The HR World speaks to industry leaders about their careers and life – what advice would they pass on and what wisdom brought them to where they are now.
In this edition of the series, Nisha Marwaha, Director, People Relations and DE&I at Virgin Media O2 tells us about her experience leading her teams through one of the biggest mergers on record and maintaining a sense of belonging amongst her employees throughout.
10 May 2023
Story by
Nisha Marwaha, Director, People Relations and DE&I at Virgin Media O2
Change doesn’t happen overnight
When Virgin Media and O2 announced they would be merging in a £31bn deal in 2021, I knew that Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) was going to be central to the culture of the new organisation. Both companies had made great progress over the years, and the combined people team were really mindful about building on those strong foundations going forward.
To begin, we brought together both company’s employee representative groups (ERGs) to understand their desires for the future of Virgin Media O2.
We have six ERGs representing a range of diverse groups, from the LGBTQ+ community to people who are neurodivergent, and those who are unpaid carers. Together, with our ERGs, we built our DE&I strategy, All In. All In sets out our ambitions to improve representation of women and Global Majority Groups across the organisation.
We were given real backing and empowerment by our Executive Team to move our strategy from paper to execution – where we knew that All In would help us articulate the future of the newly merged Virgin Media O2 for the better.
… and never stops
While we have a robust five-year plan in place, we know that the needs of society – and our people – are forever in flux. Society doesn’t stand still. Adaptability and flexibility must be accounted for in any DE&I strategy. We have committed to continually listen to staff, customers, and the communities we serve to make adjustments where required.
Consider a broad range of viewpoints
As part of our commitment to All In, we’re taking our employee policies and looking at them through an equity lens with Equity Sequence™, where we identify and remove systemic barriers for all of our groups and our underrepresented staff. This demands a wide lens, encompassing a broad range of views.
We took this approach for our new leave policies, where we’ve introduced enhanced paid time off for maternity, adoption, paternity leave, and for pregnancy loss, neonatal care and leave for unpaid carers.
We know ‘family’ means different things to so many different people, so we’ve taken a truly inclusive view of the term ‘family’ in our policies. Family extends beyond immediate loved ones and includes LGBTQ+ families. We’ve used gender neutral language to ensure our policies are equitable and can support all our employees.
For me, it’s a real statement of intent from Virgin Media O2 to our employees, enabling them to show up for their loved ones when it counts. All companies should lead with compassion. To me, this is what makes an amazing organisation.
Enjoy the positive feedback
A colleague recently told me how beneficial it was to have 14 weeks paid paternity leave – instead of the previous two weeks – after his baby was born following a difficult birth. The additional 12 weeks meant he could be there for his partner while they recovered, giving him time to bond with his baby.
He said that he’s come back feeling so much more energised and happier to be at work because he felt so supported. For me, that’s the best indicator that our bold and ambitious policies are having a real impact. It’s a win-win for our employees, who feel supported, and for the company, as it’s driving employee advocacy, too.
True belonging cannot be achieved with a half-hearted approach to DE&I. Any new policies or practices must be purposeful, sustainable and with the long-term in mind.
I was proud and humbled to see our strategy described as ‘setting the bar high’ or a ‘shake up’ in the media. It was a labour of love for everyone involved, and it’s made a really positive impact.
DE&I isn’t a tick box; it delivers business and societal impact
DE&I in business has the potential to create a ripple effect in society, To me it’s about enacting positive societal change. We want to reflect the communities we serve across the UK and be a real driver of equity.
And there’s a commercial benefit too, because if our employee base is not reflective of our customer base, our insights are limited, and we lose out on innovation and competitiveness.
As well as being the right thing to do, DE&I makes businesses sense, too.
DE&I is everyone’s responsibility, not just those in leadership roles
Our All In strategy clearly conveys the message that everyone across the business has to go all in to make meaningful change.It’s everyone’s responsibility and accountability – not just those in leadership roles – to champion the strategy and live by its values, looking out for each other and holding ourselves to account to learn more, and crucially, to do more. By doing so, we can create a more equitable and inclusive Virgin Media O2.To anyone looking to start their DE&I journey, I’d encourage them to build connections and relationships across the business to ensure everyone understands the role that they can play.
Never neglect the data
We took a data driven approach to All In. In addition to network consultations, we analysed everything from attrition levels to hiring percentages, and devised our ambitions for improving representation of women and those from Global Majority Groups from across the organisation.
The adage is true: what gets measured gets done.
That’s why data will be so important in helping us to assess the progress we’re making and further action we’ll need to take to ensure we meet our ambitions by 2027. Companies must harness data to both assess progress and set new attainable targets.
We can’t afford to get DE&I wrong, our people and more broadly, society are relying on progressive companies like us to get it right. There’s too much at stake not to.
