The Key Learning Points:

1.The role of data in enhancing recruitment practices 

2.A spotlight on the financial services sector and attracting more women 

3.What graduates want to see from companies regarding D&I

A couple of weeks ago we were joined by Anu Manthri, director of business development at Bright Network, and two graduates who spoke about their experiences starting in the world of work. Today we’re thrilled to welcome Anu back on the podcast to speak more about Bright Network and in particular the power of data in supporting companies to recruit in a more diverse and inclusive way.

We ask Anu what she’s passionate about. Starting out in teaching with Teach First and subsequently moving to the Bright Network, Anu says that “the key theme that runs between is passion about young people and opportunities - I just wanted to make a difference to as many people as possible!”

We then hear more about the Bright Network, which was launched by its founder when, in his final year of university, he thought “how does everyone know how to get an internship? How does everyone know even what career to go down?” For him, it was clear that networks play a key role: “How do we create a network that is free to access, available to all and really targets everyone, regardless of their background?” 10 years on and today Bright Network supports those pre, during, and post uni to make the best choice in the first step of their career. And what really sets them apart is their use of data to drive recruitment processes. 

The Bright Network membership currently sits at around 500,000 and employer partners can dive into the candidate database and segment across a huge number of data points: “We can pinpoint really bespoke segments to target on behalf of employers - it’s almost like Big Brother, but the less creepy version! Because our members know that we’re targeting them, they want to be targeted!”

A focus of Bright Network is diverse recruitment and improving social mobility. And currently around 45% of the membership are from ethnic minority backgrounds, 80% are state educated, 15% receive free school meals and 41% are the first in their family to go to university. 

We speak about recruitment in financial services and Anu explains that targeting women has always been at the forefront of the agenda. Employer partners want to encourage more female applicants and help them to feel more comfortable throughout the recruitment process. One of the biggest barriers Anu sees is female confidence: “My tips and my encouragement would be to the finance sector to think – we know the issue, we know the problem, but what can we put in as interventions now that we have the data?” It’s about using the data to really understand the issues and then implementing changes to address those issues. 

There’s been increased focus and energy around diversity and inclusion in recent years, especially in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement. Anu explains that “92% of members will consider the diversity and inclusivity of an organisation before applying.” So it’s important for firms to show they’re passionate about diversity and be honest about any under-representation.

Finally, Anu tells us about Internship Experience UK they launched last year which, at the time, was the largest virtual internship in the world with 150k applicants! This was in response to employers being unable to offer standard insight days and experiences and generally, students feeling less prepared to enter the world of work.

The Key Learning Points:

1.The graduate job application experience in financial services

2.The impact of the pandemic on recruitment processes and the need to provide a personal touch

3.The top three tips for organisations looking to attract new fresh talent 

For the next few weeks on the Risky Mix podcast we’re delving into the world of recruitment in the financial services sector and on this week’s episode we’re pleased to be joined by three wonderful guests – Harriet Lockey, Van Sada – both recent graduates and new starters in our industry, and Anu Manthri, director of business development at Bright Network – a business passionate about diverse recruitment and improving social mobility. In this episode, we’ll be hearing all about Harriet and Van’s experiences as they started in the world of work and Anu will be sharing her words of wisdom for organisations looking to appeal to young, fresh talent!

The impact of the pandemic
Harriet speaks about the increased competition for roles: “There was just a huge pressure, during the pandemic, around finding a graduate role. We all were aware that there were fewer options available.” She added that job hunting was like taking another module in university! Anu adds that 85% of members were worried about the pressure of careers during the pandemic, however, has seen some real positives coming out, including a push towards innovation and increased use of technology and virtual interviews which has helped to better include those in social mobility groups. Anu continues that 90% of members felt that virtual events supported their careers but suggests that the novelty may now have worn off so perhaps now is the time to think about hybrid recruitment and getting a bit more back in person.

