Lindsay Jones

Beyond profit margins and market share, the true wealth of a company lies in the overall well-being of its employees. A healthy and happy workforce fuels innovation, teamwork, and the ultimate success of a business. As Chief People Officer at Delta Capita, Lindsay Jones has put this understanding at the heart of her approach. 

Lindsay sat down with Luke James, Co-Host of The Interview, to discuss issues ranging from the benefits of prioritising employee well-being to the importance of fostering a culture of learning and growth at all levels of an organisation.

Lindsay's Journey

Luke: Let’s start with a quick introduction to yourself and your organisation.

I’m the Chief People Officer for Delta Capita. We are a global financial services consulting and technology firm that helps institutions navigate and drive change. We are particularly interested in the mutualisation of technology and services in banking. I’ve worked in people functions for almost twenty years across many different roles. I believe the highest-performing businesses are the businesses that prioritise the happiness, health, and engagement of their people. I’m also a personal and business coach and a proud mum. 

Luke: I’d like to hear more about your journey. How did you arrive in your current role? 

I’ve held many different roles in people management: I started in staffing, and I’ve also worked in search and HR consultancy. I’ve worked at Delta Capita for about eight years, and I’ve been on a real journey with the business. As the business needs have evolved, I’ve needed to grow and adapt. When I joined the business, we were much smaller, and I wore several different hats. I’ve found it helpful to keep that start-up mentality in mind since then. Now the business has matured, it’s become easier for me to focus on people management and leadership. 

Luke: What initiatives have you taken to foster a culture of inclusion and belonging at Delta Capita? 

We have so much going on in this space. It’s the part of my role that I find the most energising and inspiring. I’m fortunate to have some phenomenal colleagues who contribute and lead our initiatives, whether through employee resource groups, external campaigns, or training events. I’ve never known such an engaged group of people who know how to get things done. We were recently recognised in the Financial Times Diversity and Finance Awards, and received awards or commendations in three key areas — championing disability inclusion, Community Engagement Campaign of the Year, and Cultural Awareness Campaign of the Year. Within diversity and inclusion, we have a campaign called Grassroots, which has partnered with the charities Mind the Gap and Urban Synergies to get young people into employment. As part of that, we provide work readiness training, mentoring programs, and fundraising. 

Luke: People’s work lives are busier than ever. How do you find the time to engage everyone on issues like diversity and inclusion?

We’re lucky to have phenomenal colleagues who find the time to prioritise these programs. I’m amazed by what they’ve managed to achieve. These are things they have accomplished on top of their busy schedules. To achieve that, you need to build it into the day-to-day life of the business. Leaders need to play an active role in these efforts and set a positive example. As a leader, you need to show up and step out of your comfort zone, and accept that you won’t always be an expert. It’s also essential to make intelligent use of data. In diversity and inclusion, there is a lot of data, but you need to really dive into that to find out what’s really going on. It’s not just counting numbers but discovering what underpins them. 

Luke: How do you articulate the link between fostering an inclusive culture and the higher-level commercial goals of the business? 

The reality is you always need to make a business case for the things you are doing. That can be frustrating because there’s a part of me that thinks we should be doing these things regardless. It’s my mission to be part of a high-performing business that can be proud of how it operates. I firmly believe that looking after the people in your organisation makes for a more commercially successful business: you’ll have better retention, productivity, and client outcomes. Create a nice place to work. You will have higher morale and you’ll keep your top talent. It can sometimes be difficult to demonstrate that link through data — whether it’s correlation or causation — but there’s a lot of research showing a direct link between employee experience, customer experience, and business success. 

Luke: What measures are you taking to embed a culture of learning and growth across the organisation?

You need to keep it as a priority. You need to commit to it and keep integrity in the process. Think carefully about what you want to prioritise and why. For example, if you want to ensure gender representation in your business, you might need to fund a women’s leadership program to commit to that. It’s important to have a leadership team that believes in this work and is willing to show that commitment.

Quick-fire Questions

Luke: What’s your top tip for anyone starting in the people space?

Just get stuff done. One thing I find frustrating is when highly intelligent people can identify problems but don’t do anything to solve them. If you want to be known as a high-impact player, you need to know how to work things out. 

Luke: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received during your career?

You need to manage perceptions. It’s not enough to do a great job if nobody knows you’ve done it. It’s an issue that particularly affects women in the workplace. You need to make sure people see your efforts and understand the value that you create.