Read: Young people can’t be what they can’t see

Connectivity provider Inmarsat puts satellites in space to keep the world connected but closer to home the organisation works alongside its local communities and provides STEM training in underprivileged schools.  

Here, Natasha Dillon, Chief Commercial and People Officer, shares her career journey and where her passion for social mobility comes from.

Q// Tell us a little bit about the work that Inmarsat is doing in schools?

A// We’ve had to pivot quite significantly (due to Covid-19), we used to do a lot of physical outreach bringing thousands of children into our office each year. We do all sorts of STEM activities with them, such as competitions and for the older children we run a kind of Dragon’s Den style pitching activity with them. We’ve got a group of employees who, in normal circumstances, go out to schools and talk to children about what we do. 

What we’ve had to do is try and find a way to meet that need during lockdown, when it’s even more important. One of the things that keeps me up at night about the virus is the lost generation of children who aren’t going to have the same experiences that we had. Going to get work experience is harder than it’s ever been, particularly if you don’t have the network that more privileged children might have. What we’re doing now is creating our own virtual work experience, a precursor to that is the Inmarsat passport programme to help children develop employability skills and to learn more about different career paths that they may not have access to. I always think of the adage; you can’t be what you can’t see. 

We’re also doing virtual or online STEM packages for primary and secondary schools which will be sent out to support the curriculum. This is looking at physics, space and satellite which is really exciting. By doing this work virtually we can reach a lot more schools than we did in the past. 

Q// How do you think businesses can make the most of the ‘new normal’ we now find ourselves in?

A// I think it’s made the world of business so much more human because we’ve been working at home with the inevitable interruptions from pets and children. My youngest seems to know exactly when I’m doing something that involves talking to a thousand people, he’ll come and pop his head around the corner. I think it’s accelerated a trend that was growing already around much more authenticated leadership - the days of table-banging alpha white male leadership is gone. Society is understanding that we want people to be authentic and human and we are constantly challenging people to share their experiences of lockdown and opening up a conversation about mental health and wellbeing. 

We’re also delivering learning very differently, we’re working with a lot of academics who have a bit more time on their hands to create some compelling masterclasses. The feedback has been fantastic and it is a lot more cost effective, if you do it thoughtfully you can do a lot more of it. We’ve really had to rethink how we develop our own people, as well as everything else. 

Q// Tell us a little bit about your career path and some of the barriers you faced on the way?

A// I began my career working in the commercial oil and gas sector at BP for 12 years after starting off on their graduate scheme. At that stage, as is the case now, during the graduate scheme you did rotations in different parts of the business. One of the placements I did was in HR, looking at organisational development, how to make the organisation more progressive and all of those things. I found the placement absolutely fascinating but I wasn’t ready to walk away from commercial at that stage. 

I found myself progressing towards commercial elements that were people related and less about the models. I was much more engaged with difficult negotiations which was something I found particularly satisfying. I then decided to go into HR and had some amazing roles, including chief of staff for one of the Vice Presidents at BP. I was effectively looking after a £500m HR transformation programme, it was a phenomenal period of compressed learning. During my time at BP I did 11 roles in 12 year, I was always quite project focused as I really like the idea of doing a concrete piece of work and then moving on. 

I then realised a career in consulting was the next step for me. I spent 7 years in consulting, working with over 30 businesses on their business and HR transformations. It was a great experience, very intense and lots of travelling but I loved learning about so many organisations. Towards the end of that period I built a methodology about HR and what the future of HR looked like. 

Inmarsat was one of my clients at that time and I was ready to move back in-house and see projects through. I am quite purpose and values driven and I wanted that sense of belonging and to feel that what I was doing was going to have a long-term impact. At Inmarsat, we’ve worked really hard on it and our culture is positive and supportive, and the whole thread of purpose and giving back is in our DNA now. 

Q// Where has your passion for purpose driven businesses and social mobility come from? 

A// Without sounding corny and I think it was something I was born with. My mum always jokes about it but it’s something that I wanted to be when I was younger, I always wanted to help people and make things better. I wanted to be a lollipop woman for a long time so that I could help people cross the road! But joking aside, that desire to make things better and set high standards has always been in me and I feel very lucky that I work in a place where that’s embraced. 

The world of business has changed, I used to get a little bit frustrated that I couldn’t quite be 100% myself at times. If I could give my younger self some advice it would be to be a bit bolder and not be afraid to be yourself. 

Q// We’ve seen how progress has been made on getting women into more and varied careers and more senior roles. Can we draw on that progress to further the wider diversity agenda? 

A// Absolutely, there’s a real opportunity to leapfrog what’s happened in other areas of diversity. That’s something we’re constantly looking at, getting our different networks to interact and find out what works well and what doesn’t. 

Now is the time for organisations to take stock of diversity and understand that Covid has brought with it many difficulties but this is a real opportunity to level things up across all areas. I would make a plea to all businesses that now is the time to double up on your efforts because there is an opportunity to make a massive difference.