The personal touch
We talk about what the graduates enjoyed about their job application processes and for Harriet, having a human touch was important: “One of the things that stood out to me were companies that you actually spoke to people!” She explained that you go through three or four application stages with large firms before you get face-to-face and “only then can you really understand what their values and culture as a company are like.” For Van, it was about feeling comfortable through the application process: “I was just looking for a rapport with the people who actually interviewed me.” 

A lack of feedback
Harriet faced a number of automated rejections from job applications but explains that “you don’t actually know how you did, or where you went wrong. You don’t know if it was the CV or cover letter or the psychometric test.” Anu adds: “The harsh truth is that not all organisations do give feedback.” But explains that where employers get it right is where they have a portal where grads can ask for feedback. 

What grads look for
For Van, career progression prospects were key: “I always looked at where I wanted to go in the future, not necessarily the role itself.” It was important for him to get a foot in the door of a company he liked and where he could see himself working for a long time. Harriet explains that not coming from a Russell group university, she felt at a disadvantage: “Made me feel as though I would take what I got but now I’d say to someone, absolutely go for company culture. Really home in on what you want out of that role.” Anu adds that pre-pandemic, salary was so important to graduates but “this year it’s all been about people and culture” for their membership.

Top tips for organisations on improving recruitment practices
Anu has three tips for organisations: 
1. Have more face-to-face meetings and insight days 
2. Offer mentoring schemes 
3. Provide upskilling opportunities - 95% of Bright Network members feel this is a job of an employer. 

The Key Learning Points:

1.How the ABI's #MakingFlexibleWork campaign is designed to address the gender seniority gap and increase flexible working 

2.The main myths and misconceptions about job sharing

3.How job sharing is a key element of flexible working and how it can benefit employers and employees 

On this week's remote Risky Mix podcast, we’re lucky to be joined by not one, but two wonderful ladies from the Association of British Insurers – Katy Murray and Chloe Tait – who job share in their current role as diversity and inclusion campaign leads at the ABI. Today we’ll be chatting about their #MakingFlexibleWork campaign and we’ll be busting some of the main myths about job sharing as well as highlighting the benefits of job sharing for employers and employees.

We speak about the ABI’s #MakingFlexibleWork campaign which aims to increase flexible working in the Insurance and Long Term Savings sector. The Charter contains three key commitments:

1.      Advertising the majority of roles as open to job sharing, part-time or flexible working

2.      Putting processes in place to support anyone who wants to work flexibly, part-time or in a job share

3.      Publishing flexible work policies online so that they are transparent

If you’d like to know more, or if you’d like to find out which firms are supporting job sharing and flexible working, please visit the website.

While job sharing appears to be less common in the financial services industry it’s actually quite prevalent in other sectors: “It’s really great to think about how it can be effective at a range of different levels, including very senior ones.” And we talk about why flexible working and job sharing are so important to combat the gender seniority gap we face – at executive level 24% in insurance and long-term savings are women and sadly that hasn’t changed over the last few years.  

The discussion then moves onto the top myths around job sharing. Cost is often a big barrier for firms who think “you’re employing two people to do one job”, however Katy explains the productivity benefits - The Job Share Project Report states that companies can see an increase of 30% in productivity through recruiting a job share team. Other myths include that job sharing is just for mums or women. The ladies bust these myths during the episode.

Katy and Chloe explain that there are typically two types of job share: ‘pure job shares’ are where both employees work across all aspects of the role and ‘hybrid job shares’ are where employees split elements of the role. They also share wider guidance on how to make job sharing work and there’s more information in this free ‘Job Share Toolkit’. 

We ask for our guest’s key pieces of advice for HR teams or senior management looking to improve their flexible working policy. The ladies suggest that companies should adjust their policies to enable job sharing. Chloe adds that it’s about culture change – awareness of job sharing, using case studies to demonstrate success and internal communications to bust myths. It’s also about systems change and making it easier to put a job share partnership in place.

