How to reach gender equality in your organization (with or) without dedicated diversity officer in house.
One of the objectives with EQ Inspiration is to connect the eco-system of local vendors that are providing services and products to improve (gender) diversity and inclusion (D&I) with companies in the tech sector. These vendors are experts and are working with companies like yours today. At all stages of the employee life cycle – hiring, retention, promotion – there are things to be considered which can improve the process. They offer workshops, consulting, and products that; for example, “takes the bias out of hiring”, offers “intercultural -” or “implicit bias awareness workshops”, best practices on advancement and promotion of women, mentorship and sponsorship programs.
When you have a D&I Department
Many of the big corporations have or are hiring a head of diversity & inclusion/belonging/culture. Someone who’s job it is to make the people in the organization thrive and stick around. They have a massive amount of work in front of them sorting out priorities, establishing policies, and putting programs in motion. Some companies that that claim to care about diversity still opt for just checking the box; yes we completed training, yes we have a diversity officer hired, but there are those who take the task at hand seriously. I believe that you are leading these companies and that you are the winners of tomorrow’s talent and business.
Watch what Others are Doing
The SMB and enterprise companies that are mixing up their teams with people from different backgrounds, ages, preferences, race, gender etc., from top to bottom – from boardroom to development – are doing so more or less visibly. We look for them and at EQ Inspiration some of them will share their work. The vendors of D&I services have lots of examples of what works and what doesn’t. My belief is that if one company can do the work of advancing women, so can you. If one company gets the talent because of their attitude, you may need to change your attitude. It’s not rocket science, it’s just hard work, like any aspect of business.
Change takes Time
No, it’s not a one off workshop. It’s a culture change and a movement. A very long term project that becomes a part of your company’s vision. And as every part of a company’s vision, you need to be reminded of it, over and over. What and why gender equality is important to you, your organization, your customers and your business.
You have to realize that it’s YOUR responsibility and not somebody else’s.
The bubble of enthusiasts must burst
We (the fighters on a mission for gender equality) are far from the only ones that care in tech sector, but we still find ourselves in a bubble of enthusiasts. We aim at breaking out of this bubble by making services and products available to more tech companies. We are building an eco system map of companies offering services and products for D&I. We have not found a magic quadrant positioning companies an x-axis of services/product, and y-axis showing hiring, promotion, retention yet. If you have worked with a service vendor that helped your organization become more supportive of hiring and advancing women and minorities, please send us their name and we will include them in our magic quadrant!
Who is the Ideal D&I Partner for Your Company?
The methods are many, some good some not so good, but the intention to “fix the mix” is always good. Standalone efforts are difficult to build upon, cumbersome processes will be dismissed as taking too much time from the business and “real work”. Finding a model that works for your company , that is informative enough, not offensive, not too intrusive, that creates continuity and maintenance, flow instead of hindrance is the recipe.
Here is what EQ Connect means to you
We are presenting vendors in the D&I space to you at EQ Inspiration and here on our website. We will give you an overview of services and products that they offer, and provide contact details. In my mind it’s about lowering the barrier to entry into what might become one of the smartest things you’ve done for your business in a long time.