Are your inclusion efforts driving real impact or just ticking boxes?

In this episode, Brigid sits down with Chris Shearer-Wright, Senior EDI and Community Partnerships Manager at Oliver Bonas, to explore how L&D and EDI can work together to create more inclusive, effective workplaces.

Starting his career on the shop floor in 2012, Chris has grown with Oliver Bonas through every stage of the business - from store manager to people team to leading EDI strategy. That ground-level experience gives him a distinctive lens on how inclusion shows up (or doesn’t) across both customer experience and internal culture. He describes inclusion as a “golden thread” that should run through everything — from hiring and store design to supplier relationships and product decisions.

Together, Brigid and Chris unpack how to design inclusive learning that drives real impact, from acting as a “critical friend” to L&D, to building bespoke workshops rooted in genuine business challenges. They also explore the nuances of balancing a strong brand identity with the need for true inclusivity, and how EDI can be woven into an organisation’s culture from the very first conversation rather than bolted on at the end.

In this episode, Chris shares practical insights on how EDI and L&D can work together, including:

1. EDI as a Critical Friend to L&D: At Oliver Bonas

EDI works alongside L&D to challenge whether learning is truly accessible, inclusive, and designed for everyone - turning inclusion from intention into practice.

2. Bespoke Over Generic: Tailored workshops rooted in real business conversations outperform off-the-shelf training. Chris highlights sessions on Culture Add vs. Fit, Equitable Decision Making, and Leading Multi-Generational Teams.
3. Measuring Real Impact: The true success of EDI learning shows up in behaviour change - like managers applying lessons weeks later in difficult conversations - alongside formal metrics.

4. Diversity Drives Performance: Diverse perspectives improve creativity, problem-solving, and productivity. For a design-led business like Oliver Bonas inclusion is a commercial advantage, not just a value.

5. Start with Inclusion Early: Inclusion works best when embedded from the beginning of a process, not added at the final review stage - making outcomes stronger, faster, and more effective.

🔗 Connect with Chris

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-shearer-wright-087698118/

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