HR in Review 19 – Levelling Up and DEI in the Public Sector with Philippa Bonay

An Introduction to this Edition by Show Host, Bill Banham

I’m delighted to be working with the HRreview team to produce a new series of HR in Review Podcast episodes. Many years back I was the editor at HRreview – an experience that stuck with me as I moved into marketing roles at HR tech firms and media outlets in Canada and the US and then as founder at the HR Gazette and host of the HRchat Podcast.

In this edition of HR in Review I am joined by Philippa Bonay, Director of People and Business Services at the Office for National Statistics.

Listen as Philippa shares her tips for a varied and successful career in HR. She’ll also offer her thoughts on mentorship, how to be a more inspiring leader, and ways to improve DEI in the workplace.

In this episode, I asked Phillipa the following key questions – listen now to discover her insightful answers!

• As an HR pro, what are you most passionate about?
• To help build an inclusive culture, the ONS offers sponsorships, mentoring and championing, and everybody within the organisation has an inclusion and diversity objective. How has mentoring / coaching made a difference in your life and career?
• You are a big proponent of being kind and respectful to one another. How have the collective lessons in empathy over the past couple of years changed the ways leaders communicate with employees?
• Like most organisations, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) still has work to do when it comes to diversity in leadership. In a recent post on govx.digital, you shared your take on using data to identify barriers. You said that although the department has good levels of disability and LGBTQ+ representation among the most senior positions, improvement is still needed for women and ethnic minorities. To improve this situation, your team has recently launched an inclusion, culture and wellbeing app that gives all ONS directorates the ability to look at all of their information by a protected characteristic across the employee lifecycle. Tell me about the app and how this helps leaders to identify where the problems are and set objectives against them.
• Levelling up: What can be achieved through local talent recruitment and how does hiring locally mesh with the shift we’ve seen over the past couple of years in the private sector towards hybrid work and embracing wider, more disparate talent pools?
• You are also HR Director for the Government Analysis Function. Talk about that role and how it has contributed to your knowledge and skills as an HR leader.
• What is the single biggest change you think will happen in HR over the next 5-10 years?
• If you could pass on one crucial lesson you have learned in your HR career – in one minute or less – what would be your top tip for other HR professionals?