Sarah James
13th July 2023
Being a leader in today’s tech market is challenging.
High inflation, interest rates and recession concerns have all contributed to a feeling of uncertainty throughout the market and tech professionals are looking to their leaders for answers.
With this added pressure, it’s understandable that priorities have shifted for companies. But it is vital that we don’t neglect our responsibilities towards diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
This is especially true in tech, where only 26.7% of the workforce is made-up of women. Sadly, this figure has decreased by 2.1% over the last two years.
There’s no doubt that our tech leaders want to change for the better. It’s often discussed during talent projects and people see its value. Diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces foster creativity, fresh perspectives and understanding. These cultures attract a higher calibre of talent and, in turn, produce better results.
So, how do we cultivate this high-performing culture? To find out I reached out to a DEI expert in my network, Inara Joanethis, a talent acquisition specialist with Tourlane who recently appeared on this Beyond Limits podcast.
In this article, I will share her top DEI tips, as well as my own advice as an experienced tech talent specialist. I hope you find this helpful:
1. DEI is everyone’s responsibility, but people need direction.
DEI is not solely the responsibility of a specific individual or department; it is everyone’s job.
It’s important for all individuals within the organisation to reflect on their biases and actively contribute to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels empowered to be the very best they can be.
Saying that, Inara was keen to point out that there needs to be a genuine intention to create positive change and this needs to come from the leadership team:
“At Tourlane we had success with a top-down approach to DEI. We decided with the executive team ‘we want to do better and this intention helped us develop and implement a strategy that created a more diverse and inclusive working environment for people in the business.”
While we all need to reflect on our behaviours and biases, implementing a successful DEI strategy also requires commitment and direction from leadership to help set the foundation for meaningful action.
2. You can’t have diversity without inclusion, so take a look in the mirror.
Before you take on a complex hiring strategy centred around diversity, you need to have an honest look at your organisation.
According to Inara, “If you attempt to achieve diversity without really thinking about inclusion, this is where the chaos starts. It has to be in parallel, it has to go hand in hand.”
This is so true. What is the point in spending time, effort and money on hiring if people aren’t going to stick around?
That’s why it’s essential to sense-check how people in feel in your business. You need to identify and try to resolve any issues your business has, before you embark on hiring.
It is important understand people’s experience at all levels of the business, as it’s unlikely that the people making decisions at the top of your business are going to have the same shared experiences as everyone else.
3. Use data and don’t make assumptions.
It’s also crucial to have an honest assessment on the diversity of your workforce. If you don’t have data that tells you this, then embark on a process to get this data. You can’t rely on visual identification or ‘I think this person is this.’ You need people to self-identify.
When you have this data, compare that to the rest of your industry. Compare it to your local community too. Then, you can begin to see where you stand from a diversity perspective.
To go one step further, integrating this data with your engagement survey or inclusion survey data will help you analyse how different populations within your business are having different experiences.
You will then be able to start setting goals and metrics based on solving real issues within the business.
4. Review your hiring process: is it inclusive?
Once you know what you want to achieve with your hiring strategy, it is important to review your current recruitment process.
For example, where are you searching for talent? Is this as inclusive as possible?
It’s no secret that women remain underrepresented in the tech industry. That’s why I have partnered with Crypto Girls Club as a community member.
Not only does this help me immerse myself with a community that’s full of amazing talent, it helps me understand the challenges that women in tech are facing – which is helpful to communicate with my clients and helps them create a more inclusive workplace.
According to Zoe Faircloth, founder of Crypto Girls Club, women represent only 27% of the top web3 startup’s workforce and 12% in technical roles. This is a lower proportion than women in the overall STEM workforce.
She said, “It’s no surprise that Web3 has a far worse problem than STEM for women in crypto. At Crypto Girls Club we aim to improve these statistics by building bridges through partnerships to help women build and enter web3. We also see the need for more safe spaces where women can learn and develop their skills & voice in web3 at their own pace.”
I would encourage you to speak to people like Zoe and get involved in communities like this, attending careers fairs and events that you wouldn’t ordinarily go to. It’s likely that you’ll find some amazing people and tech talent.
When hiring, ensure that unconscious bias is kept to a minimum by using blind CVs and think about accessibility every step of the way. Rework your interviews to focus on soft skills and behaviours, rather than experience which will be harder to get in underrepresented communities.
5. Be patient.
It was great learning all this from Inara, but I think the piece of advice that has stuck with me the most is about the value of patience:
“It’s a long journey and little steps along the way should not be underestimated. Constant learning and incremental progress will have much more of a positive impact on your business than big proclamations.”
Building a diverse and inclusive workforce is a journey that requires continuous self-reflection and learning. It requires constant communication, some of which will be challenging to navigate.
But this hard work pays off. The value of a successful DEI strategy is so impactful. It cultivates a happy, engaged and high-performing culture that delivers better results. Who wouldn’t want this competitive advantage in today’s challenging market?
Thank you for reading! If you’d like to chat about this article or just get better introduced, then please feel free to email me at Sarah.James@transiton-partners.co.uk or connect with me on LinkedIn.