As a female leader in recruitment, I’m often asked to comment on the importance of building a diverse tech workforce. The answer involves seeing success as more than just who you get through the door. Attracting diverse talent is important, but growth and retention require just as much focus. Doing this properly entails commitment to driving the right culture.
Today’s challenge is to go beyond what many organisations are already proud to have achieved, so that we avoid taking the predicted 20 to 30 years to reach parity between genders. All too often, decision makers look at their DE&I data without breaking it down by department - that isn’t enough anymore. We need to dig deeper and identify gaps across the organisation, if we are to shape a tech workforce that is truly representative of the customers we serve.
For example, if you have 20% female representation in technology, but only 1% of these women are specialists in cyber security, we need to address how to drive more people into these skills areas. Looking at numbers across the organisation is crucial, but we must use them to make a difference.
Hiring talent that can bring something new to your organisation starts with assessing people as individuals. How do you form hiring processes to reflect individuals and their attributes?
Often, everyone completes the same application, while CVs are scored based on skills and what’s visible. However, when we take a skills-based approach to hiring, it puts a completely different spin on the way we assess candidates, but ultimately uncovers stronger ones.
My colleague, James Milligan, has already explored the role that artificial intelligence could play in recruitment. If we want AI to truly be successful, there has to be diversity of thought behind the implementation and input. We don’t just need female representation, but also from ethnic minorities, people whose first language isn’t English, the LGBTQ+ community and more. If not, then we're just going to have a biased product that doesn’t lean into diversity.
Both skills-based hiring and AI offer methods for uncovering top talent. What else can we do to eliminate bias?
That doesn’t start with reviewing CVs. When you're writing job adverts, employ both a female and a male lens to understand what’s going to attract candidates. We need fresh talent to fill the skills gap in tech, but women are less likely to apply for roles if they feel underqualified. Reshape your specifications so they feel more encouraged, and highlight anything about the role that might appeal, such as flexibility and hybrid working.
Beyond that, get a female perspective when reviewing applications. I have an example of a client who wanted to overlook a female candidate because she’d not stayed anywhere for longer than 18 months. However, I noticed that, at her three previous employers, she’d actually risen into a more senior role, which is incredibly hard to do as a woman. Meanwhile, the client hadn’t excluded a male candidate who'd moved jobs every 12 months, demonstrating that bias exists despite wanting to drive diversity.
Lo and behold, she ended up getting the job. However, it’s unlikely that she, or another female they hired, will stay very long.
The reason? The culture that exists in the organisation clearly isn’t a positive one, which will not only impact recruitment but retention and bringing the best out of the talent.
Our recent UK&I Salary and Insights Guide reveals that the reason over 50% of tech professionals are leaving jobs is down to culture and this not aligning with the impression they received during the interview process. The value of creating the right environment and the accountability is with leaders and managers (along with the broader staff community) to ensure change happens across the organisation. Again, just as when you’re hiring, you’ve got to support everyone so that they can be their best self in the workplace. If you’re not, it’s a waste of talent who will find opportunities elsewhere. That doesn’t mean you need to tailor the culture to every individual – it means building an inclusive and equitable one where everyone feels welcome, empowered and able to thrive.
It’s only by committing to this that we’ll see female leaders, like the ones mentioned above, succeed and offer everything they can to your organisation. Without action, we won't have enough in the future. There needs to be an indication that the world of work is for them, too.
There are multiple aspects to developing the next generation of female leadership that we need to recognise. Primarily, the focus is on encouragement and support. I often say that women have an inherent way of listening to the devil on the shoulder who is insistent on telling us what we haven’t done well. It's not that we're trying to find fault, it's that we're trying to improve.
Mentorship can help in this regard. For me, a mentor is the angel on the other shoulder, offering a positive perspective and helping overcome challenges, whether that’s impostor syndrome or barriers within the organisation.
While it’s true that external mentors can also teach people a great deal about how to navigate different experiences without any preconceived ideas, many employers aren’t utilising this resource. Hays’ Learning Mindset Report uncovered that just half of businesses aren’t offering this, despite two thirds of workers and three quarters of employers being satisfied with its results.
Does your organisation currently provide a mentorship scheme? Again, for true equity, any such initiative should be available to all employees, regardless of gender.
Don’t underestimate the value of allyship, either. Yes, it’s less formal or structured than mentorship, but it’s no less important in making sure that female employees feel supported and have another voice in the organisation. Employers should be looking at the environment right now and whether it includes, or indeed encourages, male employees who are doing this.
For further insights into this subject and its impact, keep an eye out for Hays’ upcoming Future of Work report, where I’ll be offering more advice on these challenges.
Amanda Whicher Technology Director, Hays UK&I
Amanda Whicher is the UK&I Technology Director at Hays. With over 17 years of experience in the recruitment sector, Amanda has a wealth of knowledge and expertise regarding the challenges employers face in accessing and retaining talent. She is particularly dedicated to encouraging more women to pursue careers in tech and helping organisations create more diverse and inclusive teams.
Amanda is committed to connecting top technology experts with organisations, fostering long-term partnerships and providing innovative workplace solutions. Her goal is to support both clients and candidates in achieving their ambitions throughout the technology industry.
