Fresh Seed is a people and culture consultancy for the games industry and wider Creative Industries. The organisation provides an alternative to traditional HR solutions, delivering innovative ways to revolutionise people management and organisational culture. At the epicentre of Fresh Seed’s ethos is a strong focus on individuals and bringing positive transformation, equity and happiness to the creative sector.
We interviewed Sarah Brewster, Managing Director of Fresh Seed, to learn more about how good HR is a key driver for improving the creative sector’s diversity and inclusion. We learn more about the organisation’s EDI ambitions, some of the key outcomes they have seen so far and why small steps towards tangible transformation are as critical as the bigger strides.
What are your motivations for addressing diversity and inclusion within your organisation?
It's part of our wider motivation to create better work practices across the creative sector and help people understand that othering effectively leads to poor working practices and therefore not good work. So, what we're trying to establish is what good work looks like and fairness and equity for everyone. My passion is making sure everyone is equal and that's what the mantra for the organisation is too.
How does this mantra manifest across the way you approach EDI?
What we do is we strip everything back to basics - back to asking questions like, 'What are you trying to achieve?' and 'How are you getting everyone onto an equal level?'. So, our mantra manifests in all the questions and challenges we ask ourselves and all the ways in which we apply structure across everything to do with our people, culture and clients. Our mantra manifests in all the services that come from that.
What are your overarching aspirations or goals around EDI?
In an ideal world, I'd like everyone to be equal and I'd like everyone to understand each other's challenges to equity - and be in observation rather than judgement. I'd also like to see much more compassion. We don't live in an ideal world though, unfortunately, so what I would really like to do is see people go back to the basics of how they communicate, what languages they're using, and what impact they're having on others. I want us to teach people to check themselves before they behave. If you're not aware of your own behaviours and how you’re having an impact on someone else, nothing's going to change.
I'd also like to see a change in the cognitive dissonance in the industry to recognise both what we achieve even under duress and to recognise the need for support for those doing good work. I'd like to see less competition and more collaboration and celebration of those underrepresented groups that achieve anyway.
I'd also like to see a change in language. Underrepresented groups shouldn’t feel undervalued, they're powerful and doing incredibly talented things despite the forces against them.
What do you believe are the risks of not addressing EDI either within your organisation or across the wider sector?
When you understand that this sector doesn't work with HR in a meaningful way and HR isn't always fit for purpose, some of the risks are that we're more likely to end up in court. We're more likely to end up with massive legal battles on our hands that can be quite damaging to brands, particularly larger brands.
We're also going to lose talent. We've already lost talent in areas of the industry and we're going to lose even more talent and as a result, lose audiences. We'll really struggle with future talent because there's already issues in the pipeline with the education system and wider cultural view of the industry in society. Why would we want to create a world that is so myopic?
Another one of the bigger risks is that we see a continuation of the polarisation already happening in the country. Personally, I don't want to raise children to live in a community like that or in a world with that level of hatred. The risk is that people in all areas of EDI don't feel safe to operate and don't feel safe to raise that problem. If we're not investing now in what our future looks like, our future is going to be worse than it is now.
What are some of the ways in which good HR is driving improvements in EDI?
HR can listen and we ask meaningful questions and then we can challenge in a non-judgmental, non-critical way. We get down and we walk alongside people so that they feel supported. HR has that, sort of, 'goody two shoes' perception and what we want is to abandon that and get down in the weeds with you to show that we understand and we can support your organisation in making meaningful cultural change that is of benefit to everyone and the bottom line. When it's tough, we're by your side; when it's great, we celebrate with you.
Neurodiversity in games, for example. An HR manager might say Jane Bloggs isn't performing very well and we need to get them out. A good HR manager might say, 'Let's go back to square one and figure out why they're not performing very well'. A good HR manager will go on that journey with them and we've got tools in our toolkit that can provide really transformational routes. Sometimes it's the case that people have the inclination but not the time, the tools or the know-how.
Neurodiversity is one topic but good HR sit across the whole EDI world. Another passion of mine is women's health. I've seen people with very debilitating conditions like endometriosis or they're going through something like IVF and coming to work and having to just be normal. So, we try and help people understand and have more compassion in their practice. Sometimes, it's just a really small shift in behaviours that can be quite easily solved. Other times, it can be something much bigger or more critical that's required.