The Key Learning Points:

1.Link’s mission in the insurance sector

2.The experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals working in the industry

3.Considerations for organisations looking to create a more inclusive environment for the LGBTQ+ community

On this week's remote Risky Mix podcast, we’re joined by Maurice Rose, senior manager in PwC's insurance regulatory practice and chair of Link – the LGBTQ+ insurance network. Maurice recently made Intelligent Insurer’s top 25 D&I champions in the insurance sector and is here today to speak to us about Link’s mission, the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in the industry and where companies can better support their communities. 

Describing himself as measured, driven and fabulous, Maurice says: “I always like to bring people together, to have fun with what we do. I think it’s important as well to work hard, play hard, build on relationships, make connections and have fun while you’re doing it!” After completing his degree in biochemistry, Maurice realised that he wanted to be out working with people and joined the insurance industry – originally with Old Mutual, then spending time at a Lloyd’s managing agency, AIG the PRA and now at PwC.

Maurice admits that he fell into the D&I side of his work after learning more about Link. He joined the committee and then two and half years ago stepped up to be chair. “It’s been a fantastic opportunity to learn about the D&I side and also I think apply some of my can-do consultancy attitude to actually help to drive things forward.” Maurice is a gay man and says that “having that personal experience and that passion – it [Link work] doesn’t necessarily feel like a chore.”

Link was set up in the summer of 2013 and Maurice says that the network has gone from strength to strength since inception, now with over 1,700 members from across the insurance industry. “Link’s mission is to make the insurance industry the employer of choice for the LGBTQ+ community” and Maurice adds that the group is “open to anyone and everyone”, so if you’re interested in getting involved, please sign up to the Link newsletter via their website to learn how. 

We speak about the experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals in the insurance industry and Maurice’s view is that the lived experience of an individual depends on the employer, that individual’s background, experience and any intersecting characteristics. “To give an example, from my perspective, I don’t feel that I have suffered from a career or development perspective because of my sexual orientation and the fact that I identify as LGBTQ+, but I think that’s partially because, in many regards, I fit in.”  

We talk about coming out as an LGBTQ+ individual and Maurice adds: “People see coming out as a once in a lifetime event, but actually, it’s something that’s constantly happening in an LGBTQ+ individual’s life.” Maurice explains that he often sees younger Link members, particularly at a graduate level, who were out and proud at uni/college and when coming into the industry they go back into the closet because they don’t know how their sexual orientation will be perceived. “If you’re able to bring your whole self to work, be your authentic self, you’re going to be more productive. And that’s a benefit to the organization, so there is a business case to this.” 

We ask Maurice what employers should be thinking about when welcoming new LGBTQ+ individuals to the workplace: “It’s around being inclusive from day one!” Using inclusive language and raising awareness of company diversity initiatives and networks. Maurice adds that people should be calling out bad behaviours, taking a stand, and suggests that if you work with someone who identifies as LGBTQ+, ask questions, take an interest, understand what it means to them!

The Key Learning Points:

1.The number of professional women on a career break but who plan to return to work

2.The pros and cons of LinkedIn for recruitment 

3.The three main myths about returners

On this week's remote Risky Mix podcast, we’re joined by Dominie Moss, founder and MD of The Return Hub. Dominie is here today to tell us more about The Return Hub, the importance of hiring fresh and diverse talent and what recruitment processes need to look like, plus we’ll be busting some common myths about returners!

