15: Project Race with Rob Neil OBE

09/06/18 • 51 min

reWorked: the Workplace Inclusion Podcast

In episode 15 of Reworked, Rachael Wilson talks to Rob Neil OBE, Head of Project Race at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the former Chair of the Civil Service Race Forum.

Rob provides a candid insight into his experience of being a black man in the Civil Service. With over three decades of lived experience, Rob offers a refreshingly honest analysis of the experience of minority groups in the workplace. He gives real examples of how he leads on diversity, how he is equipping his cohort of race ambassadors to do the same and talks about why he is calling on senior leaders to clear the runway so that progress on race equality can be made.

Sponsored by the Permanent Secretary and Civil Service Race Champion, Richard Heaton, Project Race is a corporate initiative that supports the delivery of MoJ’s published objectives to deliver increased numbers of BAME staff at senior Civil Service level. The project facilitates honest conversations with the aim of becoming more comfortable and confident talking about race across the MoJ. Project Race is part of the Civil Service’ ambitious diversity and inclusion strategy to become the UK’s most inclusive employer by 2020.

Rob was awarded an OBE in The Queen’s 2018 New Year’s Honours list for ‘Services to Race Equality in the workplace and the community’. He was shortlisted as an Ethnicity Awards Top 8 BAME Workplace Hero in August 2018.

You're listening to Reworked, the EW Group podcast on workplace culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to build inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter.

In episode 15 of Reworked, Rachael Wilson talks to Rob Neil OBE, Head of Project Race at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the former Chair of the Civil Service Race Forum.

You're listening to Reworked, the EW Group podcast on workplace culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to build inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter.

Previous Episode

14. Spaced Learning with Feed Your Elephant

For episode 14 of Reworked, Rachael catches up with Jim Gant and Keith Grafham, the team behind Feed Your Elephant, an exciting new start-up set to change the way people learn.

Have you ever stayed up all night cramming for an exam, only to find yourself drawing blanks the next day? That’s because our brains aren’t built to work that way.

Scientific evidence suggests that we learn much more effectively by absorbing small amounts of information over a sustained period. This is called spaced learning.

Jim has employed this science to create Feed Your Elephant, a series of applications designed to help you integrate new knowledge into your long-term memory. You can currently download the free apps to learn anything from capital cities, to the names and characteristics of wines.

However, the technology can also be used to supplement in-house training sessions. Spaced learning banishes the element of competition present in most other learning environments. It also uses the speed and accuracy at which you retain information to formulate personalised content and reminders.

Rachael talks to Jim and Keith about what the future holds for their spaced learning start-up. She learns the logistics behind the science that fuels it, and finds out how the company has already taken great leaps to boost confidence and performance in workplaces across the UK.

You're listening to Reworked, the EW Group podcast on workplace culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to build inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter.

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16. DACS: Reconnecting with Artists

In episode 16 of Reworked, Rachael Wilson talks to the Gilane Tawadros, Chief Executive at DACS, a not-for-profit visual artists’ rights management organisation.

DACS was set up by artists for artists to help transform the financial landscape for visual artists, campaign for artists’ rights and champion their sustained and vital contribution to the creative economy.

Yet, sometimes it is easy to lose sight of your organisation’s core purpose. Gilane talks about the importance of DACS rediscovering its purpose and reconnecting with the people it is meant to serve: to support artists’ work and their ability to produce their artwork sustainably. Without having this deep understanding of artists’ needs and what these needs will be in the future at the heart of the organisation, it becomes increasingly difficult to remain relevant.

Cultural change does not happen overnight. Rachael and Gilane discuss the steps DACS took to implement a cultural change to help reconnect with artists and embed across all levels of the organisation the mantra – does this help artists? – to help build confidence and clarify DACS core purpose to both artists and the outside world.

Connect with Gilane on Twitter.

You're listening to Reworked, the EW Group podcast on workplace culture.

For more on EW Group and the work we do to build inclusive cultures, follow us on Twitter.