Crew ConsultingHow to spot true diversity and what managers can do to improve their business
Pop quiz: what do you think of when you hear the words “diversity in tech”?
Do you think gender-balanced C-suites, or neurodiverse team members? Do you think “celebrates cultural events”, or accessibility?
Diversity in the workplace can mean all of these things: it’s about including everyone, no matter their background. Where it gets tricky is spotting the distinction between token diversity and true inclusivity.
It’s a well documented fact that diversity within tech working environments improves not only employee happiness but also profitability. When employees feel free to be themselves, they can speak up more confidently, offer new ideas, and challenge the status quo to create innovations.
So how can you truly embrace inclusivity, and spot the token from the earnest? James Hurren, one of our specialist consultants in software and web development, explains what to look for, how to improve inclusivity in your own business, and why inclusivity is so damn important.
Why inclusivity matters
“When you say ‘diversity’, a lot of people jump to race or gender, and that’s it, but it’s everything else too. It’s age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, education, life experiences … there are so many ways to be ‘diverse’, we just have to broaden our understanding of it,” explains James.
We most often hear of gender and ethnic diversity in the news as the most visible gaps in many organisations and management levels. In recent analysis of MBIE data, NZTech found that only 4% of tech workers are Māori, and 2.8% Pacifica. The same analysis found that women make up only 27% of tech roles.
The decision to hire more women, Māori/Pacifica, or other diverse employees shouldn’t be done to please the public, but to advance the goals of your business:
- By understanding and speaking with a wider customer base, you can create better product/services for their needs.
- You can utilise the unique perspective or experience of people who see the world in a different way.
- Inclusivity improves morale, retention and individual growth by allowing staff to bring their whole selves to work.
- It also increases profitability by doing things differently from the status quo.
It’s a decision that adds real value to your business.
How managers can spot diversity gaps
I hear you saying, yes it’s important, now how do I fix it. “Sometimes those diversity gaps can be glaring – you know already where the problem is – so it’s a question of broadening your support,” suggests James.
Some simple first steps that managers can take include:
Running a focus groups with members of your team.
Running a survey to gauge feelings of inclusion.
When you ask the right questions, and your employees feel safe to answer openly, you provide an opportunity for them to open up and help you spot the existing gaps and where they could be filled.
“Diversity is so often thought of as just lip service and checking a box, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s taking what you learn and implementing it using the people you have, including them in the process, and genuinely practicing what you preach. Someone who’s coming into your business from a diverse background doesn’t want to just see a bunch of white men wearing suits, they want to see and feel and hear an honest response to how you embrace diversity.”
What about unconscious bias?
A common sticking point in the hiring process is a little thing called unconscious bias. This means the unintentional prioritisation of candidates who share similarities to yourself, whether in looks, education, or background.
A recent study showed that in blind tests, when a single CV was given either a male or female name, more hiring managers believed the “male” candidate was more suitable and qualified for the job over the “female” candidate, even though it was exactly the same document.
James has a solution for managers who think they might need some help here: “A lot of people aren’t aware of their unconscious bias – that’s why it’s called ‘unconscious’ – but there is training you can do either online or in-person to bring these to the surface and overcome them.”
It’s important to regularly revisit your training and question any unconscious bias you may have, as it’s easy to slip back into old habits if practices aren’t kept up. Organisational change comes from the top, and as a leader you have to be the example for your team, demonstrating unbiased selection and making a conscious effort toward inclusion.
How candidates can spot token diversity
Diversity done well is often an intrinsic gut feeling, as much as it is a visible thing. Trying to spot it from the outside can be difficult, but not impossible.
There are steps you can take as a job-seeker to weed out the token from the genuinely inclusive:
- Ask the hiring manager about their diversity policies.
- Look at their website ‘About’ page and see what their values are, what their team looks like, and how they describe themselves.
- Look at their benefits packages: are they supporting a wide range of people?
- Look at their social media – what do they do as a team, what are their social events like, how visibly do they value people from other walks of life?
- Talk to current or former staff to ask what they think about the company. If people have been there for years and they’re happy, that’s a great sign.
Red flags:
- When you ask about diversity in an interview, look for natural responses, not generic rehearsed lines that sound like they belong on a “Live Laugh Love” poster. Or even worse: dodging the question entirely.
- The company seems to have no interest in diversity, inclusion, or anything that could be seen as “different”.
The biggest thing is to trust your gut. External recruitment consultants like our team at Crew can also help to ensure you’re placed in a company that practices genuine inclusivity.
Where to from here?
Crew Recruitment Consultants can help your team with inclusivity in a few ways:
- We can point managers in the right direction to find resources, training, and strategies for both recruitment and retention of diverse staff.
- We can write job ads that encourage people from all walks of life to apply, and help you put your core values on show.
- We can interview a diverse range of people for your vacancies, so you’ll receive a shortlist of strong candidates you might otherwise not have found.
We practice blind recruitment – we’ll talk to anyone from any background to help them find a role and company where they’ll succeed for who they are. We want to help both job-seekers and managers find their perfect match, so that everyone wins and has a bright future ahead.