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At PageGroup, our expert consultants come into the sector from by many different paths – and we want to share some of those experience with you. We sat down with ex-serviceman Ollie Thorn, Senior Manager of our DE&I Client Solutions team –– to talk about his route into the recruitment sector and his commitment to helping companies become more inclusive.
Ollie: Eleven years ago, while I was on leave from training to be an officer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, I had an accident that led to a disability. So, my career plans had to change overnight.
Through my time in military rehab, I was introduced to different sports, including skiing. I was lucky enough to race around the world for a couple of years and take part in the Invictus Games and the Paralympics. That was my first step after the military, but I wanted to do more.
After I sustained my injury, I had incredible support from the military – and I’m very conscious that a lot of people don’t have the same opportunities. I wanted to get involved with helping other people – so I started working for Back Up, a charity dedicated to transforming lives after spinal cord injury.
I’m passionate about supporting people with disabilities into work; it’s the final step in rehabilitation and critical for changing perceptions of disability in society. Access to work comes with financial independence, friendships, and a better quality of life, and people with disabilities are often excluded. Then the opportunity came up to join PageGroup.
Ollie: It was very clear that PageGroup takes diversity, equity, and inclusion seriously. They have been building it into the business since 2011, and it was supercharged after the former-CEO sustained an injury, and again during the pandemic.
It’s a global business with a huge number of clients, and I saw it as an opportunity to make real change. We work with well-known brands with huge workforces, which expands the impact we can have as an organisation, and as individuals.
Ollie: The main focus for myself and my team is on sponsoring clients on their DE&I journey, and helping them to fulfil their objectives and goals, whatever they are. That falls into two areas: recruitment and consultancy.
We run a lot of positive action recruitment campaigns to help clients attract, engage, hire, and retain candidates from diverse backgrounds. Everyone in the team comes from a diverse background themselves, so they can really understand the candidates, build trust, and give insightful advice.
On the consultancy side, we help businesses to become more accessible and inclusive in terms of their culture and help them to unlock the value that comes from having a diverse team. Our clients are at different stages of maturity, so that could mean anything from building a strategy to reviewing their end-to-end recruitment process or delivering training.
Ollie: The same elements that attracted me to the military, and later on in life the sports world, are still part of my life, so the transition hasn’t been as difficult as you might think. I thrive on competition, challenging myself, and being part of a high performing team. The way I fulfil those needs may have changed, but I like to think I am the same person I always have been: resilient and constantly improving.
Those traits have transferred well into the recruitment sector, and it’s incredibly rewarding. What I didn’t have in sport was being able to make a real positive impact on society on a wider scale, and being able to change the lives of so many people.
As someone with a disability, it's always slightly daunting and scary to move to a new organisation because you know you may have additional needs and reasonable adjustments, and you never know how that’s going to be perceived. Because PageGroup has built inclusivity into its very fabric, they practice what they preach. It made it easy for me to settle in, and it means that we can advise with confidence and experience.
I’m also still able to pursue other things I’m passionate about and challenge myself physically and mentally. Earlier this year, I combined my CSR leave with annual leave to go to Uganda with Humanity & Inclusion UK, where we worked with people with disabilities living in refugee settlements. I’m also about to do a half ironman, which means learning how to use a racing wheelchair and learning to swim again as a paraplegic.
Ollie: Not having any previous record within recruitment, it was daunting, but PageGroup is renowned for how they support consultants throughout the onboarding process and beyond. There was both e-learning and in-person learning available, and there’s such a supportive culture too; I never felt like I couldn’t ask questions.
In my team, we work closely together, and we’re always trying to upskill and challenge each other. We are always thinking about what we could do better, and then making those ideas a reality. It’s part of what makes PageGroup such an engaging place to work.
I’ve been able to get involved with new initiatives and develop my own role and experience within the company. Setting up the Ability@Page employee resource groups, which supports people with disabilities, neurodiversities, and long-term illnesses has been incredibly rewarding. I’m playing a role breaking down any barriers or negative preconceptions and making the workplace more accessible for everyone.
If you’re thinking of making your next career move and recruitment sounds like it could be for you, get in touch with the team today and find out more about working with us.
