Diversity comes in many forms – gender, ethnicity, religion, age, even experience. However it manifests, it is important to ensure an organisation’s employees represent a variety of different backgrounds and perspectives.

Research has shown that organisations with more diverse workforces frequently outperform less diverse ones. A 2019 analysis from McKinsey found that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile. For ethnic diversity, the statistic was 36%.

But creating a culture that promotes diversity can be difficult. We all have biases that make it hard to appreciate the value created by people of different backgrounds. While we cannot escape our biases, being able to identify them is vital to mitigating and building organisations that embrace everyone.

Ahead of his talk at DIGIT Leader on the 28th of April, Programme Manager at HSBC Nicholas ‘Nik’ Bobb spoke with DIGIT about identifying and dealing with our biases.

“We are all biased to some extent,” he says. “We all grew up in a certain culture and we have all learned certain behaviours.”

Feeling Comfortable

It is important to be comfortable with one’s biases. That comfort provides the ability to identify them, understand them and, most importantly, to take action to remediate them.

Confronting our own biases can be uncomfortable. But, Nik says, the first step is not to fear bias, as that leads to being able to have a conversation about it.

“A lot of people are concerned that being biased is a problem,” Nik explains: “Actually, being biased isn’t the problem – it’s how you act on that bias that’s the issue.

“Do you push back? That’s when bias can be a problem. If you hold up your hand and decide to be part of the solution, that’s how bias can actually be beneficial.

“Even if you’re not a leader in your organisation, you can then talk to someone else. And then the bias can come out, because at the end of the day, if we don’t talk about it, we can’t fix it.”

It is from this conversation that real changes to a workplace culture can begin.

Talent and Culture

At its heart, diversity and inclusion is about bringing in the best talent, no matter where it comes from. Too often, companies draw from the same limited pool, competing with one another for the same people. They bring in workers with similar talents and from similar backgrounds, creating similar products and solutions.

“If we all fish in the same pond, we’ll get the same end result,” Nik says.

He adds: “Statistically, due to societal issues, that pond is not very diverse. And, by definition, your talent pool won’t be very diverse.”

As such, rather than diversity being a separate concern, it should be seen as an essential part of company culture. While all organisations strive to create a culture where talented people are free to do their best work, doing so can be difficult.

“I’m not imagining it’s going to be easy,” Nik adds. “But someone needs to just put their hand up and say the culture we thought we were aiming for hasn’t yet materialised. Why is that? And that’s where those simple steps can come in.”

Building D&I

The techniques needed to build diversity are different for every organisation – companies with thousands of employees have different needs and capacities compared to startups that can count their employees on one hand.

But for the most part, there are some simple ways to identify biases – in individuals, in processes – and to counteract them.

One method is considering how different forms of experience transfer between industries.

Most job applications focus on qualifications and experience. But for people who are moving from one industry to another, bringing vital outside skills and perspectives, it can be difficult to translate their abilities from one industry to the next.

“So why not make a couple of bullet points just to illuminate the type of experience you want?” Nik says. “All of a sudden, you’ve broken down a barrier. For someone trying to change career, you can make it easier to see how they can leap across, and it makes the hiring manager’s job easier because they can see how that person has transferable skills.”

Job interviews are frequently stressful for any applicant. This can often be at odds with a company’s actual culture, which takes steps to be supportive and relaxed. But if the hiring process doesn’t promote diversity, getting a wide range of different people into the organisation will fail.

“I’ve seen a lot of interviews that are very formal, while the organisation’s actually more relaxed,” Nik says. “If you’ve never been to that type of interview, perhaps if you’ve grown within a job, an interview like that is likely to be intimidating.

“Outlining in your job description what the interview process is going to be like, can also break down a barrier for people.”

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Furthermore, with remote working becoming more prevalent post-pandemic, workforces are frequently spread out. Not only are teams diverse in terms of ethnicity or religion, they can be diverse by location. And a business’s clients may reflect this as well.

One tip to promote this kind of diversity is to be conscious about which calendar you’re using. Do the holidays and breaks line up with the holidays practised by your team and customers?

“Depending on the makeup of your team, it might actually be better to use a different calendar,” Nik says. “And it might be a mixture of different holidays.

“That’s when diversity becomes less to do with rules and responsibility and more about the delivery of the programme. But having that conversation suddenly makes D&I real.”

Ultimately, though as small as each of these changes are they all accumulative to a diverse environment.

“I think what the last few years have shown is that a lot of little things changing can make a serial impact,” Nik says.

DIGIT Leader 2022 | Join the Conversation

Nik Bobb will be speaking at the upcoming DIGIT Leader Summit on 28th April.

He will join an impressive conference line-up, including presenters from Skyscanner, BAE Systems, MadeBrave, AND Digital, Waracle, Netwomen.io and Hanya Partners.

To secure your place now, visit: https://www.digitleaders.com/

The conference is free to attend for people working in IT / Digital and C-level leadership roles in end-user organisations.