Perrine Farque, founder of Inspired Human and a diversity and inclusion (D&I) expert, has partnered with Isotropic to help the organisation drive further diversity in tech.
The ambitious programme will commit to doubling female representation in the workforce within the next 12 months.
The gender diversity in tech issue
On the issue of gender diversity in tech, Farque says: “With only 17% of UK tech workers being female and only 11% of women in senior leadership roles in tech, the tech industry has long been recognised for its gender diversity problem. Beyond the underrepresentation of women, it is the gender pay gap that is creating inequalities in tech: men in high-tech companies earn 25% more than women.”
Isotropic Systems’ CEO John Finney says that by partnering with Inspired Human, he will be able to leverage their collective experience from the tech industry to achieve gender equality at Isotropic.
Isotropic Systems has kick-started the programme with a series of diversity workshops hosted by Inspired Human targeting its leadership team and people managers.
Standing out from the crowd
“Only a quarter of start-ups (26%) are actively trying to increase diversity within their leadership teams, according to Silicon Valley Bank,” says Farque.
“Only 43% of start-ups surveyed said they had company-wide diversity goals, while fewer than one-in-five had these goals for executive positions. It is great to see a tech leader take on a personal commitment to set aggressive diversity goals.”
The training will focus on equipping the leadership team with knowledge and skills to approach business development with diversity in tech in mind. Isotropic will work on a long-term D&I programme to ensure it meets not just its current goals but also ensuring it evolves as business overtime.
A competitive advantage
Inspired Human will work with Isotropic’s top leadership team to articulate the business benefit of gender diversity to further their commitment to tackling the lack of female representation. Research from Morgan Stanley found that companies with a higher gender diversity index had better stock performance.
A Gallup study found that more diverse business units had higher revenue, and BCG research showed that companies with greater gender diversity among their management team had higher operating margins. A diversity task force has been appointed in the Reading HQ to monitor the progress against the new diversity goals.
Finney says that diversity is the key to success: “We believe that attracting and retaining diverse employees will allow Isotropic Systems to be more innovative, to open up new markets and to achieve greater productivity.
“We are committed to becoming a role model in the Technology industry by leading by example. Being a finalist in the Microsoft Diversity in Tech Awards Cultural Inclusion category confirmed our commitment to diversity and inclusion.”
