D&I is the responsibility of every one of us

At the close of a month that included initiatives around Black History, Islamophobia Awareness, Mental Health Awareness and Sight Awareness, it remains critical that as a business, we continue to drive forward our Diversity and Inclusion programme. Aside from the hard business facts as they relate to performance, focusing on diversity and inclusion is simply the right thing to do, not just now while it is a “hot topic” in the news, but for the long term.

No business is better for ignoring their D&I responsibilities. In fact, the opposite is true - an organisation that puts its people first, encouraging open discussions, confronting unconscious bias and acknowledging that some people have advantages over others, will thrive. Its people will feel heard, they will attract a broader range of people with a more diverse range of backgrounds and lifestyles, and as such they will produce better work. 

The business reasons for focusing on diversity and inclusion are clear:

1. Diverse teams perform better - McKinsey reports that diverse businesses perform 35% higher than industry averages.
2. Diversity encourages greater innovation and creativity - cognitively diverse teams solve problems faster than teams of cognitively similar people, and a diversity of ideas and viewpoints can lead to creative ideas to fuel innovation.
3. It is easier to hire and retain talent - inclusive teams make better decisions 87% of the time, according to Forbes.
4. It gives us a better understanding of our customers. Diversity increases your chances of understanding your customers and recognise what value means for them. 

VIOOH currently operates in 17 markets globally, with more forecast for next year, and we know that diversity and inclusion is something for which everybody should be taking responsibility. At VIOOH, our Diversity and Inclusion Committee have not just been focusing on visible elements of diversity such as ethnicity or gender, but we’ve also been looking at hidden “flavours” of diversity including neurodiversity, dyslexia and others. 

From our inception, the success of our business has been driven by diversity and talent - at the last count, there were around 25 different nationalities among us, and 23 languages spoken. The company values, built by our employees and the leadership team to reflect the culture we wanted to build and maintain, have had D&I baked into them from the start:

Team VIOOH - We are stronger together (one team), we collaborate with and respect each other, we value diversity.

Integrity - We are honest (honestly) and trust each other.

Make it happen - We make it happen, we’re relentless and remarkable, we pursue excellence.

Be courageous - We’re fearless, we don’t fear uncertainty, we dream big and we’re curious. We think differently.

Customer centric - Our customers are the very core of VIOOH, we listen and are accountable to our customers.

As a company, one of the areas we are tackling is around reducing unconscious bias, and creating opportunities for emerging talent, both internally and externally. This goes across both our hiring process, where we are moving from assessing "cultural fit" within the interview process to "alignment with VIOOH's values”, to formalising our internal promotion process and aligning it with value-based behaviours for unbiased career progression. As a small company that is only just two years old, moving to a more structured promotion process and developing the framework to map out what measurable performance we expect at each level will not only ensure that all employees have visibility on what behaviours would warrant a promotion, but should also provide confidence in a fair and objective process. 

We have implemented an inclusive, flexible working policy that will last beyond COVID-enforced restrictions, where employees can choose whether they’re in the office every day, or just 1 or 2 days per week, depending on what suits their personal circumstances, thus supporting a more diverse workforce.

Finally, Mental Health Awareness Day took place on 10th October. Mental health is one of the D&I topics about which people are possibly most nervous about talking openly, despite that fact that 1 in 4 workers experience depression, anxiety or problems relating to stress. Twitter recently shared this infographic showing how Mental Health is #TheOtherEpidemic. Both during this unusual year and going forward, we want to support our employees on their mental health and resilience, and are providing employees with the CALM app and access to Unum counsellors/mental health workshops.

We firmly believe that this is a journey - we can always do better, but we’ve made a start. We are beginning to collect D&I metrics, both in recruitment as well as with our existing employees, which will enable us to hold ourselves accountable, track and measure progress around inclusivity. For now, we continue to support diversity and inclusion at VIOOH - by having those awkward conversations, implementing training and supporting our employees to ensure everybody understands the importance of diversity and inclusion, and takes responsibility for its integration at VIOOH.

Click here to watch CTO Simon Edwards talking about D&I at VIOOH

Click here to see the current career opportunities at VIOOH