Lucy Golding, EMEA Colleague Experience Lead at JLL, is dedicated to enhancing workplace experience across global locations. With a background spanning tech, financial services, and real estate, she brings a people-first approach to workplace design and culture, ensuring that spaces provide a supportive experience for all employees. Lucy has led award-winning DEI initiatives, advocating for incremental but impactful change, and highlighting the often-overlooked role of social mobility in workplace equity. At The Office Event, she will share her insights on the challenges women face in workplace design and culture, the importance of leadership in fostering inclusivity, and practical strategies for creating environments that truly support diverse needs.
Can you tell us about your role as EMEA Colleague Experience Lead at JLL and what excites you most about your work?
My role involves upskilling teams on how they can deliver the best and most inclusive experience across the offices we run, anywhere from Budapest to Dubai and London to Cape Town.
I find it so gratifying to see the impact we make to these spaces; we have the pleasure of making a difference to thousands of people’s days whether they know it or not! That impact takes energy, creativity and a new approach for every city, culture and space.
You have experience across multiple sectors, including tech, financial services, and real estate—how has this influenced your approach to workplace design and inclusivity?
Inclusion is key to every business in some way or another. Yes, some industries are ahead of others, but your approach is the same: getting people on side for deliberate and gradual change.
At JLL, we’ve found that companies are redefining the office to reflect the mission and vision of the company as a business, and how the firm is honouring wider commitments on sustainability, social impact, and inclusion.
You’ve led award-winning DEI initiatives, including the ‘Real Estate Diversity & Inclusion’ project. What are some key lessons you’ve learned from this work?
The biggest lesson I’ve learnt on DEI initiatives is start small and focused – don’t try to go from no activity to a global plan of events and programs; all the best intentions in the world won’t be enough. Start small and kick that snowball off with some pre-agreed success measures. Trying to agree these after the work’s finished is always tricky.
Also, look to social mobility in your DEI planning – unlike race, gender and others, the 2010 Equality Act in the UK doesn’t provide protections related to social mobility, therefore it has been commonly overlooked.
How do you approach advising organisations on building effective DEI strategies, particularly in global and multi-site environments?
One size does not fit all; your approach needs to include the business case for DEI investment alongside real-life examples to bring the impact to life. We all respond to different part of the DEI journey and we want as many people on it with us.
At a global scale, really listen to your counterparts abroad and expect that you won’t be able to apply your usual approach for a culture outside of your own. Do your research and make an extra effort to work with teams in different cultures.
How does workplace design intersect with inclusivity, and what are some practical ways companies can ensure their spaces reflect diverse needs?
You can’t have inclusive spaces without an inclusive culture and vice versa – design for all personal circumstances and characteristics, not least because you’ll benefit the majority of your employees when keeping smaller groups in mind. At JLL we’re seeing many companies are now designing office spaces with features that cater to neurodiversity and mental health, gender equity, sexual orientation and gender identity, age, body inclusion and more. Employers are paying attention to how the built environment caters to the very different needs of these groups.
Neurodiversity is a great example of this; when you design for people with common neurodiverse conditions, considering lighting and sound for example, you’ll usually also benefit, or provide more options for, the rest of the employee population.
Your panel at The Office Event focuses on women in the workplace—what are some of the biggest barriers women still face in workplace design and culture?
Culture wise, the biggest barrier for women is still outdated work practices. We’ve seen progress in the past few years, but many organisations are still stuck in that ‘9 to 5’ mindset and resistant to reasonable flexible working options. A few years ago, talk of job shares were all the range, but how many senior people do you know who work in one? The same goes for mandating full time return to office without first establishing a workplace strategy, as well as technologies needed to support it.
When it comes to the space, we’ve seen some key design improvements in many places – lighter and transparent room dividers have become more common and sanitary products are often readily available. That said, one of the key barriers for women depends on what’s near the site. Consider anyone working late and whether there are safe routes to cars or public transport after they leave the site.
Many barriers touch on both space and culture, for example, those going through menopause. The provision of menopause kits to help people feel more comfortable should be supported by policies and trainings for line managers.
Most barriers affect everyone in the workplace, not just women. Design the spaces and culture for women and you’ll likely improve the wellbeing and productivity of everyone.
What role does leadership play in driving inclusivity, and how can leaders be more intentional about fostering equitable workplaces?
Leadership is everything in driving inclusivity – for there to be meaningful progress, they must lead by example and put time aside to really learn what equity is and be ready to invest in it, encouraging their teams to do the same.
You can meet Lucy in person at The Office Event where she’ll be speaking. The Office Event is a unique and timely trade show with free-to-attend content that offers a one-stop-shop for organisations who are rethinking their approach to workplace design, workplace experience and facilities management. Now in its second year, The Office will take place on 7th and 8th May 2025, at ExCel in London. Co-located with The Watercooler Event for the full 360-degree workplace culture and employee wellbeing experience. You can find out more here.
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