Manchester Digital's Digital Her initiative strives to end inequality in the digital and tech sector by providing support, opportunities and guidance to a new generation of women in tech. It is therefore important that this is an issue our members are tackling within their own work in the sector.
In celebration of International Women's Day, we spoke to our members about their commitment to gender diversity and what they're doing about the tech gender gap.
What commitment has your business made to support gender diversity over the last 3 years?
Zuhlke
Supporting gender diversity and embracing equity is a priority for us and informs our activities – not just on IWD, but continuously and sustainably throughout the year.
2022 saw the publication of our D&I policy, which formally manifests Zuhlke’s commitment to improving diversity and cultivating inclusion.
The percentage of women hired into Zuhlke UK since soared from 24% in Q1 2022 to 70% in Q4. This is thanks to the tireless efforts of our people team in shaping an inclusive and equitable hiring process and our outreach initiatives, including women events and partnerships with relevant organisations.
Once on board, women colleagues are invited to join our women’s network where they can connect and drive initiatives for an improved workplace offering. A recent improvement includes the release of our revised maternity policy which makes enhanced maternity benefits more accessible, especially for newer colleagues.
To ensure women’s voices are heard in both internal and external projects, we are guided by a “70% rule”, which implies that no more than 70% of a project team should be of the same gender, nationality, or age. With regards to our imminent move into a new Manchester office, for example, we expect the diverse voices involved to ensure that the space will cater to a wide range of needs.
We’re also working on awareness – internally and externally – for example by conducting unconscious bias training, marking IWD, and hosting occasional talks– most recently: A menopause awareness talk that sparked inspiring conversations and led to a menopause policy draft – our next step towards a more equitable workplace.
Find out more about Zuhlke here.
Distology
As a female-founded organisation in a typically male dominated sector, we are deeply committed to supporting gender diversity, both here at Distology and across the wider tech sector – in Greater Manchester and nationally. Following our win of the Gender Parity Award at the CRN Women in Channel Awards in 2020 we have continued to ensure the culture here at Distology is one of fairness, with all of our people feeling safe, represented and empowered, regardless of their gender identity.
Looking to the future, we believe to further support diversity within our organisation, we also need to ensure that new talent entering the tech sector is truly diverse and that women especially do not view their gender as a barrier to a career in tech. These misconceptions can start from a young age, so education is our priority. In fact, we have recently started working with careers advisors in schools across Greater Manchester to give young people, girls and boys, a better understanding of what tech businesses look like and the career opportunities that are available.
- Hayley Roberts, CEO and founder of specialist IT cybersecurity distributor, Distology
Find out more about Distology here.
GlobalLogic
At GlobalLogic, we don’t just accept difference, we celebrate it, support it and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees.
Within GlobalLogic, the iDEA group was formed (Inclusivity, Diversity, Everyone All) who are committed to to develop events and initiatives to promote awareness of all forms of Diversity, Inclusivity and Equity across the company as well as the wider UK tech ecosystem.
To support gender diversity, GlobalLogic changed our job descriptions to include more female-friendly language and minimalised essential requirements that may promote a more aggressive approach. We implemented family-friendly policies including enhanced maternity and paternity for employees as well as hybrid working.
We recognise a supportive, empathic and inclusive culture which is represented in our values of honesty, integrity, team work and innovation. By investing into learning and development initiatives, DEI actionable programs for women; surveys on work life balance as well wide range of social events we provide a supportive, innovative growth career path.
Across the company, we have rolled out interview training for inclusive hiring practices as well as increased diversity within interview panels. Over the last 3 years we’ve built an experienced talent acquisition function who partner and foster relations with a range of external organisations to constantly nurture and develop diverse talent pools to demonstrate how inclusive the company is.
In addition, we are also proud signatories to the Tech Charter.
Women make up 26% of our current workforce in UK&I and GlobalLogic recognise gender diversity is a journey, not just a destination. Our commitment is to employing 30% of women by end of 2023 with increased focus on women new hires and promotions. We’re ensuring fairness for all by evaluating pay practices, hiring and promotion decisions, and creating global ERGs for women and other underrepresented groups.
Find out more about GlobalLogic here.
Intechnica
At Intechnica, we strive to create a workplace that caters to the varying needs of a diverse workforce.
Even before the pandemic, we offered flexible working and today, most of our team work remotely. A couple of years ago we introduced the “golden hour” which is a sacred meeting-free hour each day. Overall, our culture fosters flexibility and there’s a big emphasis on work-life balance. Whether it’s school drop off or an appointment, we understand that our team members have important things to do that can’t always be scheduled for outside of typical work hours.
We also offer enhanced maternity and paternity leave, and returning parents have the option to work a formal flexible working pattern should they so wish. We also offer our employees private healthcare, life assurance, and a training allocation.
Our team also have access to “Auntie” - a service for low-barrier and easy access counselling for whatever they may be going through in their lives. We each experience challenges in our own way, and that’s why it’s crucial to have support available as quickly and effortlessly as possible.
Currently, we’re working on initiatives around policies for menopause and pregnancy loss, with the latter accessible to both parents. We’re always looking for the best ways to support the unique needs of individuals, and we do that through listening and research.