Dominie started her career as a headhunter in 2001, and after turning 40 a few years back, decided to set up The Return Hub in 2016 – a decision that was partly motivated by her internal desire to do something different: “I had a bit of an entrepreneurial itch to scratch for a long time” and partly by a number of external factors: “I began to look around me and thought ‘where are all the women of my age – where’ve they all gone?’” For Dominie, there seemed to be a missing generation of women her age, so after meeting a lady from Morgan Stanley and learning about the firm’s return to work program, Dominie became a “woman on a mission!” She quotes a PwC study which found that there are 427,000 professional women who are on a career break who will go back to work. So, she took what she knew about the search process and applied it to the returner space, with an aim to enable companies to reach the “off the radar, hard to find, pool of people, in a way that was strategic and not just chance and luck.” Dominie realised that “there was this huge untapped pool of talent, that was highly skilled, highly experienced, but was just not really well served by the current recruitment industry.”

We talk about the role LinkedIn is playing in the industrialisation of recruitment – creating a scalable way to recruit, but Dominie speaks about the downsides of recruitment based on the outputs from an algorithm – namely the fact that an algorithm can’t assess someone with a career break or a period of study – Dominie believes that the process has to be managed by a human being. “The system really is screening out these incredibly talented, experienced women.” In addition to this, there are a number of myths around returners:

1.      They’re all women

2.      They’re all mothers

3.      They all want to work part-time

Dominie adds that, in fact, 73% of their candidates tick the full-time box. “There is no average returner” but they often have one thing in common, which is their response to the question “what do you want to do?”: “I want to do interesting and challenging work and I want to be part of a team again.” Dominie explains that the returner group tends to look at things more holistically, rather than taking the more binary view when it comes to career - around pay and promotion alone.

Dominie explains that she’s recently broadened The Return Hub offering, launching Career Academy, which delivers a range of free resources on CV writing, interview skills, LinkedIn profile writing and much more, so check those out if you’re looking to relaunch your career or want general tips on career development! 

The Key Learning Points:

1.The model minority myth and how it applies to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI)

2.The rise of AAPI hate as a result of the COVID19 pandemic

3.Eight tips for companies around better supporting their AAPI communities

On this week's remote Risky Mix podcast, we’re joined by Jeff Le, from across the pond in Washington DC! Jeff is currently VP of public policy and external affairs at fintech startup, Rhino, and a Political Partner at the Truman National Security Project, a DC-based think tank. He also speaks about issues in the D&I space, regularly speaking on podcasts and contributing to articles in the New York Times, POLITICO, and Washington Post, particularly around anti-Asian sentiment because of the coronavirus pandemic. We will be discussing this and more during today's episode.

The son of Vietnamese refugees, Jeff really has lived the “American dream”. Calling himself a “broader generalist”, Jeff breaks his career into three areas: International affairs, politics and tech. He’s currently working at Rhino, a fintech startup that aims to reduce the barriers to affordable and stable housing for US citizens. Jeff also tells us about his interest in D&I and the turning point for him being a shocking experience in March 2020, when a woman spat in his face (he adds that it wasn’t the first time!). For Jeff, the most crushing part was having people see it happen and pretend it didn’t happen: “That blessing to say that’s okay is 100 times worse than any spitting. We’re creating conditions and a permission structure to allow for someone to feel less than human, and that their humanity is conditional, is arbitrary and is decided by others.”

Jeff tells us about the “model minority myth” which is often applied to AAPI communities – a mindset that this community is the best minority. This myth is firstly not true, as Jeff explains, that by segmenting and analysing the AAPI data we see that “they have much lower rates of university or high school graduation, they have less access to healthcare services, they have more experiences in the criminal justice system and they have lower life expectancies.”

We speak about why awareness of these AAPI issues is so low. For Jeff, the first factor is population size – the AAPI community makes up just 7% of the US population, so there’s a lack of exposure from a numbers perspective. The second factor is cultural. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has only exaggerated AAPI hate, with hate crime increasing by 107% in California alone between 2019 and 2020. Children aren’t going back to school due to fears of bullying and people are sheltering and not returning to work. And as Jeff touched on earlier, much of the problem is with non-active bystanders: “By not doing something, you are complicit.” 

Jeff believes that organisations can be doing more to support communities of colour back into the workplace during this time and also create an inclusive work culture that promotes equity. He provides his eight top tips for companies in this episode.

