Black History Month - an interview with Kameka McLean

Introduction by Chikere Igbokwe

Black History Month, which started in the US, is an annual event remembering important people and events in the history of the African Diaspora. In the UK, it runs throughout  the month of October.

This year, Black History Month takes on even greater significance. 2020 has brought a number of injustices to the forefront, and the Black Lives Matter movement has gained further prominence. We have seen that everyone is taking on the injustices of racism. This is not black versus white – it's everyone fighting what is wrong.

As I work in the HR field, I felt that it was important for me to showcase a number of black senior HR leaders in this field. Over the month, we will publish a number of interviews with senior HR leaders. We hope this will inspire the next diverse generation of HR professionals and help senior leaders to understand and recognise the importance of a diverse workforce throughout the organisation.

Chikere Igbokwe, Associate Director, Macmillan Davies

Kameka McLean, HR Director

What time does your alarm go off and what is your morning routine?

My alarm goes off at 6:30am and the first thing I do is check my work email. Since COVID my cousin and I have been exercising virtually and once the restrictions eased we meet up twice per week to work out. After my workout I check my email again and then get ready as if I’m going out to work.

How has Covid 19 and the fact we are all working from home changed your routine?

Other than a long commute my routine remains pretty much the same - all centred around work which can be unhealthy. I find myself working more hours and due to less distraction I get more things done so there are pros and cons to working from home but I am definitely more productive working from home.

How do you feel right now?

2020 has been a terrible year so far. COVID has wreaked havoc to say the least on a global scale. Over 42k deaths alone in the UK and over a million globally, this is of great concern to me as the government are expecting another surge.

What also concerned me is the fact that ethnic groups were affected the most and this is very disappointing - it’s disappointing because following evidence it was noted that minority groups are over-represented in hospitalisations and deaths from the virus. Public Health England has launched an inquiry into the issue however I’m sure that they will not be able to give a definitive response. I can assume that some of those individuals were struggling and have the lowest paid jobs in society especially in Black communities. We need to ask why and delve deeper to safeguard, help and support those communities as I believe poverty is the root cause - some people cannot afford to stock up on shopping as others do.

Additionally I believe that some employers acted prematurely and started redundancy pretty much straight away as the crisis hit and that affected those within the lower income brackets and with another surge predicted what will the government do to safeguard vulnerable members of society? So my feelings are that we should have waited on government help before protecting revenues. The government should have had a contingency plan in place and immediately roll out the furlough scheme. Furthermore the locked down should have come a lot sooner, put in place the measurements that are in now before so many lost their lives. I just hope that lessons have been learnt and the government are better prepared should this to happen again.

There have been some positivity that came out of COVID, frontline workers got the respect and recognition they deserved. I would personally like to thank the NHS, the supermarket employees and all the frontline workers who had to work under immense pressure, putting their lives at risk. Finally I had a lot of time to also reflect and look into how I can bring about change to those vulnerable members of society especially those within black communities.

In regards to BLM I believe that the death of George Floyd shocked the world to its core and have highlighted some of the discrimination that black members of society are facing. It isn’t easy being black and I do believe personally that I have to work twice as hard in comparison to other races. I am originally from Jamaica and Historically my ancestors were slaves so I am well aware of the treatment of my people as it is mandatory in Jamaica that all children part take in learning about their history in schools - it’s actually part of the curriculum unlike the UK so I’m well aware of Black History and got to hear stories from my grandparents who migrated to the UK during the wind-rush about treatments of blacks within society and when I first came to the UK I experienced it for myself.

Even before the BLM movement, we were fully aware of the inequalities, injustice and stereotyping of those within ethnic groups. I’ve read from a young age what our ancestors had endured in order to gain their freedom and basic human rights, so, to me personally I think it’s important for people to understand why BLM exist and why there have been so much of an uproar. Like with all historical events, people tend to forget what had happened and although slavery was abolished between 1830s and 1860s (although slavery still exist in parts of the world but in a different form) people need to remember that it was only during the civil rights movements in the 1960s that discrimination on race was banned which filtered across other countries so historically that was not so long ago and although the UK aren’t as extreme in comparison to that of the USA, the fact still remains that there are issues. If you look at some of the comments that followed after the protests then you will know that systemic racism exist, and that the UK still has a long way to go for there to be effective equality initiatives. Some people just did not understand the concept of BLM and why people were protesting.

