Black History Month case study: Yanique King

My name is Yanique King. After starting at Anchor as a Team Leader in 2014, I have been promoted three times, most recently in August.

I am now a Regional Support Manager, and while I enjoy it, it’s not without its challenges. I move around a lot more as an RSM so there are new challenges to get used to. 

At work, I have always been vocal about who I am: when I joined, I knew that I wanted to move on from being a Team Leader. After a Listening and Acting survey in 2017 discovered that few people were promoted internally from Team Leader, I went on the MyFuture Development Program, both as a Deputy Manager and a Home Manager. Both times I attended this, I found it helpful in offering fresh information, specifically around having difficult conversations, and these provided support for aspects of the job that I hadn’t approached before. 

As well as various courses, the people around me have often helped me get where I want to be. I remember someone once said that I don’t have to prove anything to anyone else, just to myself, and that has stuck with me. Jane, my District Manager, encouraged me to go for the promotion too. She saw in me things that I couldn’t myself, and her support and encouragement to embrace different challenges helped me go for it. Now, I have a whole team to support and back me up, and we’re all there to support one another. 

Using our networks to advocate for development

I’ve also recently joined th embRACE network, as I wanted to join the voice for other young ethnic minorities in the business. I want to advocate for the development of young people to move from Caring to Team Leaders, and Team Leaders to Deputies. Not long ago, I visited a scheme in Surrey, and was surprised by how many Black workers there were, and they were surprised to see me in a management position. There has been a lack of role models historically, so for me it’s important to be that, and put the hard work in, because I only have to prove to myself that I can do this. 

So, for me, that’s partly why Black History Month is important. Every day is Black History for my family and my friends, but our ancestors paved the way for us so it’s important that we continue to write out history and build the legacy that they’ve started. It’s up to us now to put hard work in and be role models, because we’re not going to let ourselves down when we’re being the best we can be. 

You can find out more about the ways in which we aim to make diversity and inclusion an everyday reality for our residents and colleagues here.