If you'd like to know more, check out some of Jeff's previous articles and comments:
I Thought I Knew How to Succeed as an Asian in U.S. Politics. Boy, Was I Wrong (POLITICO, Apr. 3, 2021)

Quotation of the Day: Back to Normal? Not for Asian Americans (The New York Times, Jun. 8, 2021)
Are you ambivalent about celebrating July 4? You’re not alone (USA Today, Jul. 1, 2021)

The Key Learning Points:

1.Considerations for individuals thinking about taking a career break

2.As a returner, the need to consider your CV as product placement - presenting the most relevant experience in the right way

3.The importance of maintaining a network and keeping abreast of industry developments to support confidence

On this week's remote Risky Mix podcast, we’re fortunate to be joined again by Stephanie Dillon, partner and founder at Inclusivity Partners, a business that designs and delivers returner programs for individuals who have taken career breaks. Stephanie joined us a few weeks ago and told us about the latest returner program launched in the insurance industry and what organisations can do to tap into the returner talent pool. In this episode, we’ll be discussing the personal perspective of being a returner and the three things Stephanie would recommend to returners looking to reignite their careers. 

We ask Stephanie for her tips for people considering taking a career break. Firstly, she explains that if you’re stepping out because you want to reduce your hours and you’re employer perhaps hasn’t been accommodating to that, which Stephanie often sees, “remember you worked hard for the career, so fight hard to keep it.” The challenge is that organisations often idealise the full-time position which doesn’t work for many women, so Stephanie recommends the following: “I encourage people to treat this like a business plan”. Explain how you see part-time working: “We need to put them [employers] in a position where they would feel ‘how can I possibly say no to this?’’ Stephanie thinks that too often we put this problem back on them, which can often lead to a poor outcome. “We do have to fight harder and be a little more creative and forward-thinking about how we approach that situation.” Her second piece of advice for those considering a break is: “It’s always easier to find a job when you’re in a job!” Stephanie suggests considering applying for other jobs because you may find an employer who is more accommodating to what you need and your personal circumstances.

And for those people already on a break and wanting to reignite their career, Stephanie talks about the importance of your CV: “Your CV literally becomes product placement.” She explains that a research study found that recruitment teams look at CVs for six seconds and the first thing they look at is role titles and dates, which presents a huge challenge for returners who may have lengthy breaks on their CVs. Stephanie recommends pulling all relevant experience closer to the top of your CV so that it’s within an eye-catching area. 

The conversation moves on to the power of the network for returners: “It’s so much easier to get your career back on track via your own network.” Stephanie explains that people know you and respect you, they know you haven’t changed during the career break. Interestingly, “you’re four times more likely to get back into the workforce via your own network than you are through a recruitment company – that’s how important the network is!”

Another tip Stephanie has for returners is to keep up to date on things going on in the industry and maintain market knowledge while on your break. Stephanie adds that this is a great tool to keep confidence. “I’d encourage you once a month to carve out 45 minutes to an hour to read the FT, look at what’s going on in the industry, read a blog, read a journal etc. You’d be surprised how much knowing a little bit can make you feel more confident.” 

Stephanie finishes by explaining about her free career reignite boot camps, where she shares tips about job searching, getting yourself out there and using Linkedin. You can find more information on these events at her website: Inclusivity.co.uk.  

The Key Learning Points:

1.What makes a returner and how organisations need to better understand the career paths taken by women

2.Two main barriers which hold companies back from achieving the diverse candidate recruitment they seek

3.Three top tips for organisations wanting to access the returner talent pool

On this week's remote Risky Mix podcast, we’re joined by Stephanie Dillon, partner and founder at Inclusivity Partners, a business that designs and delivers returner programs for individuals who have taken career breaks. Inclusivity Partners recently launched a returner initiative in the insurance industry and we’re looking forward to hearing more about that today!

