Fresh Takes on Inclusion Straight from the DE&I Conference

by Sian Pasco | Published on October 29th, 2025

Recently I attended the 13th annual DE&I conference in London, which brought together thought leaders, organisations, and allies to explore the evolving (and dare we say it sometimes disheartening) landscape of diversity, equity, and inclusion.  

The good news is I came away having been reminded we are in this for the long game. Whilst we are not where we want to be, we have made fantastic progress and the backlash we see is often a reaction to progress, not a reversal of it. We therefore need to keep pushing our DE&I agendas forwards, which is exactly what the day was about. 

So, from redefining wellbeing to unpacking intersectionality, here are some of the most compelling insights and takeaways. 

Redefining Wellbeing  

Wellbeing was positioned not as a soft concept but as a strategic tool. Why? Because it will become currency for Gen A, shaping how organisations attract and retain talent moving forwards. I am sure we can all agree we do far more comms on wellbeing now than we did 10 years ago. There was also a call to equip managers with the skills to support productivity, especially when employees are struggling. Whilst I would argue this is being done, is it being done right? Or just adding to the workload of managers and therefore hindering their own wellbeing… 

We have recently looked at this in our work Employee Experience Gap report to understand how we can address this. Some key findings being setting up systems to support appreciation and recognition and empowering the employee to have a level of autonomy. But at the simplest level is look at what you do well and ensure you’re people know about it and can access it.  

Intersectionality: Infrastructure, Not Initiative 

The intersectionality panel offered a fresh perspective, that intersectionality should be embedded as infrastructure in all organisational goals, not treated as a standalone initiative or part of HR’s strategy only. Whilst this will help improve equity in policies and practices, it serves the ever changing and diverse workforce, where identity is nuanced and multifaceted. For example, it will enhance employee wellbeing as people will feel seen and understood and therefore psychologically safe, this in term will boost innovation and performance. Externally it also helps bolster recruitment. 

Inclusive Leadership: Culture Starts at the Top 

Sandi Wassmer (who I personally found incredibly inspiring) talked with her colleague about how Leadership, Culture, and DE&I are deeply intertwined. She noted ‘every organisation has a culture, good or bad, but ignoring it allows bad behaviours to thrive’ (paraphrased). Whilst leaders are often put on a pedestal we must remember they are humans, not superhumans, but a positive culture can be born from them living the values and not just endorsing them. When they don’t, at the very least there is an erosion of trust and employee disengagement increases that results in $438 billion in lost productivity globally (Gallup, 2025). .  

Gender Equality: The Paternity Leave Effect 

It was time for a breakout, and I decided to attend the session on Gender equality being run by Amit Singh, AXA Ims Head of Inclusion, Diversity and Engagement. I must admit I thought the focus would be on how we are trying to bring equal rights to women in the workplace (only approx. 136 years away from this). I was pleasantly surprised that the focus was on how inhibiting men’s rights (yes you read this properly), we are stopping the progression of women’s rights.  

As mentioned on LinkedIn a few weeks ago every month a man takes paternity leave, a woman’s salary potential increases by 7%. Equally surprising is only 40% of UK men take paternity leave (I couldn’t quite believe this myself). This will be in part down to feeling the same concerns women feel about having prolonged periods of absence out of work will do to one’s career. The good news is organisations that support prolonged paternity leave have seen no negative impact on profitability. The conclusion was the workplace must evolve to reflect changing societal dynamics. However, this isn’t always financially possible, as smaller organisations struggle to fund this.  

Final Thoughts 

This conference made it clear: DE&I has evolved from being a ‘nice to have’ to a ‘hygiene factor’ to an absolute strategic imperative for organisations to survive, let alone grow and thrive. Whether through leadership, infrastructure, or cultural transformation, organisations must evolve to meet the needs of a diverse and dynamic workforce. However, a final point. Many organisations are needing to adapt how they position their agendas and a result is ramping up inclusion whilst dialling down diversity. Yet this misses the point. In doing this we stop recognising and respecting the differences between people meaning the concept becomes broken. 

Intrigued? Please reach out if you want to dig in a little more to see how we can support your DE&I efforts.