Our global Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) committee is dedicated to championing inclusivity across the business. Tasked with creating a safe and engaging working environment for the company’s 27,000 employees, the team have been hard at work to reinforce TIFS’s mindsets of embracing change, winning as a team, and being a continuous learner.
In recent months, the committee’s focus has been on educating the business’ global workforce on Allyship. Defined as the willingness to take action in support of another person or community, Allyship is a crucial part of our goal to enable true diversity, equity, and inclusion.
To help ensure that Allyship is understood and adopted across the business, the D&I committee worked in tandem with TIFS’s Women’s Empowerment Network to hold an Ally Workshop. 20 male members of the TIFS team were selected to participate in the event, with all 20 holding critical, influential roles within the company. The purpose of the workshop was to help participants understand what it means to be an Ally and what is expected of Allies.
The workshop was a huge success and the feedback on the event was overwhelmingly positive. In particular, the business’ UK-based Director of Corporate Reporting, Simon Howell, was so inspired by his experience that he was eager to discuss his thoughts on what he learnt. Check out Simon’s thoughts below.
Q: Why do you think D&I and/or Allyship are important at TIFS?
Simon Howell (SH): Understanding diversity and Allyship in particular is really important to be able to address it. For many, this is often a blind spot, but from our perspective, having a genuine interest and understanding is fundamental to the success we have as individuals and teams. Working in global teams means it is really important to understand and be empathetic to colleagues.
Q: How has this training influenced your perspective on your role as a man and/or senior manager in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion?
SH: Everybody has a role to play – but as a leader, I now have clarity that it is about taking action if I see poor behaviour and correcting myself immediately if I say or do something wrong.
Q: Were there any previous misconceptions you had about Allyship that were clarified during the training?
SH: The biggest learning for me in the training – and I heard a few others say this – was around the discussion of “privilege”. This is often included in conversations as a negative and sometimes as an insult. It is more about recognizing what you do have experiences of, and those that you have not had experience of, but others have. The reality of privilege is that it is important to understand perspectives and that individuals may not have certain experiences. So as a leader, I know it is my role to create an environment for others that can help them succeed.
Q: What immediate action steps do you plan to implement in your team or department to foster a more inclusive environment as an Ally?
SH: I will listen and seek out diverse ideas and experiences, and ensure that all voices are heard.
Q: How do you believe your actions as an Ally can contribute to the overall success of TIFS?
SH: Different perspectives, ideas, and discussion lead to better decisions being made. An environment of innovation and improvement comes from allowing people to speak up with their ideas.
Q: What barriers or challenges do you anticipate in your journey as an Ally, and how do you plan to overcome them?
SH: The biggest barrier is often myself. To be an effective Ally, I need to be sure to stop and think about how I am going to say something, how to include or bring people into the conversation in the right way, and how to ask for open feedback. I have previously spent a lot of time in my career understanding and trying to stop microinequities. A practice that I’ve adopted if I say something incorrect is to say out loud “that was wrong, that was a microinequity” and then correct myself immediately. I need to ensure I do this more, and correct others’ microinequities.
Q: What advice would you give to other men in management roles about the importance of participating in Allyship training?
SH: This training is one of the best workshops I have been on in recent years. The investment in time is small compared to the positive outcome it can have, not only on colleagues, but in making good business decisions. I am glad I invested the time as I know I will be more successful and a better leader if I keep working on the behaviours that I learned and keep making them a daily habit.
