6 January 2025
Driving Productivity Through Inclusion
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Jo Sweetland, Managing Director
“A global talent advisory firm, Green Park is an industry pioneer in building diverse, senior leadership teams and more equitable workplace cultures.”
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Jo Heath, Managing Partner and Head of DICE
“Championing Diversity & Inclusion since our inception, we are driven by the core belief that there’s no shortage of talent, only opportunity.”
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Kai Adams, Managing Partner
“We deliver sustainable business value on a global scale to help organisations bring the future into focus.”
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Trevor Phillips, Chair
"Our clients benefit from our data-rich insights into what will drive productivity today and continue innovation through turbulence tomorrow.”
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Colin Salmon, Chair of the Green Park Foundation
“Through the Foundation, Green Park aim to deliver £1million of social value per annum to improving children lives and creating a more sustainable, equitable world”
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Jo Sweetland, Managing Director
"Our candidate care lasts long past the point of placement and is key to the rich relationships we build from a foundation of trust, authenticity, transparency and inclusion."
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Raj Tulsiani, CEO & Co-Founder
“We founded Green Park in 2006 with a mission to change the face of leadership. We retain that same passion and entrepreneurial spirit today as when we started.”
I recently returned from a trip to Japan. The way British and Japanese businesses organize and think about employee value propositions was a cultural shock, which modulated from the dull ache of knowing we were outmatched in business culture in competitive markets to the sharp pains of frustration, knowing Green Park’s agility and access to diverse talent means doing the same things in changed markets is holding us back on the global stage.
As soon as one arrives in Japan, the differences become apparent. Language, culture, customs, hierarchy, tidiness, and politeness are all instantly recognisable as different. This message focuses on the first of three business concepts that resonated deeply with me, which I will try and introduce to our business / client network to increase productivity and staff sustainability in our unique labour market with high vacancies and high employment, high diversity and low inclusion.
“Kintsugi is the centuries-old Japanese tradition of repairing broken ceramics with gold. It means, literally, ‘to join with gold’.”
In business aesthetically, this means that wavy mistake has value and purpose.
“…the broken pieces of an accidentally-smashed pot should be carefully picked up, reassembled and then glued together with lacquer inflected with a luxuriant gold powder.
Every break is unique. Instead of restoring an item like new, the 400-year-old technique highlights the ‘scars’ as a part of the design. There should be no attempt to disguise the damage.
The metaphor for life is clear. We should embrace and celebrate our flaws and imperfections. Sometimes, in repairing things that have broken (relationships, careers,…), we can create something more unique, beautiful, and resilient.”
- Source: Charlotte Grysolle
To make this work for UK business, firstly we have to accept and discuss the value of mistakes, difficult experiences and decide if a culture that makes the most of them is better than one focussed on hiding them – as even the most charmed lives have ups and downs.
“Get knocked down 7 times but get up 8” was the first Japanese saying I was taught.
Until next time,
Raj
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