Q&A with Judith Nguyen Thanh

Judith, how would you introduce yourself? Who are you at this point in time?  

I am a passionate mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a person interested in the human mind and humanity, and someone who is looking to improve the status quo. I care about leaving things better than they were before. I generally believe in gender fluidity and I identify as female— she/her/hers.

When did you come to the realization you wanted to work on D&I? 

I come from a small town in Frankonia and after living in Berlin and working in the tech scene for more than a decade being confronted with the harsh reality of very non-diverse environments, I quickly realized that I am part of a system that is in need of change and I had the capability and the position to do something about it. It also made me realize how little I actually knew and how privileged I was. 

I think especially for people working in the HR field it is important to be an advocate and ambassador for diversity, inclusion, and belonging. So for me personally, it was sort of a natural process for D&I to become part of my work because what I want to create in my limited area of influence is a fair system for all. 

Have you developed any initiatives or frameworks encouraging more D&I throughout your career? If so, what were the main obstacles you encountered? 

I think the most important work I’ve done is questioning my own belief systems, guiding principles, and values. And I try to carry that with me into the companies I work for and the teams I collaborate with. 

Some of the initiatives my team(s) and I established in recent years were to set diversity goals reviewing internal processes such as hiring processes, promotions, diversity in leadership. We also started with hiring training, anti-bias training, intersectionality workshops, and reviewing job descriptions for inclusive language. 

I think the first step for any change that needs to happen is to make people aware of what it is that needs to be changed, explain the WHY, and take them on that journey by establishing an open dialogue that is free of judgment. 

How did these experiences change your definition of D&I? 

I find this a difficult question to answer. It should be normal that people design processes that are fair for all concerned. It should be normal that people reflect on themselves, their behavior, and how it contributes to broken systems. I strongly believe anyone can be an ambassador of change and it should not be only those who have D&I or HR in their job titles.

Anything specific worth mentioning in the way you're conducting this work at Mitte these days? 

We’ve started looking at the data first: where we stand now and where we want to be in a year from now. We then set objectives for each quarter and the milestones that we’d like to hit. 

We’re looking at survey data to see which groups are doing well and where there are areas of improvement. We introduced an employee engagement tool (we’re currently using Culture Amp, but I prefer working with Peakon) with the aim to dig deeper into specific engagement drivers—things like inclusion, recognition, diversity of opinions, decision making, etc. We survey our employees each month and have a bi-yearly engagement survey that’s aimed to go even deeper. What’s most important? The actions you take. 

A current outcome of the steps we’re taking because of the feedback we’ve received is that we’re starting with dedicated Table Talk sessions for our female employees to figure out why this group is giving lower ratings. Another goal is to add more diversity to our Leadership team. It is great to see that this is also actively encouraged by our C-Suite and Director Level. 

I am proud of the already diverse team here at Mitte, but I’m also happy that we’ve set proper goals to improve. We’re hiring, so if you’re reading this and are interested to learn more about Mitte, please reach out to me. 

What’s so specific about Berlin tech space and D&I? 

For most of my career, I’ve worked in Berlin so I don’t have much to compare it to. What I love about many of the tech startups is the diverse international environment that has become a bit more of a norm in the last few years. However, looking at Leadership or founding teams, they’re still primarily white and male.

I really like the active People/D&I//HR/TA scene in Berlin (**Remember when we used to do Meet Ups?**) I’ve met many great, passionate, and interesting people here that have truly made an impact in the organizations they’ve worked with, like Mark Ivan Serunjogi, Marian Jarzak, Mertcan Uzun, Floria Susan Moghimi, Matthias Schmei?er.

What do you think 2020 has changed in that space?

My big hope is that people are starting to wake. I feel like I’m currently trying to forget 2020 altogether, but of course, a lot of important things happened that can change things for the better: the Black Lives Matter movement showed how white privilege and structural racism are part of everyday public institutions. 

2021 will not magically be better. It’s up to each one of us to step up and work in their area of influence to improve things that aren’t right.

Any tips for teams starting with D&I work?

If you get from thinking to doing, that is good! My recommendation would be to:

• Collect data
• Identify areas of concern and develop objectives

There is a lot of helpful content out there and there are great consultants (like Floria Moghimi) whom you can book that will help you create a good roadmap.

Any book/podcast, resources you can recommend?

I listen to a lot of podcasts -  some in the D&I space I would recommend are The Diversity Gap by Bethany Wilkinson and Code Switch by NPR. Another one that I really like is ‘How’s work?' by Esther Perel. I can also recommend What Happened Last Week Newsletter by Sham Jaff.