Ian Grant, Head of Technology – Delivery
I’ll cut straight to the point. Gender diversity in tech isn’t only a moral issue, it’s a talent issue and one that organisations need addressing through deliberate strategies and actions.
As a leader in the technology sector for over a decade, I’ve seen the most successful teams are those that are empowered to leverage their diversity and make it into a superpower. I’ve been lucky enough to lead such teams, and seen so many others do great things in other organisations. If companies are serious about wanting high performing teams, they must engage in deliberate and focused strategies to increase the diversity in their candidate pool and then make the workplace as equitable as possible.
Diverse teams have been shown to outperform homogeneous teams time and time again1. Yet still, a view that focusing on gender diversity somehow compromises merit endures. When companies expand their talent pools and remove barriers that disproportionately affect women, they access a wider range of perspectives, experiences, and problem-solving approaches. This diversity leads to better products, more innovative solutions and stronger business outcomes, all things that technology prides itself in, right?
