From 12 December 2022 to 13 January 2023, I worked alongside Kay Lee [Head of HR - APAC (ex. China)] and acted as her assistant. I also had the opportunity to propose new ideas to improve employee engagement within the workplace and help to increase the wellbeing of all employees. This experience of working in an office for the first time has enabled me to be more acquainted with a company's regular day-to-day operations and helped me to get a better sense of my intended career path in the future.

I also had the chance to work with Sapna McCarthy [Global Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Learning Lead] to develop an EDI Calendar for the office. Through my interactions with different Employee Resource Group (ERG) Leaders, I was able to build the calendar in order to represent the diversity of Tate & Lyle's employees. I also made suggestions in order to improve the office's EDI site in order to ensure that the site better represented Tate & Lyle's aims to create a more inclusive and diverse workplace. 

As someone who has a deep passion to explore this particular area, I learnt that ED&I is a really nuanced field that many people tend to assume is wholly centered around respecting people based on the things that make up an individual. This leads many people to assume it's "rigid" and "constricting". However, I feel that understanding is the most important part of ED&I, and not simply respecting others; Understanding why the office may choose to host certain events, understanding different perspectives, and understanding how to respect different people.