Employee resource groups with dedicated time. Leaders who protect their people time. A focus on “calling people in” rather than calling them out. For giffgaff’s Head of Talent, Culture and Inclusion Ian Tomney-Bell, meaningful inclusion is not about awareness days or performative gestures – it is about embedding equity into the everyday experience of work.
DEI has faced increasing scrutiny in recent years. Some organisations are questioning how to sustain momentum, while others are grappling with employee disengagement or uncertainty about how to have difficult conversations.
For Ian Tomney-Bell, Head of Talent, Culture and Inclusion at giffgaff, the answer lies in moving beyond good intentions and creating practical structures that give employees a genuine voice.
As part of FAIRER’s Expert Interview series, Laura Drakeford, Inclusion Partner, sat down with Friend of FAIRER, Ian Tomney-Bell, to discuss DEI’s biggest and most pressing topics.
Giving employee resource groups the time and influence to make a difference
Employee resource groups (ERGs) have become an increasingly common feature of workplace inclusion strategies. But their impact can be limited if the people leading them are expected to do the work on top of an already demanding day job.
At giffgaff, ERG leads are volunteers, but they are given 20% of their working time to dedicate to the role.
That time is flexible, recognising that the demands of leading an ERG can vary throughout the year. Importantly, the organisation can also see the outputs and impact of that work.
For Ian, ERGs should provide more than a platform for awareness events. They should create safe spaces where colleagues can discuss what is and is not working and ensure those conversations have a route into meaningful organisational change.
He has also taken steps to ensure that ERG leadership does not become an isolating role.
Rather than expecting individuals to carry the weight of representing an entire community, giffgaff takes an intersectional approach, with ERG leads working together on initiatives, events and policy discussions.
There is also recognition that ERG leadership should support an employee’s career development. Ian reports on the contribution and development of ERG leads, with this feeding into performance conversations and ratings.
The result is a more structured approach to employee voice – one that gives leaders and stakeholders greater confidence that the issues being raised have a route to action.
Why inclusion and wellbeing cannot be separated
For Ian, wellbeing and DEI are inseparable.
Mental health, caring responsibilities, accessibility and an employee’s sense of belonging are all closely connected to whether people feel able to thrive at work.
“We were early adopters of wellbeing because mental health is so important,” he explains. “Wellbeing just gels with DE&I – I can’t imagine a world where they’re not together.”
That connection also requires organisations to think carefully about who might unintentionally be excluded by their own initiatives.
The goal, Ian believes, should not simply be to create programmes for specific groups, but to ensure that everyone has equitable access to opportunities, education and support.
Ultimately, he sees DEI as a lens through which organisations can assess whether equity is genuinely embedded in how they operate.
“Call people in” rather than calling them out
One of Ian’s strongest messages is the importance of creating constructive dialogue – particularly with people who may disagree, feel disengaged or simply do not yet understand an issue.
“Most people aren’t saying things to be argumentative – they literally don’t understand,” he says.
At giffgaff, this has led to a philosophy of “calling people into the conversation, not calling them out”.
The approach is about helping people understand the purpose behind inclusion initiatives rather than assuming everyone already has the knowledge or language to engage.
That means being prepared to explain the “why” – and being thoughtful about how much information employees are being asked to absorb.
Ian points to the growing number of awareness days connected to different communities and identities. While these can play an important role, he questions whether simply adding more events always leads to greater understanding.
Instead, organisations should consider their intention and ask employees what would be most valuable to them.
The focus should be on creating meaningful moments that build understanding, rather than activity for activity’s sake.
Turning leadership buy-in into active allyship
Securing senior leadership support is often cited as one of the biggest challenges facing DEI professionals.
When Ian joined giffgaff, he found an organisation that had already established many of the foundations. His challenge was to build on that work and create momentum.
He admits he was initially unsure how far the executive team would be prepared to go.
But by presenting the evidence and creating a clear plan, he says the conversation quickly moved beyond good intentions.
The difference, he argues, was between performative and active allyship.
“They were prepared to listen,” he says. “At the end of that meeting, we walked out with a complete plan.”
For employers, the lesson is that leadership buy-in needs to translate into visible action, resources and accountability.
Inclusive leadership starts with protecting people time
Ian is also clear that inclusion cannot be delegated entirely to DEI specialists or employee networks.
Every leader has a role to play.
Yet, he believes the pressure of increasingly demanding workloads means the “people factor” is often the first thing to be deprioritised.
One-to-ones get moved. Then they are not rearranged. Eventually, they disappear from the diary altogether.
The impact can be significant.
If employees do not feel their manager is taking an active interest in them, why would they feel safe enough to share what is happening in their lives or ask for help when they are struggling?
His advice to leaders is simple: protect your people time.
This is particularly important during periods of uncertainty and change, when employees may need more opportunities to ask questions, admit they do not understand something or seek support.
Building that trust is not a “nice to have”. It is a critical part of creating psychological safety and helping people navigate change.
The business case for genuinely inclusive workplaces
For Ian, inclusion is not simply an internal people issue.
When employees genuinely engage with an organisation’s culture and values, customers notice too.
That can strengthen customer connection, improve an organisation’s reputation as an employer and help attract and retain talent.
“When you’ve got a workforce genuinely engaging in inclusion, customers start to relate,” he says.
More people want to buy from an organisation. More people want to work for it.
But creating that environment requires more than policies and statements.
Ian believes DEI professionals need to bring three core skills to their work:
- Calling people in: Active listening, empathy and the ability to engage people who may not yet understand.
- Sharing: A willingness to share learning and best practice rather than treating inclusion as a competitive advantage.
- Acknowledging lived experience: Recognising that while people may hold different beliefs, an individual’s lived experience remains their reality.
The final point may be the most important.
Meaningful inclusion requires organisations to listen to the people whose experiences may differ from those making the decisions.
From good intentions to everyday action
giffgaff’s approach demonstrates that turning inclusion into action requires organisations to move beyond broad commitments and create practical mechanisms for change.
That means giving employee networks time and influence. Supporting the people who lead them. Connecting inclusion and wellbeing rather than treating them as separate agendas. Helping people into difficult conversations instead of shutting them down. And ensuring leaders make time to understand the experiences of their people.
As organisations navigate another period of significant workplace change, those principles could become increasingly important.
Because, as Ian’s approach makes clear, inclusion is not something that happens alongside the day job.
It is reflected in how organisations make decisions, how leaders spend their time, whose voices are heard – and whether employees feel able to bring their whole experience of the world into work.
Ian Tomney-Bell, Head of Talent, Culture and Inclusion at giffgaff, will be sharing further insights at the FAIRER Conference London on 22 October 2026.
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