“I’m a Gay Man, but I’m Also an Advocate of Other Identities and Always Will Be”: An Interview With Richard Shackleton

Richard Shackleton, Director of Customer Experience at Pearson spoke to myGwork about their LGBTQI+ network, Spectrum and what Pride means to him.

Can you tell us more about yourself?

I’m a mid-40s guy, married to husband Simon, and proud parent to Billy our cat. We all share a home in South West London. I’m Director of Customer Experience at Pearson and I also co-chair our LGBT+ Employee Resource Group, Spectrum.

You are Chair of the LGBTQI+ network at Pearson – can you tell us more about the network and what this entails?

Where to start?! Alongside my colleague Trudy Murray, I have been co-chairing Spectrum in the UK for almost three years. We meet formally monthly, and we achieve A LOT!

Events: we run a busy calendar of events – some marking important days, some purely about fun.

Social: when we’re able to meet we like to have regular socials, and over the past year we’ve focused on ‘Teatime Tuesdays’ – giving colleagues a virtual space to go to simply chat.

Working with allies & advocates: we liaise with our UK and global Executive sponsors on a regular basis so that we get the right level of sponsorship and advocacy. Our sponsors are brilliant at helping us make Pearson an evermore diverse, equitable and inclusive organisation – extending this approach into our products and services.

Building a better workplace: we work really hard with Stonewall UK to ensure we take on board feedback from the workplace equality index which helps to make Pearson a better place to work.

Driving Change in education materials: we’ve sponsored both Primary and Secondary school LGBT+ inclusive curriculum guides with Stonewall. We are also leading on our own global LGBT+ editorial guidelines.

Supporting Suppliers: we are partnering with our suppliers to drive DEI in their organisations – so that everybody goes to work knowing they’re in a safe, inclusive place. Partnerships: we partner with a number of organisations to really drive our DEI agenda – myGWork is a great example of this with over 130 new recruits joining us via myGWork.

What is one of your proudest achievements with the network?

Breaking into the top 100 companies on Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index – four years ago we were outside the top 400.

Our work on pronoun awareness – in October 2020 we had a real focus in the run-up to international pronouns day, getting pronouns on all company email signature templates, business card templates, our intranet personal profiles – it sends a strong signal about the kind of organisation we are.

Have you always been comfortable being ‘out’ in the workplace?

Ha. That’s an interesting one. Since I finally acknowledged in myself that I’m gay, the answer to that question is yes. Not long after I started coming out to friends and family, I changed companies and decided from day 1 in my then-new company (Barclays) that I would be the ‘real’ me. It didn’t even cross my mind when I joined Pearson – and I think in both cases it’s a reflection of the truly inclusive cultures in both companies.

What can be done to ensure everyone feels comfortable to be themselves at work?

The list is long, but here’s my top 3:

1. Employee Resource Groups matter – promoting them when someone joins us; promoting them to existing colleagues.

2. Allies & Advocates who speak up and help support change – for example in changing an HR policy

3. Lanyards – we can choose a rainbow or trans colours lanyard for our office passes. They’re visible, they send a message.

This month marks Pride – what does Pride mean to you?

Pride to me is about celebrating equality, inclusion and acceptance; being grateful to those who have gone before to make our lives easier, shining a spotlight where there’s work still to do – but also having some fun!

What do you think can be done to ensure Pride is inclusive for all LGBTQI+ people?

Making sure every identity is recognised and celebrated – but also raising the case for change where those identities need to see it.

Do you think it’s important that organizations mark Pride?

Yes – I think a blend of education, highlighting issues, celebrating successes – but also having fun are important.

How will Pearson be celebrating Pride this year?

We have a huge programme of events covering the entire month. Two highlights:

1. Our CEO in conversation with our global Executive sponsor and UK executive sponsor talking about moving ‘from allies to advocates’ – because advocates take a more active role.

2. Our CEO doing a 2-hour DJ set to close our Pride month on 30th June!

What do you hope to see next for the LGBTQ+ community?

More progress in every aspect of our lives across all identities – there’s still a long way to go and that requires focus. I’m always conscious of others who live in cultures or countries which aren’t as LGBTQ+ friendly – I see it as my job to play a part in helping change that. I’m a gay man, but I’m also an advocate of other identities and always will be.