Event Recap - Diversity In Tech: How to drive diversity and inclusion in your team
Deepak Singh
?? Founder + Head of People Experiences (P&C/HR/DEI) | ?? Great experiences for OUR business and community through great experiences for OUR people | ?? Multi-Award Winner | ?? StartUp/ScaleUp Mentor, Advisor, Fractional
Sharing the key lessons from an engaging and important discussion
Last Wednesday the GBG partnered with Interpro People to host a panel discussion on ‘Diversity in Tech: How to drive diversity and inclusion in your team’.
It was a great honour to be involved, share what be/yourself means to GBG, share some of our initiatives, learn from a panel of D&I leaders and listen to some personal experiences from our guests.
On a grey and wet Melbourne evening, we had approximately 50 guests join us in our Melbourne hub for supper and a drink to open the event. The energy in the room quickly superseded what was happening outside.
My counterpart from Interpro People, Jessica Shannon (Head of People and Culture) and I had the opportunity to open proceedings, share some of our experiences and what we felt was important. I spoke a lot of be/yourself and that at GBG we want every single one of us to be comfortable to be ourselves. However that may look, that we will all be treated as equals, treated with respect and have allies in the workplace to support and celebrate our differences.
Connie Bolger (Solutions Manager – Interpro People) then introduced an amazing panel that openly and empathetically spoke and listened to an important discussion. Brad Ryan (MD – Artificial Intelligence and Automation - Accenture), Caroline Stainkamph (Head of Business Management and Transformation - Computershare), Edwin Manica (Development Practices & Capability Lead – MLC Life Insurance) and Jon Bowker (Commercial Manager - LiveHire) were too glad to share their time with us.
As expected a variety of perspectives and approaches to driving diversity & inclusion as an individual/business were discussed throughout the night. However, a few themes consistently came up
- Creating a culture of belonging
- Focusing on our collective similarities rather than differences
- Maintaining an openness to new ideas/ways of working
- Empowerment of the individual and being persistent
- Change takes time
It was especially positive to hear and learn from the experiences of some of our audience and further challenge my own biases.
Thank you to everyone who made this event happen and especially to those who attended. We look forward to hosting and having more industry events in all our hubs and if you wish to plan for something in your space I will be glad to share how we made it happen in Melbourne.
General Manager, Partnerships & Marketing | Geelong United ??
5 年Thank you Deepak, this is a great recap on what we discussed and definitely highlights the key takeaways of the night! It was a pleasure working with you to bring the event together and of course facilitating the panel discussions on the night. I look forward to our next one!
?? Founder + Head of People Experiences (P&C/HR/DEI) | ?? Great experiences for OUR business and community through great experiences for OUR people | ?? Multi-Award Winner | ?? StartUp/ScaleUp Mentor, Advisor, Fractional
5 年GBG Plc, Interpro People, Connie Bolger ??, Jessica Shannon, Brad Ryan, Caroline Stainkamph, Edwin Manica and Jon Bowker - Thanks for making this an amazing event! Great to work with and listen to you. I look forward to more opportunities to share in the future