So I feel the need to reiterate the fact that when we say BLM we are not saying only black lives matters we are simply saying that more needs to be done within society as blacks are treated less favourably than others and it is time for those whom are privileged to overcome prejudice and change entrenched negative attitudes towards certain individuals. Yes we have different backgrounds and are culturally different however, we should be accepted, respected, valued, welcomed and treated equally like any other citizen. That is the simple point! I am however happy to see the momentum of late and organisations now taking equality seriously and implementing positive diversity and inclusions initiatives.

What are you responsible for as an HR Director?

I’m responsible for the HR function in its entirety which includes but not limited to;

• Strategic Human Resources planning 
• Employment law
• Employee relations
• Performance management
• Reward and recognition
• Succession planning
• Training and development
• Compensation, benefit and payroll
• Conflict management and resolution
• Project management including policy writing and roll-out i.e. GDPR, employee handbook, HRIS implementation etc.
• Ensuring that Diversity and inclusion are imbedded within the core of the organisational culture.

How did you get into HR?

I was 16, just finished school and was looking for a part time job so I attended an interview within a building near London Bridge and whilst I was coming out of the building I met a nicely spoken older man in the lift and started up a conversation- he immediately recognised my accent and asked if I was from Jamaica. Through conversing he informed me that he was born in Jamaica. He asked me what I was doing in the building and I told him that I was attending an interview. He told me that he himself was upstairs in the boardroom to conduct an interview but the person showed up late and he didn’t bother to interview the person as he had a call in 10 mins.

He asked if I would be interested in an admin position and asked me to stick around until after his call for an interview. After his call he interviewed me and I started working as an administrator and enjoyed the Human Resources side so Mr Norris saw my potential and sent me on numerous training courses and I soon realised that I could actually make a difference by being an HR professional if I continuously developed myself to effect change within the organisation. It took a lot of hard work, disappointment and resilience to get where I am today. Up to this day I’m still in contact with the founder of Times Publications Ltd.

Describe your typical day

My day can get to one extreme or the next. I work within a fast paced environment so things can change rapidly with little or no notice but my typical day of late is looking at what my organisation can do to improve D&I, promote equality, making sure that our employees have the correct support in place for example a mental health program EAP etc. I have to attend numerous meetings concerning COVID and make sure that our employees are safe whether WFH or in the office. Additionally I have been drafting a lot of policy changes due to the unprecedented times that we are in.

What has been your greatest challenge in your career to date?

To be honest as an HR professional I see challenges as an opportunity to improve, increase my learning and better understand others. My challenge has always been wanting to do more and effect positive changes within my organisation. For me I do not focus on challenges- I focus on solutions.

What advice would you give younger people getting into the profession today – in particular minority candidates?

My favourite saying to younger individuals has always been “ no one is you and that is your power” Our younger generation have so many talents and so much to offer so do not let race alone define who you are, work hard, continuously develop yourself and always maintain your integrity.

What was the best career advice you were ever given and by who?

The best advice that I have ever been given and in the exact same words “don’t let anyone ever question you maintaining your integrity” it was given by my manager

Can you recommend any books and or podcasts?

I’m constantly reading as I am quite interested in employment law so I would recommend to those who are starting out in their career or those who are ER specialists to read the current edition of “the employers handbook” by Barry Cushway, current version of “employment law” LPC guide by James Holland and I find CIPD books on specific areas of HR enlightening so I would suggest researching and I guaranteed that if it’s HR related CIPD has books on that particular topic. For those who are parents of Afro-Caribbean children, Black Americans etc. I would strongly suggest educating your children in black history. There are numerous resources available on the internet.