Image: Result CIC DELTA workshop for Civil Servants.
(Please note that Civil Servant Clare Hussey received independent coaching from us similar to that which formed part of our DELTA programme).

This week our guest writer is Clare Hussey who had coaching with us in 2021. 

My line manager recently shared an opportunity with me to go for a civil service role leading equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in a department. As someone who values the government's commitment to inclusion through the Public Sector Equality Duty, I was interested in the role. My line manager also championed me applying: the civil service is all about promotions and after a year in my current role, it seemed like a natural progression. However, when I started looking into the details, I realised that maybe it wasn’t that simple. 

Back in 2021, I did some Result CIC coaching, and as part of it I learned about spheres of influence. After having a chat with the vacancy holder about the EDI role and considering the impact that I would like to have, it became clear that the conditions weren’t right for me to actually do what I’d like to do. It might sound counterintuitive, but I realised that I might have more impact with EDI staying where I was doing a role in digital delivery, but also continuing EDI work as part of my voluntary time entitlement as a civil servant. As much as this involves moving slower and juggling my digital and EDI work, I now believe that it’s better to wait and keep building up evidence of success and wait for the right moment.

 There are exciting examples of this happening in government:

• DLUHC (Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities) is doing grassroots efforts “creating conditions for modern resilient councils” and how to make digital and cyber improvements across their organisations, reform key services, and influence organisation-wide factors that can unblock change
• GCHQ are looking at building high-performing, multi-disciplinary teams formed of people with a range of disabilities who are in place to tackle hard problems - and are actively looking at bringing in neurodiverse people such as those with dyslexia

Personally, I’ve also had some slow but steady wins in my own work. In 2018, as a fairly new joiner to the civil service, I was diagnosed with dyslexia. As part of this, I discovered that there was a lack of support for people like me, and started presenting about my experiences soon after. From this, I found a network of people that are interested in implementing change, such as the CSDDN (Civil Service Dyslexia and Dyspraxia Network). I’ve also been able to use my experiences in digital - a profession that tackles ambiguity through bringing together a group of people with complementary specialist skills, and giving them the space to learn through doing - to help EDI through these networks. It’s been a slow process of networking and finding allies and funding, but we’ve started to create useful outcomes such as the Managers Toolkit for Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dysgraphia, and Dyscalculia. 

I live in the North East of England, and we have a common phrase: “shy bairns get nowt”, in other words, if you don’t ask, you don’t get. I do have a vision to help the civil service be the diverse place that it aims to be. To do so, we have to make big changes. It will take time, evidence… and being ready for when the conditions are right. 

If you’re interested in helping start the movement, I’d love to have a chat. Contact me via cjhussey@gmail.com