Claudia Osei-Nsafoah: Building a Workforce Fit for the Future

As Chief People Officer at Sky, UK & Ireland, Claudia Osei-Nsafoah leads the development and implementation of Sky UK & Ireland’s workforce strategy and driving progress towards becoming a more diverse and inclusive organization for everyone – its people, customers, and communities. Learn more about Claudia in the interview below.

Q. You joined Sky in 2020, what have you been focused on in your role(s)?

“I joined Sky as People Director for UK & Ireland, before extending my remit in 2022 to include Group Talent, Diversity, and Inclusion. In May 2023, I was appointed Chief People Officer UK & Ireland, Group Talent and D&I and became part of the Executive team representing Sky’s Group People strategy. In all my roles, there has been a common theme which is to align our people agenda to the business strategy and focus on how Sky builds a workforce fit for the future. I also focus on continuing to drive the diversity and inclusion agenda because diverse perspectives supported by the right environment leads to better problem-solving, smarter innovations and stronger productivity.”

Q. How have your own experiences with diversity in people, places, or experiences enhanced your career?

“I have been fortunate to spend parts of my career in some fantastic places outside the UK including Shanghai and Switzerland. Working with teams across different cultures, environments, and perspectives has enriched my career and provided invaluable learning experiences both personally and professionally. This especially applies from a diversity and inclusion perspective. Getting out of my comfort zone and being exposed to new and different ways of working and thinking has made me a more open-minded and adaptable colleague and leader.

“My upbringing has also hugely influenced this mindset. I come from Southeast London and was raised in a single-parent household by my wonderful Ghanaian mother who instilled in me respect and good values. My background has taught me to work hard, be tenacious and grasp opportunities, especially those that challenge me. But most importantly, that talented people come from all different paths, and there is no one route to success.”

Q. You lead Sky’s progress towards becoming a more diverse and inclusive organization for everyone, how important is it for you to show up to work as your authentic self?

“It’s important that leaders show up to work authentically. I believe it is especially crucial that I do this as a Chief People Officer as it helps to build trusted relationships and demonstrates self-awareness.  Ultimately, you cannot have genuine inclusion without authenticity. My natural style as a leader is to lead with transparency, honesty, and humility – these are the same principles that allow people of different backgrounds to feel valued, respected, and empowered to contribute their unique perspectives.”

Q. How do you encourage employee development?

“Sky is a business that’s always reinventing with a start-up mentality, which means it is a great innovative environment for our people to develop. It’s about creating the right environment for people to thrive, broadening horizons, and encouraging people to explore opportunities outside their lane. I also describe us as having an intrapreneurial spirit, as we encourage creativity, ambition, and development – it’s all about the art of the possible.

“We recently launched a new group-wide internal learning and development platform, Sky Learn, which solidifies this vision. It covers a wide range of topics from tech and data skills and career progression to diversity and inclusion and leader development. The platform empowers our people to take ownership of their learning, helping them to upskill for now and for the future.”

Q. What are you most excited about for Sky’s future?

“Sky has a rich heritage of innovation and of using its scale and platforms to make a difference. This is important for our future because it gives us the right foundation and the credibility to continue to shape the workforce of the future. From a skills perspective, this looks like an ongoing role in tackling technical skills shortages across the economy to unlock its potential, as noted in our recent report, Powering Creativity in the UK.

More broadly, we continue to contribute to the UK’s cultural economy adding £20 billion to UK GDP in 2022 and supporting over a quarter of a million British jobs. That same year, the first production started at Sky Studios Elstree, our new state-of-the-art film and TV studio. Sky Studios Elstree is projected to attract £3 billion of new production investment to the UK in its first five years and create up to 2,000 jobs.”