Building Cultural Change & Inclusion Through Strategic Leadership

Jane Cronin is a strategic HR leader with over three decades of experience, specializes in shaping people hief Human Resources Officer, McBride strategies that drive growth while balancing accountability and care. She has held senior HR roles across manufacturing, employee relations, organizational design, and talent development, focusing on leadership development and transformative culture.

In an impactful interaction with Global Woman Leader Magazine, Jane Cronin shares her insights on developing D&I strategies that balance cultural nuances with organizational unity, empowering underrepresented colleagues, and driving inclusive practices during large-scale transformations. She highlights the significance of leadership in fostering a culture of belonging and fairness.

To learn more about Jane's approach to inclusive leadership and her journey, read the full article below.

With decades of HR experience across global operations, how have you personally shaped D&I strategies that balance local cultural nuances with a unified organizational vision?

Over the years working across global operations, I’ve learned that a successful D&I strategy has to honour both local cultural realities and a shared organisational vision. There’s never a  one-size-fits-all approach. What I’ve done consistently is partner closely with senior leaders to understand their unique context and then equip them with the training and frameworks that bring us together under common principles of fairness, belonging and inclusion.

By setting a clear organisational ‘north star’ while allowing flexibility in how teams move toward it, I’ve helped local leaders adopt D&I practices at a pace and in a way that feels authentic for their people, without losing cohesion across the organisation.

From your experience leading large-scale HR transformations, how did you embed inclusive practices during major initiatives like digitalization or global payroll outsourcing?

As with most things, I think this comes back to education. If we prioritise training so that everyone understands the importance of diversity and inclusion, then diversity and inclusion will be holistically integrated into everything we do. My goal isn’t to tag our belonging, inclusion and fairness strategy onto other projects as an afterthought. It’s not a box-ticking exercise. It needs to be part of these initiatives from the very beginning.

In major transformations, that has meant involving diverse employee groups early in the process, checking our proposed changes work across different populations, and making sure our communication plans reflect a range of needs.

Those small but deliberate steps help ensure inclusion is embedded throughout, not added on at the end.

As a certified coach and mentor, how have you used one-on-one guidance to empower women and underrepresented colleagues to step into challenging roles?

I’ve been a coach for over 15 years, and I often reflect on when I was coached myself. As a single parent of two boys, juggling motherhood with trying to climb the career ladder and dealing with imposter syndrome wasn’t easy. I worked at odd hours, late at night and on weekends because that was the only way I could balance everything. Coaching helped me enormously during that period.

That’s why supporting others through coaching or mentoring has become so important to me. I want to create a safe, honest space where women and underrepresented colleagues can work through whatever they need in that moment. I also share openly that life isn’t a straight line, challenges can be overcome, and they absolutely can step into roles they might not initially feel ready for, they just need to believe in themselves.

When driving D & I across multiple regions, how did you win over leaders or teams who were sceptical or resistant at first?

I’m a big believer in meeting people where they’re at. Forcing people into a certain way of thinking doesn’t work, so I focus on understanding their starting point. That’s why co‑creating our inclusion, belonging and fairness strategy with HR and business leaders was essential. We set the “north star” principles, then gave them the freedom to shape their own plans at a pace that worked locally.

What I’ve found most effective is creating space for leaders to share their progress with peers — whether in town halls or team meetings.

Peer influence is far more powerful than pressure from above when driving cultural change, and hearing practical steps and real results from colleagues build momentum.

In your journey, which measurable changes or success stories stand out where inclusive policies directly improved collaboration, innovation, or employee growth?

I truly believe that when people feel included – that their voices matter and are genuinely heard – they naturally give more. You see the impact of stronger collaboration, better performance, and lower turnover. A clear example for us has been our regular engagement surveys across McBride. We closed the most recent one last week, and more than 80% of employees took part, including around three‑quarters of our factory colleagues. That level of participation is a real indicator of trust. They’re taking the time to share how they feel because they know we’re listening and will act on what they tell us. For me, that’s a measurable sign that inclusion is improving connection and engagement across the company.

LAST WORD: Practical Advice for women Leaders to Influence Culture & Foster Inclusion

One practice I’d encourage women leaders to adopt is bringing others with you. Actively champion people, make space for their voices, and support and encourage them even when they don’t yet see their own potential. That certainly happened for me, and it made all the difference. When leaders open doors for others and genuinely want them to succeed, it's incredibly impactful. People feel seen, valued and believed in, and inclusion becomes something we live every day, not just talk about.