- Tammie Ramskill, Human Resource Director at Intechnica
Find out more about Intechnica here.
KUB
Charleh Dickinson has recently become the Managing Director for KUB Digital Marketing Agency, located in the heart of Manchester. Charleh stands out from the crowd; she is a female leader who is passionate about her work and motivated to succeed. Her hardworking nature and determination are inspiring, making her an unstoppable force within the industry.
Over the last few years, KUB has ensured equal representation of women in the workplace and has seen positive effects across its entire organisation. The female team members at KUB are motivated professionally and feel confident knowing that they have female role models to look up to within the company.
Leading from the front, Charleh has used her impeccable leadership skills, creativity, and undeniable marketing knowledge to make a huge impact on KUB's continued growth and success.
The team at KUB are predominately female. They work alongside SME clients to identify trends and opportunities in their businesses to provide innovative marketing campaigns. This one-stop marketing agency helps clients grow their businesses no matter their budget, ambition, or growth stage.
KUB's female-led team is a testament to their commitment towards gender diversity in the workplace, and long may this continue.
Find out more about KUB here.
Naimuri
We are all all too aware there are huge gaps in gender diversity across the technology sector and a lack of awareness of opportunities within the industry, from schools upwards.
Here at Naimuri, not only do we offer part-time roles and flexible working (hours and location) but we try to create positive dialogue and challenge mindsets.
Our people have become role models and mentors and we continually collaborate with academia, industry peers, our customers and organisations (like Manchester Digital) to share ideas and help to initiate change.
We have an internal 'Women in Tech Group’ and a 'Diversity and Inclusion Group’, both led by our people. These groups come together to develop ideas and ways in which we can create a more gender diverse team. Our senior management team has a fair gender balance and we are continually challenging ourselves and evolving the way we recruit and promote talent and how we work together, to ensure we are doing as much as we can to encourage gender diversity in the Naimuri workplace.
Find out more about Naimuri here.
Rainy City Agency
I am passionate about supporting gender diversity both personally and through Rainy City Agency. As a business, we are proud to be the first female-founded Shopify Plus agency in Europe.eCommerce and tech is heavily male dominated and it’s important that as an agency we celebrate and encourage females in this industry. Our staff is made up from a 50/50 ratio of men to women which I’m proud of especially as just 26% in the tech workforce are women.More recently we have started hosting women centric events for females in the eCommerce and tech industry. The aim of these events is to bring together women and encourage everyone to ask questions and learn from each other. We have seen an overwhelming amount of support and demand for these events in Manchester. We plan to do 1 per quarter as well as expand our horizons into different regions of the UK.
- Rebecca Worsley, Founder & CEO at Rainy City Agency
Find out more about Rainy City Agency here.
Shaping Cloud
Achieving gender diversity is high on every company’s agenda, however, it is easier said than done.
To show our commitment to supporting gender diversity, we started by identifying the factors that were most likely prohibiting women in the workplace, and then got to work thinking about how we can combat those issues at Shaping Cloud.
We made a commitment to:
- Allow employees to work from where suits them best. We have colleagues that work full time from home, and some that work in a hybrid space. By removing the weight of a commute every day, it makes it easier for those with families to juggle their schedules.
- Support flexible working. By not mandating a 9am – 5pm working pattern it instantly becomes more manageable to have a morning and evening routine. So, the ‘school runs’ are now not a problem. We also offer part time working patterns.
- Only use gender neutral terminology – The way in which men and women interrupt information is very different. Without intent, some words or phrases can seem more masculine or feminine, which has been shown to prevent candidates from applying for a job. So, by adopting a gender-neutral tone, we have increased our applicant diversity.
- Celebrate and promote the successes of women. We are proud to have a female CEO, a management team that is 44% female and a company board that is 50% female.
We understand that to support gender diversity, we need to make it easier for women to imagine working life here.
Find out more about Shaping Cloud here.
Workspace 365
Despite many initiatives to get more women involved in STEM-related jobs, the tech sector still has a huge gender imbalance. If you look at Workspace 365 as an organisation you will see that we are aware of this and, slowly but surely, we’re addressing it. Plainly speaking, though, we need to make SaaS a more attractive industry for women.
At present, 28% of our employees are female. Drilling down into the detail, we can see that 16% of our tech roles are held by women - but both percentages are growing.
We have two Chief Operating Officer roles, one of which is held by a woman who has been included in a list of the top 50 women in SaaS compiled by Software Report.
This joint COO, Sarah van den Born, is responsible for driving much of the change at Workspace 365. Sarah’s background isn’t in IT; she’s a qualified coach and people leader who understands that talent can be found in individuals of all genders, races, abilities, backgrounds and beliefs. By looking at the whole person when we recruit, rather than focussing on IT skills and experience, we’re finding talented individuals who can grow into their roles, whether they are technical or not.
What’s more, we’re an organisation that trusts its people. We understand the challenges of fitting work around family and childcare responsibilities, so we’re flexible, supportive and promote activities that boost wellbeing for all our staff. Our culture is open, friendly and welcoming.
We can’t correct the gender imbalance overnight, but with our forward-thinking, inclusive and supportive leadership, we’re heading in the right direction.
Find out more about Workspace 365 here.
Thank you to all our members who shared their commitments to gender diversity!
