Toby Mildon is the founder of Mildon, a Manchester-founded diversity and inclusion consultancy.
He has previously worked at the likes of British Airways, Accenture and the BBC before setting up the consultancy in 2019.
Working with some of the UK’s largest companies – including BBC, Deloitte, Sony and Centrica – Mildon now helps businesses deliver sustainable, diverse and inclusive workplaces that make a strong impact on business performance.
Toby Mildon shares a recent week in his life.
Monday
The Mildon team all work remotely so “Mildon Monthly” is now a recurring monthly get together in Manchester – my wonderful home city. We review our objectives and active projects and brainstorm ideas on how we can better support our clients. These sessions are essential, helping us to build and develop the business together and sparking ideas and actions.
The morning get together is followed by a weekly 1-to-1 meeting with Brooklyn, our Client Success Lead, to go through all of our client projects and review status and actions. The final task for a busy Monday is the review of a proposal for a not-for-profit organisation to develop a diversity and inclusion (D&I) strategy for them. This is an important sector for the business and one which takes its D&I responsibilities very seriously.
Tuesday
I’m working from home today, and the morning is spent conducting remote meetings with clients and prospects. The first of these is with Xodus Group – a global energy consultancy – reviewing their recruitment process as part of a larger project with the business.
I then have a very productive meeting with the University of Manchester to discuss future partnership opportunities and to explore the possibility of collaborating on the research and development of a D&I focused software solution.
Our business hosts its own podcast – The Inclusive Growth Show – and I have one of my dream guests/heroes joining soon – Peter Trevor Wilson, author of The Human Equity Advantage. This book was incredibly instrumental and important to me when I first started working in diversity and inclusion at the BBC.
I want to ensure that I prepare well for the podcast and create questions which will allow Peter to express his full range of knowledge and wisdom.
Wednesday
After a short remote check-in meeting with one of our long-term clients the morning is spent delivering remote executive coaching sessions – the first with a HR Director and the second with a Talent and EDI Manager.
After lunch, I join a networking group call to share knowledge on Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). ERGs are the groups founded by employees around issues such as working parents or LGBTQI+. Such groups are often the catalyst for the introduction of a more structured D&I programme and the challenge is to ensure that ERGs serve to reflect the D&I ambitions of the company as a whole. I used to run BBC Ability (the disabled staff forum for the corporation) so I have lots of experience to share with them.
I review and send out our weekly newsletter – the Bento Box – which keeps clients and prospects fully up to speed with our world. Then it’s a session with Brooklyn and Luis, our Business Development lead, to develop ideas for our new community group for inclusion leaders and heads of HR.
Later, I meet with a potential podcast guest. We have now produced almost 100 podcast episodes and the audience continues to grow (we have just reached our 10,000 th download). The guests we have cover the broad spectrum of D&I concerns and interests and I’m constantly thrilled and awed by the passion and expertise they bring to the show.
Thursday
It’s a day on the road today as I travel to Peterborough from Manchester to visit Cromwell Community College, delivering a workshop on inclusion to A-Level business students. It’s a great session with an attentive student audience.
Friday
Another work from home day to end the week. My first meeting is with the author of the Scotland Women in Entrepreneurship Review to share my experiences of inclusion for her recommendations.
Once the meeting is done it’s time for my regular physio appointment – an essential component of my weekly routine. I also take some time out of the day for a wheelchair controller reprogramming appointment.
This afternoon I’m a guest on another podcast hosted by one of our clients, a change consultancy called Agility in Mind. It’s a great chat and a fine way to end another extremely busy week. I wouldn’t have it any other way!
