Leading by example and providing the resources your employees need to educate themselves about diversity and inclusion really is the only way to effect lasting change across your organisation and the wider industry, says Nabila Salem
Over the past few years, the technology industry has taken decisive and – let’s face it – much-needed steps towards building a more inclusive, diverse ecosystem globally. We’ve seen an increased focus on more balanced representation, but there’s always more to be done to champion the cause and promote equality within our communities both professionally and personally.
As we continue to move further and further away from antiquated—and frankly ridiculous —notions regarding race, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and religion, we’ve uncovered a treasure trove of ways that more diverse teams can elevate and enrich your organisation and benefit your employer brand, no matter where you are in your growth journey. Our recent report on hiring a more diverse workforce has found, definitively, that actively fostering a more inclusive workforce yields a whole host of positive results, including improved retention rates and more successful hiring initiatives, as well as helping to bridge the tech industry’s pervasive skills gap by broadening the talent pool.
Diversity, innovation, and your audience
Having a more diverse workforce alongside inclusive leadership at the helm of your organisation is a massive boon, particularly from a customer service standpoint. Having a workforce as diverse and culturally rich as your target market is the best way to understand your audience and offer an even better overall experience, with a service that really speaks to customers on a more personal level.
Being able to understand your audience in this way, and having a truly diverse tapestry of professional and personal experience on your side, can really boost innovation across your business. Different perspectives working together give rise to the kind of discussion and creativity necessary for ideas to flow, and having an inclusive company culture creates a safe space where people feel comfortable sharing those ideas and approaches. And that next idea could be a game-changer. It could be what puts serious distance between you and the competition, and what helps elevate your brand across the markets in which you operate.
The impact of D&I policies on hiring
Language is powerful. It has the immense power to shape thought, change minds, entertain, inspire emotions, motivate others, share incredible ideas, tell stories, and so much more. It comes as no surprise, then, that the most significant change we’ve seen is in the use of language in job adverts. The choice of wording you go with could make or break your hiring process. Think about it this way – job ads are often what give potential candidates that all-important first impression of your company.
Choosing one word over another might seem like a small detail in the grand scheme of things, but realistically it’s these details that make the big picture. The way you present yourself at this early stage can have a huge impact, for instance, on the ratio of male-to-female applicants, as some words historically favoured by the recruitment sector are perceived as overly masculine and put women off . Words like ‘rock star’, ‘ninja’, ‘assertive’, and ‘competitive’, for example, all fall into the category of male-gendered words, while terms like ‘supportive’, ‘collaborative’ and ‘dependable’ are perceived as more appealing by potential female candidates.
Ensuring your vacancies use gender-inclusive language will unlock a wealth of untapped talent, and could help to narrow the skills gap by breaking down the boundaries that deter the women in tech from applying for certain roles. According to research carried out by Textio, an augmented writing platform, the way a job vacancy is worded could directly impact the ratio of female-to-male applicants. When Australian software giant Atlassian applied that research in a move to even out the playing field, they saw a massive 80% increase in female technical hires. The results are undeniable – the single most impactful change you can make in your hiring process lies here, in the language you use in job descriptions.
To do this successfully, it’s absolutely vital that the importance of language and awareness surrounding gender-inclusive wording is championed from board-level down. Leading by example and providing the resources your employees need to educate themselves about diversity and inclusion really is the only way to effect lasting change across your organisation and the wider industry.
Talent management after Covid-19
The recent coronavirus crisis has changed the way we live and work. The way we communicate and collaborate, hire, budget, plan for the future and plan for what could go wrong – no part of your organisation is untouched. From an HR perspective, we’ve seen some interesting shifts in talent management as firms across the globe adapt to the new normal and figure out what works best for their business and employees.
Our employees will remember our response to the pandemic for years to come, so it follows that there’s been a marked change in the way companies approach employee engagement —an often-overlooked part of the talent management side of things. Recent months have shown employers just how crucial it is to be sensitive to the employee experience, and to support their workforce’s physical and mental wellbeing not simply as a means to ‘increase productivity’, but to connect with our colleagues on a more human level with more empathy than ever before.
This more human approach could take any number of forms. From empowering team leaders and line managers to offering increased flexibility for employees to take better care of their mental health, to making that extra bit of time to check in with direct reports and catch up, not just about how they’re doing professionally, but how they’re feeling and coping with the stresses that come with a global crisis.
A couple of months into the pandemic, we rolled out our Wellbeing Wednesday initiative across all of our office locations. Basically, each week we ask our teams to down tools an hour early, and dedicate that time to doing what they need to do to feel happy and healthy—on us. Running, going for a walk, yoga, playing videogames, reading a book or catching up on that great new Netflix show; it’s about taking that extra bit of time to get the balance we all crave, to recharge and check in with yourself.
As an employer, we’ve had incredible feedback on Wellbeing Wednesday, and let’s face it: a happy, healthy workforce makes for a happier, healthier business. It’s a token of appreciation for how our employees have stepped up collectively to make sure we maintain the same quality of service and high standards that we’re known for in this industry.
The cost of complacency
We’d all love to be in a place where we don’t need to continuously highlight the how and why of diversity and inclusion, but for as long as there are companies out there that treat D&I as little more than a box-ticking HR exercise, we will do exactly that. There’s a collective responsibility in tech to not only promote these issues when designated national days come around, but in our day-to-day interactions and processes in the workplace.
Complacency is a widespread issue, and one that merits a far bigger discussion, but it’s safe to say that neglecting this vital part of your business can seriously eat away at your bottom line and see you losing customers and skilled talent to your competition.
Nabila Salem is President of Revolent Group and leads on the creation of talent. She has accrued 15 years of leadership experience in professional services, tech recruitment, and marketing in the UK and USA, and plays an active role in encouraging, supporting, and promoting diversity in the workplace.
