your talent walking out the door because they don't feel like they're supported as well.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because you're you're these are people who are really getting to the peak of their career and when this can happen, and to let them walk out of the door just through lack of understanding and lack of empathy, you need to rethink.
SPEAKER_00Um I really like that you just made that link there between I think it was you made the link, Kat, that people are leaving organisations and not feeling that they are included. Um can you talk to me about some other reasons? How how does inclusion truly help an organization perform at their best? Because we we are seeing that you know there's been a decline in in inclusion conversations, in belonging conversations, and you know, I personally have had to, you know, really fight for some of the the work that I've got when I talk about inclusion for it to be validated for people to truly see that it matters and it makes a difference. So can you back me up, please, Florence, and tell me how does it help? And I'll maybe I'll use some of your answers in some of my work pitches moving forward.
SPEAKER_02It's good for business. It's just like I said, the one of the media's values is championing diverse perspectives. If we all worked in the place and I only hired people who looked like me or went to the same school as me, or cookie cutter hiring, how boring is that? Um, you're not going to get any diverse perspectives, but everyone's just gonna be you've got a lot of yes men, yes, yes people because everyone is they're on the same trajectory. It brings innovation. Um our senior leaders have said, I mean, there was one particular story they they had gone to a client's meeting, and I think it was just all males all looking the same, and the client had said, Where there's where is diversity in this group? This is quite a few years ago, but where is the diversity in this group? And they actually had to look at themselves and think about it. And there are lots of stats around this indeed. It is bringing in those diverse perspectives.
SPEAKER_01Um even when it comes to like problem solving, isn't it? I know there was a there was a thing, wasn't there, about was it Apple and the face facial recognition? And when it initially was released, it wasn't actually recognising or unlocking people's phones if you were black. Yeah, yes. How how is that even possible?
SPEAKER_00It can be really dangerous as well, especially when you think of how we use surveillance to identify people. If you're a woman or a person of colour or somebody who doesn't fit that majority look, you're you know more at risk of being picked out as one of these people who's a potential suspect because it can't differentiate you from another person of colour.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and it's not only about what you can see on the outside or what's above that, you know, that iceberg is what's underneath. So it's somebody who may have a visible disability, somebody who's neurodivergent, um, and they may not interview as well because of that.
SPEAKER_00I feel like you're talking about me.
SPEAKER_02I feel seen. You know, if somebody doesn't understand, you know, all the wonder things that somebody who's neurodivergent can bring to an organization, if you think, well, you know, you've they've got an issue and I I can't see beyond as to why you you're not answering how I want you to answer, then you know, you're missing fantastic opportunities there. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I had a colleague once uh called Jack and he was interviewing for a for a role, absolutely brilliant guy, and he was basically doing the job already, but they said, Oh, there's this opening, Jack, you know, can you interview? And he was neurodivergent and he went into the interview and absolutely tanked it like it was horrendous. And they said, Look, we really can't offer him this job because it was awful, this interview. And I said, Right, what you know, what happened? And they talked me through and they literally they were just firing questions, no prep beforehand. And poor Jack was just I think grasping for anything to be able to say. I said, Right, can we just re-interview and just do something different? And um basically they went in with a scenario and said, Right, Jack, the ceiling's caved in, there's water apsy everywhere, like what are you gonna do? And Jack was like, Right, I'd do this, this, this, this, this, this, this. The whole thing was mapped out. He knew exactly what he needed to do in that in that critical situation, and it's just because he failed because it was a traditional, can't see the questions before the interview, you know, you're being judged on 45 minutes in a room with someone, as opposed to actually giving, you know, flexing the style to be able to get the best out of that candidate. So it's so important, isn't it? Absolutely, absolutely. Poor Jack, he got the job, he's great.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that sounds like a bit of a a moment for you, Kat. It was a moment, I think. Like a moment, like a oh wow, like a ah.
SPEAKER_01I think it's again, it's one of those stories, isn't it, Florence? You'll be the same. You I think you collect these stories where actually it brings things to life. So you could you could do a whole big thing about how interview panels should be this, that, and la. But if you just have this bank of sort of stories with actual real life people, that's when people go, Oh okay, poor Jack. Like again, it just really makes it resonate with people. And I I think that's the sort of thing, again, in this role is almost collecting those moments and being able to spread them at the right time to be able to back up your your point.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Was there was there a moment for you, Florence, that sort of made you realise, wow, this is the power of inclusion? Or have there been many?
SPEAKER_02There have been lots, I think, when the EDA was the main one. I think there are moments of realisation for people. One was after George Floyd. We actually had a town hall, uh, a global town hall. But what resulted was I had some of our s very senior white male employees calling me up and saying, Are you okay? And just saying, Are you okay? And I was like, Wow, okay, yes, I am, thank you. Um, and then more recently, um, we very, very sadly had two colleagues who had died in the plane crash in Washington Airport, and uh there was things that were said about around inclusion being the the one of the reasons for that and all the rest of it. But we were really, really, really upset and what was happening at that time. We were in our own our own like group meeting and feeling rather low. Um, our chief inclusion officer was speaking to our CEO, and then next minute they popped into our meeting and we were like, hello. So um, and he just wanted to say thank you for everything that we do, and he said um that it never even occurred to him to stop doing what we're doing.