Stephanie admits that she “stumbled into the world of recruitment” after joining Michael Page on a graduate program. She left when she had her first baby who was subsequently diagnosed with a number of neurodiverse conditions which lead Stephanie to take a real interest in the diversity space. Stephanie realised that “from a talent perspective, when we recruit, we tend to have a very very limited definition of what constitutes talent”. She set up Inclusivity in 2015 to help those who want to return to their careers after taking a break.

Stephanie explains more about the returner initiative which recently launched in the insurance industry, with support from the Insurance Families Network, and adds that they currently have nine member insurers participating in the first pilot. In September, recruited returners will commence a six-month contract role with these insurers, and “it’s specifically designed to be a softer landing” – Stephanie explains that her firm will be providing training for hiring managers and coaching for returning candidates to make the transition back to work as smooth as possible.

Stephanie believes there are two big disconnects between what corporates say they want in terms of diverse recruitment and accessing returners, but what actually happens in reality. Firstly, “organisations consistently underfund their resourcing teams.” Stephanie explains that because of this underfunding, hiring teams are often sitting on too many vacancies which doesn’t allow them the time to properly investigate and explore a wide arrange of candidates so they “fall back on perceived safe bets”.  Another consequence of underfunding is that resource teams become unable to do strategic workforce planning to actually attract these diverse candidates. The second key disconnect for Stephanie is the support of middle management. Often the conversations and D&I buy-in happen at a senior level, but she believes you need to put the structure in place for hiring managers to “live that reality”, otherwise it’s “all talk and no action”. 

We ask Stephanie for her three top tips for companies looking to access the diverse returner talent pool:

1.      Investment in your resourcing team. Do more interviews, speak to more candidates, broaden your mindset about what makes a good candidate.

2.      Education in talent acquisition. The talent pool is getting older but we’re always shopping in the younger age brackets for talent.

3.      Put middle managers in a position to win. They need support to achieve more diversity, give them the leeway to make that happen.

The Key Learning Points:

1. Five key areas of neurodiversity and the broad impact on individuals and their families

2. The opportunity that neurodiverse talent represents to organisations and the value of new skills and ways of thinking

3. Barriers faced by neurodivergent individuals in the transition from school to work and beyond

On this week's remote Risky Mix podcast, we’re thrilled to be joined by not one, but two wonderful guests as we explore the topic of neurodiversity and why the financial services sector should be embracing neurodiverse talent. Barbara Schonhofer is founder and chair of the women’s business community, the ISC Group, as well as being a founding member and co-chair of GAIN which is the Group for Autism, Insurance and Neurodiversity. Ailsa King is the chief client officer and CEO of risk management at Marsh. She also leads the neurodiversity workstream within the ISC.

Barbara tells us more about the GAIN group, which interestingly started on a dive boat in Turkey! A number of conversations later with various experts in the field and the charity, Ambitious about Autism, and GAIN was born: “The idea behind GAIN is to tap into this talent pool, this untapped talent pool, for the insurance industry. What we want to do is get more young people who are on the spectrum into meaningful employment where we actually use their talents.” One of the hardest things for Barbara is actually building the community because people may be afraid to join in, potentially worried about being identified by colleagues. She asks: “How do you provide that safe space for them to have the courage to actually say who they are and bring their whole selves to work?” Her ask: “If you are on the spectrum, you’ve got someone in your family, you know a colleague, come forward and speak to us!”

Barbara explains that there are five key areas of neurodiversity, which have a far-reaching impact on individuals and their families. There are 700,000 people on the autism spectrum in the UK and the condition is part of the daily lives of 2.8m people (including families). Dyslexia affects 10% of the population and dyspraxia, or developmental coordination disorder, 3% of adults in the UK. Dyscalculia, which is dyslexia with numbers, is seen in around 5% of people in the UK, and the final condition is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) which affects around 2 -5% of school-aged children. Barbara adds: “I think it’s really important to see the broadness of this and how it affects so many people and so many families.” 

