FT Live is the global conference & events division of the Financial Times Groups. They host a variety of events to bring together executive audiences and deliver them the latest information with great speakers and content that matters in a deliverable way.
Zngly attended the Financial Times Live (FT Live) ‘Woman at the Top’ event, due to our involvement surrounding diversity, equity & inclusion. This event was all about diversity, equity & inclusion and was the first Woman at the Top event after 3 years so I was super honoured to have the chance to attend!
As the business environment becomes more tough, organisations must think about how will leaders approach diversity and inclusion in the workplace? Studies have shown that a more diverse workplace improves productivity and performance of organisations so how can we reshape diversity and inclusion to be a must-have instead of a nice-to-have.
This is directly in line with the work we have done surrounding diversity & inclusion. Back in September we hosted Tech Gateway which showcased diversity, equity and inclusion. We had:
- Wincie Wong, Head of Services Workforce Technical Capability from NatWest & Founding Member of TechSheCan - discussing getting more women into tech
- Peter Ward, Deputy CEO at Leadership Through Sport & Business (LTSB) - spoke on building a more diverse and inclusive workforce and the actions LTSB do to bring companies like NatWest a more inclusive pool of talent
- Chris Howard, Open Source Lead- spoke on LGBT+ and diversity in the technology
This event really showcased everything diversity, equity & inclusion and the importance of getting more women into tech and diversity.
We are also currently did some work with Coherent to set a Guinness World Record and to highlight the partnership with TechSheCan to encourage and support bringing more women into Tech. All of this work surrounding diversity, equity & inclusion which we are passionate about, is what made me really excited to attend the FT Live event and hear the perspectives of the great speakers there.
Having real human connection and hear
people’s experience first-hand, is an invaluable experience
What did we learn…
When attending this information packed event, it really brought to the forefront how diversity, equity & inclusion is more than just attracting a diverse pool of talent to an organisation, it’s also equally as important for organisations to make this change something sustainable. The acknowledgement of the issue of diversity & inclusion is the first step in the right direction and that organisations need to really think about the effectiveness of thinking about tomorrow's workforce today.
1. Leadership in the new era needs to be more open and visible and that the real change will happen at a faster rate when the views are reimagined from the top down
2. Building a healthy organisational culture is the greatest way to attract and retain talent
3. To attract a more diverse workforce & include more women into technology, organisations need to start from early and encourage the younger generation to get involved in more STEM subjects.
So how did it work – what’s the format
The conference was an all day event with multiple speakers, these talks ranged from 30 minute keynote interviews to 40 minute talks covering a variety of different topics with a panel of speakers.
In between all these talks, there were networking breaks which gave everyone a chance to speak on everything DE&I.
Topics covered were:
- Transition, Transformation and Trust
- Leadership in a new era
- Will D&I survive the pinch?
- What about me?
- Has the rise of ESG on the agenda improved diversity?
- Taking the lead in business: Closing the fundraising gender gap
- How do you keep women in the workforce?
- Tackling the 3 M’s (menstruation, maternity & menopause)
- Leading the next generation
A jam packed event full of great speakers & insights covering a huge range of topics. This was a real deep dive!
Diversity, equity & inclusion is more than just attracting a diverse pool of talent to an organisation, it’s also equally as important for organisations to make this change something sustainable.
So - lasting benefits…What did we take away for Zngly
1. Zngly can be a real working force in making a change to bringing more women and diversity into the technology world. Our work with Tech Gateway and Coherent in raising awareness around diversity in tech, is a step in the right direction.
2. Change will come from the top. We can't expect the workplace to transform if we aren't doing anything at the top to apply these changes.
3. To create a sustainable diverse workforce we must educate the younger generation & promote STEM subjects from early. We can play a role to reinvent the perception on tech & really develop and grow our new and emerging talent.
We love to be playing and active role in promoting and focussing efforts around diversity, equity & inclusion. Zngly is always proactive in creating an inclusive and open environment where everyone can truly be themselves.
So how is it measured…
We have noted some key takeaways in just how to measure DE&I in the workplace.
Diversity & inclusion must show across all levels of the organisation, every leader must be held accountable
Three key takeaways:
- Look at your diversity of employees vs. your application pool
- It's all about data. Collecting as much data about your workforce is key to identifying where organisations can be more inclusive
- Make company data of D&I public and available for anyone to view. This holds organisations and the voice of the leader publicly accountable! Allowing active actions towards building a more diverse workforce.
So FT Live...
We look forward to being invited to more events like this and taking large leaps to a more diverse and inclusive workforce!
