Never one to shy away from controversial subjects, I was asked, alongside a group of other business professionals to answer some questions about diversity in tech and to give my opinion on why I thought tech companies seemed to struggle with it.
These things are never as clear cut as – Racism, Sexism, Ableism or homophobia. Answers are in fact, more nuanced.
Anyway, before I give the game away you can read the article by clicking the link below.
Why Do Tech Companies Struggle With Diversity and Inclusion? – HCM Technology Report
Here is my small segment of the article, expanded.
Is Diversity a good thing or a bad thing? In recent years as a backlash against “woke culture” The media has painted diversity in a terrible light, as though having a workforce that reflects the population is somehow a bad thing.
I personally feel that diversity in the workplace means strength overall. Let’s face facts, the client base in the UK isn’t a homogeneous group of only one type of person. Therefore to present your offering with such a team has to put you at a disadvantage to your competitors.
Including Women
I’m no expert of Gender equality in the workplace but it seems obvious to me that men have historically formed most companies; no matter what country you live in, males have been setting the agenda for centuries. Males holding all the power means they tend to follow their preferences, without those preferences being challenged.
It’s not bashing men to say that we all have an inherent bias. Tech companies in particular have traditionally been founded by males who come from an all-male sector or background. Women do exist in these spheres as do people of colour, people of different sexualities, and physical abilities and more recently, people who identify with different genders.
Any company that is serious about improving diversity and inclusion is taking steps to improve diversity. Not as a box-ticking, Virtue-signalling exercise but as a part of a drive to ensure that their company reflects wider society.
It’s good business to include women in the workplace, women are 50% of our society, and if we don’t include them and harness their Skills, perspectives, empathy, intuition and Worldviews our companies and our output will be lopsided.
Including Ethnic Minorities
This isn’t the 1970’s. Britain is a well-integrated multi-faith, multi-ethnic society. Probably one of the leading countries in the world with such integration. Black and Asian people have skills to bring to the table. Non-white people make up 18% of the UK population. there are cultural perspectives that might have been overlooked in both product development and marketing. Harnessing that diverse creativity will boost your understanding of a growing and more diverse population of consumers and customers.
Are you seriously ok with excluding that many people from your marketing and sales funnels?
Having a multi-ethnic workforce not only fosters a better understanding of different cultures and ethnicities in side work but also outside work as friendships and romantic relationships are often formed at work. The workplace has a key role in societal cohesion.
Leadership Diversity is Key.
Kenston Henderson makes a great point here about the lack of diversity in leadership teams.
” tech companies need to create more inclusive hiring and promotion processes, such as blind resume screening and diversity training for hiring managers with Kenston. By combating implicit bias, companies can promote a more diverse and inclusive workplace”
Kenston Henderson, Sr. Chief Empowerment Officer at Live With Lyfe, LLC
Clever, forward-thinking businesses will act early to ensure they have diverse directors and heads of departments.
People who are part of a minority group will naturally want to ensure that people from that minority get the same opportunities they have had, and thus we get a workforce that reflects the place we live in. Candidates hired should still be brought in on merit, though. that’s just my opinion.
Phil Gregory
MD, Peak District SEO
I’m Phil Gregory, the MD and founder of Peak District SEO.
I’m an SEO & Google Ads Consultant with 27+ years of experience in I.T and helping UK Businesses improve website performance.
I built my first website in 1998, then I discovered the joys of website optimisation and never looked back.
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