However, Helen noticed that with each subsequent promotion throughout her career “there was that little element of disappointment that I wasn’t satisfied with the role that I’d got. That’s because every time I got a role, I wanted to be the person that could help more people. That’s what drove me further up the ladder.”

Now as the Group CEO of a large company, Helen explains that she finally feels a sense of satisfaction: “the hearts and minds of Connells’ employees are my responsibility, and that makes me feel really good.”

Tea then asked Helen to reflect on her first six months at Connells, with Helen offering some fascinating insight in response. “I’ve got about 1,200 branches and they’re well-oiled machines. They’re absolutely brilliant. They’re great at their jobs and you can see why we are the number one market leader.”

However, above the line Helen felt compelled to make senior leadership as agile as possible, so that decisions could be made swiftly and efficiently. This has been one of the main focuses so far. “You’ll hear talk about ‘innovate or die’ and that is definitely our sector,” Helen explains. “For us to innovate – and do that with speed – I needed to really finesse that senior leadership team and have clear distinctions between those who make the decisions and those who execute them.”

From an inclusion standpoint, Helen began her tenure at Connells with an ExCo that had one female team member, and an Executive Team with none at all. However, things have changed swiftly, Helen points out: “I can proudly say that my Exec is now 50-50, with equal numbers of males and females on the team, and that means a lot to me.”

This change came about simply through understanding who the best person for the job would be and encouraging them to apply. The change in leadership composition also means that employees across the organisation are seeing change, as well as just hearing about it.

The discussion moved on to current working arrangements where Helen is nominally home-based, with her bringing to life how this works in practice: “Time spent at home is minimal – we’ve got 24 offices, and my leadership style is to be as visible as I possibly can. So actually going to one office would work against my style anyway. I try to get as much desk work done at home, and then get out to see my people.”

Helen acknowledged that while the traditional format of a static office and 9 – 5 working hours can be a barrier for some, it’s also culturally important to have “teams of people together and sharing best practice. It’s so important to have somewhere where people can meet their friends and have conversations around the water coolers,” Helen adds.

Helen also shared her thoughts and ambitions for the organisation from a broader inclusion perspective: “our business is full of rich, wonderful views and opinions, and we need to harness that. And so for me, the organisation is an ice cream that I want to be more tutti-frutti! I do not want us to be vanilla in any way, shape or form. I am actively encouraging our leadership teams to ensure that we look through that lens when we recruit people and promote people in this organisation.”

To conclude, Tea asked Helen what message she would have for leadership that might currently be sitting on the fence in regards to inclusion, or rethinking their strategy in light of current events.

“Try harder,” was Helen’s emphatic response. “This is not a ‘nice to have’. This is not something that you can just take out and play with when you fancy it. This is structural. This is part of making sure that we build a future for our children, our children’s children, by helping people be themselves and more of themselves. So, if there’s any level of reticence, please erase it and take part once again and be part of this community that is going to make a difference for our future.”

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