As the new Chair of the PPA People and Culture Steering Group, she shares the main priorities for 2025 and talks about the evolution of the steering group.

You’re the Chair of the PPA People & Culture Steering Group, could you tell us about the purpose and remit of the group?

At a time when some global household name companies have started to ‘sunset’ (their word, certainly not mine) their Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion initiatives, we have chosen to place even more of a spotlight on ensuring that the media industry continues to grow as a diverse and inclusive sector in which to work, and one that is truly representative of the audiences we serve.  

We have a shared responsibility to hire, retain, and develop diverse talent to use our content to influence and to drive positive change for underrepresented groups within our communities.

Our steering group brings together Human Resources, Learning and Development, and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion leaders, from across our industry to focus on the big challenges and opportunities for our sector, and sharing our successes.

The group has always sought to enact initiatives that foster Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and support member companies in implementing changes within their own operations. The group’s ultimate goal is to shift the dial within our industry.  The difference now is that we are evolving to make sure that these valuable initiatives are not standalone, but fully embedded into our people and development policies and organisational design.

What are the current areas of focus?

• Inclusive recruitment – the full rollout of The PPA Good Hiring Code; developed at the end of last year, it is our priority to help all PPA members fully embed best practice inclusive recruitment into their hiring practices.
  
• Enhancing talent management – sharing best practices for building upskilling and promoting diversity at all levels. 
  
• Fostering neurodiversity and disability inclusion.
  
• Establishing best practices on parental leave support.
  
• Supporting our members to prepare for pay transparency legislation.
  
• Driving initiatives around racial diversity, social inclusion, and opportunities for older career changers.

Why is it valuable for the industry to collaborate via networks like this?

We all benefit from attracting diverse talent to our industry. We all benefit from our industry being an aspirational place where people want to work.

The speed of transformation in our industry over the past few years has been immense so why would we want to work on the many challenges this level of change presents in silo?  The wealth of experience around our table means that the solutions derived from working together will always be better than what we could produce on our own.

What are some of the achievements of the group?

Last year we launched the Good Hiring Code which sets a clear framework for companies committed to achieving best practice in inclusive hiring.  This year, we’ll continue to embed the code, as well as offering best-in-class training opportunities to PPA members.

What do you think is front of mind?

We are working against a global backdrop where Equity, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives are being sidelined, deprioritised and in some cases completely halted.  You may have felt that some of my answers have felt like a bit of a mouthful as I don’t abbreviate Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. This is a conscious decision not to shy away from the meanings that the words hold and the intended outputs of the work that we are doing.  I am proud to say that the PPA, and Haymarket, remain as committed as ever to our important Equity, Diversity and Inclusion work.

It is also impossible to ignore AI. As People experts, AI presents a significant opportunity for People teams to become more strategic, efficient, and effective. It presents opportunities for job enrichment, swapping laborious and repetitive tasks for work that can add real value.  We also need to consider the ethical implications; our people want assurances from us about the future of their roles in the age of AI.  

What should we look out for next?

Our first meeting with our expanded remit takes place in March and we plan to agree our main priorities and actions for 2025.  We will report back here after each meeting ensuring that PPA members, not represented in our steering group, can benefit from our work.

How can people get involved?

If you’d like to enquire about joining the group please email the PPA’s Membership Manager, David.bostock@ppa.co.uk

You can find out more about all of the PPA’s steering groups and networks here.