SPEAKER_01Amazing.
SPEAKER_02So, and that, and then also as well after that play, we had I had colleagues um just messaging, hope you guys are okay. Thank you for all that you do. Um, and and then even up to a couple of weeks ago, we had um we did a mini innovators day in the office. I'm really up. So cute.
SPEAKER_01The kids in the office.
SPEAKER_02Honestly, if I could have had the pictures of this, was a there was one little girl dancing with a robot. It was a man in a blow-up robot suit. It was the most hilarious thing, and she was just hugging him and dancing around. Honestly, it was beautiful, beautiful moment. And the messages of thanks we got, um uh we were like um oversubscribed really at one point. And I was I said to my parents, I said, I can't squeeze any more bitch because oh I said, you know what, I can't disappoint a child, just just bring them, just bring them. And then she said to like 10 minutes later, she said, Oh, can you meet me at the lifts? And I mean, what for can you meet me at the lifts? And she she brought me flowers to say thank you. And it's those things that people just really appreciate. People appreciate the the time that you take to make them feel like they have that sense of belonging and that they can as much you know, I'm not saying 100% that we're doing it right, no one can be doing it 100%, but at least trying to create that sense of belonging that people can bring them true selves to work. So those those little just little clusters every now and again.
SPEAKER_00I think you've you've nailed it there with those with those little clusters. So I think one of the reasons people are so scared of the word inclusion is because they think there's this big body of work that they have to do or take these massive actions when in reality it is you know, those everyday kindnesses, those things that you notice, those very, very small acts that can make the world of a difference, not only for an organization, but just for an individual. And I think when we when we have that power as individuals and we give someone a moment of feeling as though they're being seen and valued, they are then empowered to go in and do the next thing and to and to pay it forward and to include the next person and to think about the other intersections, and it's just like an an incredible snowball of inclusion that that we create.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And there's something I think powerful about bringing kids into the office. I've done it a couple of times where I've been absolutely terrified that they're gonna show me up, but they've always been very well behaved. But there's something about as a parent being a allowed, you know, to to bring your kids into to sort of, you know, you go off in the morning, you're like, see you late, kids, you know, have a good day, mom's off to the office. And they're like, Where? Like, you know, so actually to be able to put it in their minds where it is you're going every day and who it is your, you know, you come home and over dinner, you're like, Oh, I saw Liz today, and I saw, you know, you know, they're actually meeting these people. Yeah. And I think that links very well, I think, into our final question is around, obviously, those youngsters one day are gonna be the talent that are in our work in our workplaces. Fingers crossed. Um, but if we were sat here in three years' time having this conversation again, what do you think the progress would be across UK businesses? What would you hope to see? I'm reading my notes, but um Oh, is Florence gonna rip up the notes?
SPEAKER_00She's gonna rip them up. She's gonna rip them up. Oh, she wrote this. Okay, the notes have been ripped, we're going off book.
SPEAKER_02For me, um inclusion is around respect. Respect for each other. I would just like to see people just be a bit more respectful of each other, I think. Um so long as you're not harming me, I don't, you know, I don't mean it. You live your life. Life is too short, you live your life. I think for organizations, it's um why not create somewhere where your your employees want to come in? What is so hard about it? I don't I don't think it's right, science. It's really frustrating. Create that sense of um belonging for employees. Um it can be just little things. Um we've done in the past in our office where not to do with inclusion, but just where we used been sent an email and it says, right, we're doing cake and custard on the on the floor, go and take time out and go and have cake and custard. And we used to have it, and then we'd have um we'd have our MD serving you ice cream or cake and custard or whatever. Um and it was those little touches and showing that they're not in some ivory castle, they're you know, they're they're just normal people like the rest of us. But I suppose going back to kind of script and more about less about my thing, I think it's around having those diverse perspectives, thinking about uh being respectful and people's well-being as well. We are having a huge approach around well-being. We always have done, but particularly now, we felt that it's time to elevate what we're doing around well-being. And we have a fantastic mental health um business resource group, and we are working very closely with our benefits team around that well-being piece. So I think well-being, respect, and yeah, just creating, just be nice to each other, I mean.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you I mean, Florence said, look after your people. Why not? It makes a massive difference to them and a massive difference to your organization. Should we click or should we clap? Because I think we're ready to wrap this up, but we need to celebrate how incredible fun. I'll go for a clap.
SPEAKER_01Wait, well, thank you. Fantastic. So that's another episode done. So uh a massive thank you to Paramount for letting them use our very lovely and slightly warm studios today. And we very much look forward to the next conversation. But Florence, thank you so much. Thank you for ripping your notes up. Thank you for watching. Which are always a pleasure.
SPEAKER_00Forever a pleasure. If you would like to listen to any more episodes of Under the Global Umbrella, then please do check out our social media. We are looking forward to engaging with you and including you in our conversations.