Leadership Stories Unveiled: Christina Duru
We sat down with Christina Duru, Chief People Officer at Catch22, for the latest instalment of our Leadership Stories Unveiled series.
Christina, tell us about your role at Catch22 and what inspired you to pursue a career in HR.
I am the Chief People Officer at Catch22, heading the HR, Health and Safety and Safeguarding teams. I was inspired to pursue a career in HR as I have a real passion and drive for ensuring businesses can win by putting people first. I love sourcing people solutions and aligning this to organisational strategy.
How do you align the HR strategy with the charity’s business goals?
Having a thorough understanding of the environment we operate in; ensures I understand the challenges of our service users. I also listen to feedback from our management teams and their staff. Through this in-depth understanding, I am able to deliver people solutions that meet people where they need them the most. This is not done in isolation. I adopt a collaborative approach working closely with operations to build the solutions. As that ensures their embeddability and meaningfulness.
What strategies have you implemented to build a high-performance culture at Catch22?
Promoting the importance of instant feedback. Traditionally in HR, we have looked to wait until the annual appraisal. This is not a natural way to drive change. Feedback should be timely and meaningful. Another key feature is working to ensure that individual goals are linked to the business strategy. People need to understand how they fit in and the contribution they can make to the strategy. We try to share this by bringing the strategy to life and using it as part of our day-to-day language.
What initiatives have you implemented to enhance employee well-being and engagement? How do you measure their success?
These are complex times and people need a holistic and dynamic approach to tackle and address challenges with wellbeing. Firstly, I try to promote that we all need to protect and safeguard our wellbeing, no one is exempt. Ensuring there is both proactive and reactive support for people. Whether it be financial well-being, generous annual leave, or creating capacity for time to talk, it’s really important that people can see that there are different options to meet their varied needs. Another important mechanism is ensuring managers have sufficient support. The labour market expectations have changed, and it can take its toll on this group! Managers need to be equipped with the tools to signpost and support as well as the reassurance that they can’t take full responsibility for their team’s wellbeing. Not to mention that they need an outlet as well. We have 70 MHFA (mental health first aiders) across the organisation. This is great that we are open, and managers can signpost. Finally, it is creating an environment where people can thrive. Our workplace forums groups and communities really support this objective and ensure a safe place to work. This is still a work in progress, but already we are seeing our days loss due to absence reducing below the sector trend.
In the face of talent scarcity and budget constraints, how do you attract and retain top talent? What unique strategies or programs have been effective in talent acquisition?
Our talent strategy is quite simple. It’s welcoming people in, developing them watching them grow and providing opportunities where possible for them to progress. Being a diverse organisation, we have opportunities for people to move both horizontally and vertically ensuring there are clear pathways on how people can progress.
How does Catch22 nurture leadership talent and plan for succession? What leadership development opportunities are available?
We hold quarterly forums for our leaders and aspiring leaders. The forums provide attendees with the opportunity to learn more about organisational strategy and practical guidance on their leadership journey. We also have a mentoring network led by a number of peers across the organisation. The executive team supports with masterclasses as well as utilising our trustees to support the development and growth of our people. To supplement our internal development, we have several opportunities via our apprenticeship levy and provide practical experiences where people can progress. In 2023/24, a total of 16% of our hires were internal promotions. Testament to the support provided to people to grow and progress.
What trends or changes do you foresee in the field of HR, and how is Catch22 preparing to adapt to them?
I suspect there will be a lot of changes in the train. Since COVID we have seen a shift in expectations across the labour market, and this is continuing to grow. The recent Labour Party green paper shows their intention to enhance employment rights to become day-one rights. I believe this is in response to the growing demand to ensure employee voice is heard. I also think that the shift in AI will mean jobs as we know them will change. There will be a focus on skills and how we will need to adapt ways of working and roles to accommodate fast-paced technological changes. People teams will be busy! I think it’s important, now more than ever, that HR work closely with organisations and staff to build solutions that put people first. This is whilst driving the organisation forward.
What steps is Catch22 taking to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace? How do you ensure an inclusive environment for all employees?
I am so proud of the progress Catch22 has made in becoming an inclusive organisation. Over the last couple of years, we have stats that demonstrate we are increasing the number of people with lived experience and diversity across our workforce. Our people have increasingly highlighted in staff surveys that they feel part of an inclusive organisation and our Glassdoor reviews around EDI reflect the same sentiment. The magic of this has been our staff forums that are peer-led, ensuring we are mindful of inequalities and addressing them across the lifecycle. We also upskill managers around potential bias and how to mitigate this.
I wouldn’t say we are perfect, there is still some way to go particularly around our gender pay gap, but the appetite and the will to bolster more inclusive practices is certainly there in abundance.
How does Catch22’s renewed focus on adolescents align with your mission, and what specific initiatives support young people during this critical phase of their lives?
Well, this is a great question as Catch22 not only works to design and deliver public service, but we also look to reform public service using the insights and knowledge gained via our work. In 2022/23 we had a real focus on youth unemployment, and we have been actively involved in understanding and tackling the complexities of the job market.
One of Catch22’s flagship employability programs directly addresses underemployment. 10% of current participants fall into this category.
Catch22 aims to reform the youth employment system, levelling the playing field for every young person out of work. This role is akin to being a builder-ensuring that the promise of “building back better” doesn’t ring hollow for marginalized groups.
Some of our employability work programs like Grid for Good, Digital Edge, and Digital Leap open up opportunities for underserved groups, fostering sustainable work. In summary, Catch22 recognizes the need to address underemployment and actively works toward creating equitable opportunities for young people in the job market.
If you could share some wisdom with your younger self as you embarked on a career in HR, what guidance would you offer?
Be curious. Never stop reading and learning as there is so much out there. But at the same time, be kind to yourself – ensuring your critical moments are shared with loved ones as those memories last for eternity.
As Chief People Officer, Christina, oversees both the People and Safety functions for the Catch22 group. Christina plays a leading role in supporting delivery of the business plan through the Catch22 People strategy, as well as fostering a culture of robust governance through the effective management of organisational compliance and mitigating risks.
Christina has over 15 years’ experience working in a variety of sectors delivering HR expertise. She joined Catch22 in September 2015. Prior to joining Catch22, Christina worked in the higher education and professional services sectors, operating as a strategic business partner, providing commercial HR advice to senior leadership teams.
