Women in Tech Q&A

What do you see as the biggest opportunities to improve diversity in the tech industry?

Opportunities to drive greater diversity in tech are endless. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, but we do need a greater sense of urgency and more action to create meaningful and impactful change. If you care about the business’ bottom line, you should care about diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging - period, full stop!

For one, we must be more intentional. That’s the approach and mindset we took when we split from Hewlett-Packard Company in 2015, leading us to deliberately assemble one of the most diverse board of directors in tech. Being intentional also means setting specific targets to keep ourselves focused and accountable.

As you know, we set bold goals like reaching 50/50 gender equality in HP leadership by 2030 and doubling the number of Black/African American executives by 2025. We track these goals on an ongoing basis and share our progress with our employees, leaders, and our board of directors. Measurable outcomes and transparency are critical for impact.

Equally important is to have courageous conversations about systemic inequalities and injustices. In the corporate environment, these issues used to be the purple elephant in the room, but the racial reckoning opened people’s aperture and afforded us opportunities to double down on them. The brutal murder of George Floyd was one of many injustices that people witnessed during the pandemic, and Covid-19 also exposed racial and gender inequalities that have long plagued society.

At the end of the day, how can you fix what you can’t talk about? HP has a rich legacy in advancing diversity, equity and inclusion and we’re proud to carry this forward and evolve our strategy. We launched an inaugural Racial Equality and Social Justice Task Force where employees and leaders have opportunities to give feedback and improve the experience for Black/African American employees and Black communities across the U.S. We designed this Task Force in a way that allows us to evolve it and, ultimately, fully integrate it into our day-to-day responsibilities for longer term impact.

We’re grateful for leaders like you who are actively involved and invested in the Task Force! We also have Town Halls where we invite thought leaders inside and outside of the company to educate us on these important topics, and we provide resources for employees to explore and learn on their own. I’ve always been impressed by HP’s tenacity to not shy away from doing the right thing even when it’s hard.

What can tech companies do to be more accessible and inclusive of female talent?

As a Black woman, it’s important for me to share a diverse perspective. We know women are underrepresented in tech, and if you drill down to women of color, particularly Black and Hispanic women, the contrast is even starker. We need to empower women and girls from Black and Brown communities to pursue STEM careers at an earlier age, and ensure they have the resources and tools to thrive. We also need to challenge the requirement for a college degree, especially as we continue to face a skills shortage. Our cybersecurity team has removed college requirements for certain job requisitions. This doesn’t mean we lower the standard for women and people of color; we know they are talented and make impactful contributions to society. It’s about breaking barriers and forging a more open path to attract them to tech. And by working with diverse hiring firms, our cybersecurity team has been able to hire more women and people of color. It’s an exciting time for us to re-examine what’s working and what’s not and make appropriate changes to drive greater diversity in tech.

Finally, we must be more aggressive at reducing and removing bias. You’ll recall that we launched a campaign called Reinvent Mindsets in 2017 to address unconscious bias that women and underrepresented groups face. Fast forward to today, this year’s International Women’s Day theme is “Break the Bias,” which sadly, means we still have a lot of work to do to create a world without bias. It requires us to reduce bias from the hiring process to the day-to-day experience in the workplace. Bias creates barriers known and unknown. Our goal has been to remove those barriers that prohibit our success.

With so many women leaving the workforce during the pandemic, what is one practical way leaders can better support primary caregivers?

Three things stand out to me: Listen, compassion and flexibility. According to MIT Sloane , one of the top reasons people leave is due to a toxic culture. It’s more important than ever for leaders to prioritize fostering a culture that is built on trust and respect. That’s why we host listening sessions to hear people’s feedback and have Manager Connect sessions to guide managers to drive inclusion and lead with compassion. HP’s recent gender workplace study unveils that one of the top reasons female respondents want to stay at their current company is they have the flexibility to manage work and life. The pandemic has shown that we can be productive from home or in a hybrid environment, and people want the opportunity to choose how, when or where they work.

What’s one piece of advice you would tell your younger self?

The younger Lesley observed more than she spoke. So, I would tell my younger self to use your voice and own it. It took time to build my confidence, but HP’s culture, which greatly values contributions from women and other underrepresented groups, allowed me to be my authentic self at work. Over time, my experiences and skills, coupled with support from allies, sponsors and advocates who have always valued my perspective, helped me step through and become a leader. Now I’m taking advantage of the opportunity to bring others along and show them what’s possible.?