BHM – Yvonne

Throughout Black History Month, we’ll be celebrating our amazing black colleagues by bringing you stories from across the business.

All the colleague profiles we publish on myroyalmail.com will also appear on our dedicated Black History Month homepage. If you know someone who has inspired you as a great role model for others, someone who you think deserves recognition, please send your nomination to communications@royalmail.com with the heading ‘Black History Month’ in the subject line.

Today, we hear from Yvonne Adebusuyi, work area manager, at Romford Mail Centre.

‘I first joined the business in December 2001 at Dartford Mail Centre,’ said Yvonne. ‘Like many people, I started as a Christmas casual. In July 2002, I moved to a part-time contract working the evening shift. This suited me fine at the time as I was the mother of a newborn baby boy. Further full-time opportunities came along on the night shift, and I secured a full-time OPG role in 2005.

‘In December 2006, I became a workplace coach looking after the casual staff, which I really enjoyed as it meant I could help others. Three years later, in summer 2009, I was looking through my Courier when I saw an advert for Springboard, the women’s development course. I applied and that was the beginning of my progression journey within the business.

‘After completing the Springboard course, I approached my manager about shadowing line managers on my shift. As a result of this request, deputy manager roles were introduced at Dartford Mail Centre. I was one of the first sets of deputy managers in my unit at the time. I continued doing this role on and off for the next 12 months before a temporary parcel manager vacancy came up on the night shift at Tonbridge Mail Centre.

‘In 2012, Dartford Mail Centre closed down and merged with three other offices to become Medway Mail Centre. Between 2012-2019, I was covering various deputy manager roles because there were so many surplus managers after the merger. I found this period quite frustrating as despite working for so many years as a deputy manager role, I still hadn’t secured a substantive managerial role and I was sometimes forced to go back as an OPG. This prompted me to start actively wanting to change my position and so in March 2018, I applied for the BAME Spring Forward course.

‘One of the things that came up on the course was an opportunity to try the BAME mentoring programme, which I jumped on. I had three really useful sessions with my mentor and with the information and support I was given, I started applying for roles. This led to me securing my current role in November 2019.

‘Signing up for the Springboard and BAME Spring Forward courses as well as the BAME mentoring programme have been key to my progression within the business. They have really helped me to understand and challenge some deep-rooted beliefs I had about myself and the business, which weren’t always positive and were probably hindering my ability to influence others and progress in my career.

‘I highly recommend Springboard, Spring Forward and the BAME mentoring programme for those who are ambitious and seeking to go far within the business. The courses helped me to see beyond my present situation and look forward to a brighter future within the business. Just go ahead and take that first step of faith. That’s what I did and look where I am now. I’m proof that these courses pay off.’

Supporting our BAME colleagues

Making our business a place where black, Asian and minority ethnic colleagues can achieve their potential remains a priority.

Career progression is a key focus as we work towards improving the representation of colleagues from BAME backgrounds across all levels of the business. We need to build greater awareness that the network exists and is there to support our people and shine a light on all the positive things we are doing across the business. 

If you are thinking about holding a BAME cultural event in your unit, and need some help, please reach out to the BAME steering group, or volunteer to help out with their activities. You can contact the group by emailing bame@royalmail.com.