Developing a strategy to strengthen diversity and inclusion in leadership
The context
Turley, a leading UK planning and development consultancy, had already made meaningful progress on equity, diversity and inclusion, particularly in relation to gender.
There was a strong commitment across the organisation, supported by existing initiatives such as Catalyst for Change. However, like many organisations, Turley recognised that progress at leadership level had been slower and more uneven.
While gender diversity had improved, other areas including ethnicity, disability, socio-economic background and LGBTQ+ representation remained underrepresented in senior roles. There was also a recognition that achieving more diverse leadership would require a clearer strategy, stronger accountability, and a more consistent approach across the business.
Turley commissioned On The Level to support the next phase of their journey: developing a strategy to build a more inclusive and representative leadership team by 2030.
Our approach and what we delivered
We delivered a consultancy project that combined research, stakeholder insight and strategic development.
The work began with desk research, including a review of Turley’s existing EDI activity alongside external benchmarking to understand how other organisations were approaching diversity in leadership.
We then conducted 13 in-depth interviews with senior leaders across the business. These conversations explored current perceptions of EDI, ambitions for leadership diversity, and views on the opportunities and challenges associated with progressing this work.
From this, we carried out a structured analysis of barriers and opportunities across three levels:
societal factors, including sector norms and entry routes
organisational systems, culture and processes
individual experiences of progression and leadership
Using these insights, we developed a clear and actionable strategy, including short, medium and long-term priorities.
This included supporting Turley to:
define a clear long-term ambition for leadership diversity
identify priority areas of focus across different dimensions of diversity
establish interim milestones to track progress over time
strengthen leadership ownership and accountability
develop practical recommendations aligned to Turley’s business model and employee ownership culture
The result was a comprehensive roadmap designed to embed EDI more fully across the leadership pipeline.
What made it work
A key strength of the project was the depth of insight gathered through stakeholder engagement.
This highlighted both the progress Turley had already made and the complexity of driving change at leadership level, allowing us to develop a strategy that was both ambitious and grounded in the organisation’s day-to-day realities.
The work was also carefully shaped around Turley’s specific context. This included the nature of the planning and development sector, the role of qualifications and traditional entry routes, and the dynamics of an employee-owned business.
This ensured the strategy was not only aligned with Turley’s ambition, but also practical to implement and relevant to how the organisation operates in practice.
The impact
The project provided Turley with a clear and structured direction of travel.
It established a long-term ambition for leadership to better reflect the communities Turley serves, alongside defined priority areas and measurable milestones to support progress.
It also strengthened alignment across senior leadership, creating greater clarity on both the importance of this work and the role leaders play in delivering it.
The final output was a detailed and practical strategy, tailored to Turley’s context, that provides a strong foundation for sustained progress over time.
Why it mattered
Many organisations reach a point where they have strong intent and a range of EDI activity in place, but find it more difficult to translate this into meaningful change at leadership level.
This work helped Turley move beyond that point.
By combining insight, analysis and practical strategy, the project created a clear pathway for embedding diversity and inclusion more deeply into how leadership is defined, developed and supported.
In doing so, it supports not only more representative leadership, but a stronger and more inclusive organisation overall.
Interested in doing something similar?
If your organisation is looking to strengthen diversity and inclusion at leadership level, this is exactly the kind of work we do.
We combine insight gathering, stakeholder engagement and strategic development to create practical, tailored approaches that reflect the realities of your organisation.
If you would like to explore what that could look like in your context, we would be very happy to have a conversation.