Can you share an example of how HR practices could be more inclusive?
So, we might see an organisation who's got a contract and a handbook in place, but the handbook has got 119 pages of policy. That’s not inclusive. A handbook is supposed to be a communication tool but if they're not creating a community and a conversation through that, no one will access it. If they have a new starter, for example, and they're working hybrid, on the days they're in the office, they won't have a clue how to make a cup of coffee, let alone what to do in town hall meetings or whatever it might be.
Good HR managers help build a handbook that's all about expected behaviours, as well as policies—but we don't just give them a hundred policies. We give them a behaviour code because if you've got the behaviours right, you don't always need the policy.
Another important lever in driving a positive organisational culture is training. If I'm teaching somebody how the handbook operates, I need the line managers to understand how the organisation operates in order for them to have more meaningful conversations. We'll say, 'OK, here are some active listening skills', 'Here are some managing tricky conversation skills', 'Here's what performance management might look like', 'Here's how to understand EDI and unconscious bias and your impact on that'.
We really get under the skin of the organisation and really get to know it. We might do something like a strength profile or we might do something like an engagement pulse survey or similar about happiness and wellbeing. That gives us really good data and really good information, which then helps us understand both what the line manager is doing and also what the leadership is doing, which helps us understand the communication style. Then we think about how we can alter those things to improve outcomes—fewer people taking sickness because they’re unhappy at work because they feel they're being discriminated against, for instance.
What are some of the outcomes and impacts you're seeing?
We see outcomes in terms of both keeping certain employees sustained in employment and in terms of improved wellbeing, productivity and conversations between employees and their leaders, whether that be freelancers or not. We also see it in terms of client satisfaction with our workers as well, which is always nice to hear. We definitely also see it in terms of employees coming to us and saying, 'Thanks so much for making work so much nicer'.
We've run sessions with leaders and seen the realisation they were doing something that might have caused harm. They're now seeing that a more compassionate approach has been really powerful. They've also recognised what they've been subject to themselves and how they want to change as a result. We also see it in clients doing better. They have better retention of people, they're winning awards for their employment and just showing more and more success stories. We're really proud to be a part of that.
What do you think makes your approach to HR so successful?
Many things. Fresh Seed is extremely human in its approach, so if people see that we’re human and flawed and have challenges to overcome, I think those things help. Also, it's a small industry and once people know what a great HR manager can do, news travels fast, so to speak.
HR is a really hard job, really hard. I don't know any other job that's quite as thankless as this. A lot of HR sits in that transactional safe space but we're in that transformational space and that's what sets us apart. Therefore, what makes Fresh Seed’s approach to HR successful is that people can see there's more to us than just contracts and policies—there's a fully supported service, right up to the leader.
What challenges or limitations have you encountered when delivering your EDI work?
Finance is one of them but also the barrier to working with HR is there; working with HR no matter your size will help you address the first step to becoming fully inclusive, exploring good practice and creating positive psychological safety for everyone. Those are two really big barriers.
People's perception of themselves can also be a barrier; if you're not ready to learn or if you're not ready to work with us on EDI and changing organisational culture, you won't work with us. Also, this industry in particular is always at the forefront of economic changes and I think, sadly, EDI is often the bit that gets kicked into the long grass as a result. Until that piece changes, that will be a barrier.
There's also a sense of fear and I think a lot of people fear that HR is going to put them on the naughty step and tell them off, so they don't approach HR. We see a lot of that, which means people are making strategic decisions without any HR support when HR could be helping them make the right people decisions and all that comes with that, i.e. EDI and wellbeing.
What would be your advice or key learning for other organisations considering taking a similar approach?
Creative companies need to have proper HR expertise, with the knowledge and the skills to actively drive a cultural shift towards greater EDI. Of course EDI isn’t purely on HR’s shoulders but we do know so much that isn’t dealt with to help you create inclusive processes. You have to have the strength in the mission and the belief in that to drive it forward. If you want to make a difference, then make a difference—don't say it, do it. One thing you'll notice about Fresh Seed is that there isn't a massive social media presence because we're busy doing the do. That's the better way to do it.
Learn more about Fresh Seed’s invigorating approach to people and culture management by visiting freshseed.co.uk.
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