Ailsa King tells us about the Insurance Supper Club (ISC), which is a group of female leaders from across the industry, representing a broad community of insurers and brokers. “As a senior woman in the industry, I feel it incumbent on me to improve the lot of the next generation coming up behind us.” 

We discuss the skills that neurodiverse individuals bring to corporates and Barbara believes that we should be recognising the whole spectrum. And now is the time, as more disruptors enter our industry who are thinking differently and challenging the old ways of doing things. Ailsa explains that the pandemic and lockdown has shown us just how innovative we can be: “We are capable, we just need to embrace. We need to understand the need and the urgency of the need and then get on and do something about it!”

We discuss the journey from school into the workplace and beyond for neurodiverse individuals and Barbara explains that post-school provision is insufficient and not inclusive. Beyond school, there are also many barriers and Barbara believes a general fear in organisations about how to recruit, manage and retain these individuals. For Ailsa, manager training is absolutely essential. “There are complexities that the corporates have to put some time and effort into dealing with.” 

The Key Learning Points:

1. The existence of cognitive dissonance around diversity and inclusion in the workplace
2. Quantifying the discrimination faced in America and Canada around gender and race
3. A young person's perspective on what companies can be doing better around D&I

Today we’re joined by a lady from across the pond, dialing in from Vancouver! Amy Tom is a tech marketing expert, offering freelance content and marketing strategy support to a number of tech clients based in the US. Amy recently wrote a fantastic article about addressing the dissonance around workplace D&I, and we were keen to get her on the Risky Mix to share her findings, hear about her experiences in the tech industry in North America and explore transferrable learnings that can be applied to the financial services industry.

Amy has been working in the tech industry for the last five years and is currently working as a freelance writer offering marketing strategy and copywriting services to tech companies. 

We asked Amy what motivated her to write her article and she explains that D&I has always been important to her, but she only started to place emphasis on it after her time backpacking Southeast Asia where she experienced more racism than she’d ever faced before. As a Chinese-Canadian, Amy grew up in Canada and adds: “I had been looking at leadership positions or people in the tech industry that I admired and I just was feeling very frustrated with the fact that no one in leadership positions looked like me or that I could truly relate to.” Amy explains that she communicated her feelings to a white male colleague who responded with “when will it stop being about gender and race”. Amy was frustrated that she couldn’t articulate why it was such a problem so decided to write an article about it: “For me, words are my power. I’m a writer, I’m a copywriter, I’m an editor. I communicate through written word a lot”. 

We ask Amy about some of the stats she found when researching for the article and for her, one of the biggest findings was the way that different generations define diversity and inclusion. She explains that millennials see D&I as a culture of connectedness and something that positively impacts business outcomes. Baby boomers and GenX, on the other hand, see workplace inclusion as ensuring everyone is protected and fairly treated. They believe it’s a moral and legal issue that doesn’t necessarily impact business outcomes. Amy believes that this difference in perspective is driving the makeup of businesses today.

Amy relays some of her research findings: “In American fortune 500 companies there are almost as many male CEOs named John as there are women CEOs all together!” Adding that the entire American population is 51% female but males named John make up just 3%! She adds a shocking example of a case of two identical job applications, one under the name of John and the other under the name of Jenny. The hiring professionals gave John an employability rating of 3.75/5 and Jenny 2.85/5. One of the stats that surprised Amy the most was that in Canada, you’re 40% more likely to get a job interview if you have an English-sounding name compared to a foreign-sounding name. 

We ask Amy what tips she has for companies in their journey to becoming more inclusive. Amy says that she looks for companies who “put their money where their mouth is.” - investing money into their D&I programs. For her, it’s also essential to address workplace biases, namely affinity and confirmation bias. Amy also recommends organisations do a survey to access levels of sexism and racism within their workplace and track employee demographics at all levels.