Why we created The Diversity & Innovation Company
I had several experiences during my time as Diversity lead in Accenture that convinced me that even though we were leading edge in our approach, there was a more commercial and effective approach we could take to driving Diversity and talent development.
I was 48 years old when I went to my first ever International Women’s Day event – and found myself for the first time in my life in a distinct minority and feeling very self-conscious.
I immediately thought we need to provide this experience to male graduates on day 1, so they gain some awareness of what it is like for women in the workplace, and hopefully carry that memory with them at pivotal points throughout their career.
The second incident which resonated with me was talking to my client in India. The HRD shared her reasoning for wanting all-women shortlists in recruitment, despite the fact it reduced the talent pool by 85% – her marketing team for female hair care products was all male – how ridiculous was that!
I started thinking about how we could make Diversity much more relevant in business and the workplace. When I spoke to a banker he told me that whilst he and his colleagues wanted to increase diversity and inclusion, hearts certainly in the right place, they lacked the wherewithal to make real progress - “Women were systemically under-represented, and in thirty years of banking, I know only one individual in a wheelchair. How can that be? There is absolutely nothing physical required in the world of banking and yet the numbers are staggeringly low.”
As I explored these issues further I uncovered evidence that in the fastest growing sector of the economy – the Digital revolution – the numbers of women entering IT related jobs, and even studying for computer science and IT degrees, are reducing. So Diversity is actually in reverse in some areas. My conclusion was that we need a disruptive intervention in the form of a much more hands on way of integrating Diversity interventions into the learning and development that a company’s leaders get from day one in their career, as new graduates or apprentices, and continuing all the way up the career ladder.