Michelle Scott is the Global Finance Talent Programme Lead at GSK, where she is responsible for developing finance talent across the pharmaceutical company’s global offices. As her job involves her working in all levels of talent development from the early talent space to senior leaders in finance, she is often thinking about how the issues of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) differ for each career stage. For instance, it could mean working with high potential university students who come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds or trying to improve gender balance at senior leadership levels.
Furthering Her Passion
Over the years, DEI has been a continuous theme for Michelle – from working in an NGO in India for the empowerment of Women to leading early talent programmes to leadership development at GSK. She was, therefore, pleased to be able to further her passion for DEI as an integral part of her current role.
Both as a woman and a mother, as well as through her vantage point where she is able to see up close the challenges faced by colleagues across the organisation, Michelle hopes to be able to use her position to effect real change.
This passion has driven her to go beyond. She has launched initiatives such as Women in Finance within GSK which created a new Employee Resource Group (ERG), and has regularly mentored female students from socio-economic diverse backgrounds. It was also what pushed her to join INSEAD’s Advancing Diversity Inclusion (ADI) programme to augment her understanding of DEI with external views as well as academic theory.
For Michelle, it didn’t take long to decide on INSEAD, since she was already familiar with the school’s brand name through her work at GSK.
“INSEAD has always been on my radar as one of the top business schools in the world, and more so since I started running the Global Finance MBA programme at GSK. I really appreciate that kind of world-recognised business school accreditation, so the decision to come to INSEAD was very easy.”
Beyond the brand name, Michelle was also drawn in by the exposure that she knew she would get from both the professors and her fellow programme participants. As it turns out:
“The professors themselves were industry leaders, while the participants included high-calibre professionals ranging from general managers to DEI specialists.
My interactions with them really helped me to deepen my understanding on the content. It also allowed me to rapidly expand my network in the area of DEI. This is particularly useful in helping someone like me who has been in an organisation for a long time to not become inward looking, by looking and learning from what others outside are doing.”
Gaining a Deeper Understanding
Coming into the programme, Michelle thought that she had a good understanding of DEI, especially given her passion for the topic. Hence, she was pleasantly surprised to find that there was still so much that she could benefit from the ADI programme.
“INSEAD’s ADI programme has really taken the topic to a deeper level, to shine a spotlight on some of the systemic challenges in society that many of us may not even be aware of.
So while much progress has been made in advancing DEI and there is indeed much to celebrate, it is important to recognise that some ‘barriers’ remain in company culture, and in turn, processes and systems. There is still so much more that we can be doing.”
A simple example: a well-intentioned line manager may ‘soften’ the return to work of a maternity leaver by assuming that they do not wish to be involved in stretching projects. This can set someone down the ‘mummy track’ which is the compound impact of missed opportunity, including promotion, over time, which may or may not be what the individual wanted as they were not consulted.
Embedding a culture of ‘inquiry’ and listening to what the individuals truly aspire to do in balance with their life needs is critical for any development plan. A culture of flexible working for all is also integral.”
Beyond academic understanding, Michelle also appreciated how practical the course was, and how it gave her a series of tools that she could apply towards her work at GSK.
“ADI helped me to see that some of the organisational challenges that we face stem from how the companies were built. It may not have been the intention to create barriers, but because some things are so deeply rooted into traditional recruitment and talent management processes, we are not able to recognise the problems.
The programme has also given me the framework to mentally dismantle some of these aspects such as how we categorise potential and move talent around, so that I can better analyse the way we currently operate. It helps me to see if there are steps that we can take to significantly enhance environmental factors, that would in turn improve the way we attract, retain and develop people.
The Flexibility of an Online Programme
By undertaking INSEAD’s ADI programme while home on maternity leave, Michelle unwittingly became an unofficial ambassador for both GSK’s progressive approach towards DEI, as well as the flexibility of INSEAD’s online programmes.
“Even though I am someone who typically prefers face-to-face interactions, I really appreciated the flexibility that an online programme offered, especially as someone having to juggle small children and work.
A massive plus for me was the view-on-demand feature which allows participants to access the programme during the hours that suit you. It’s worlds apart from my undergraduate and Master’s experience of receiving information once only from the lecturer in the lecture theatre. Now, I can watch on demand and further benefit from the transcripts that come with the videos.”
In parallel, Michelle was able to continue enjoying interactions with her peers through the programme’s structure which incorporated forums and discussion groups.
“Through the online discussion forum, I was able to learn more about other organisations, understand what they were doing, and at the same time connect and respond to the other participants.
I thought the gamification aspect also worked well, and people generally enjoyed having a goal of accumulating points and keeping track of our weekly goals. The leaderboard helped us visualise where we were and kept us on track, as the intensity of this programme over a short period can cause us to fall behind pretty quickly.”
Having personally benefitted from the programme, Michelle has already been recommending others to sign up.
“… especially if you have an interest in deepening your DEI knowledge and wish to affect change in your organisation. To me, it felt like a coaching experience, challenging what I thought I knew and then thinking ahead to practical changes that could be made in your own organisation. It’s a clever way of providing theory while still making the learning very practical.”
What Michelle has to say about INSEAD’s Advancing Diversity and Inclusion
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