Why its time to take diversity seriously?

​The fintech sector is bombarded with comments, facts, and opinions on diversity daily, but for it to remain progressive and successful it is a topic that needs to start being taking seriously.
Diversity is not just a conversation about gender, it is a multitude of topics including, race, religion, culture, sexuality and age.  Research by the IFS shows that the average pay difference between men and women is still as much as 18%, which is ludicrous in 2020.

Diversity and inclusion need to become more than a tick box exercise, it needs to be a way of life which starts from day one.  Start ups have a great opportunity to ensure diversity, but its also not impossible for companies that are now 150 strong to change their ways.

The first port of call is to decide on the culture that you want to create.  This is a vital stage to reduce the risk of future colleague alliances that clash with the collective ethos.  If FinTech’s want to remain innovative and build inclusive products then they need inclusive cultural teams to develop them, or they risk failure! 
After deciding on the culture, you are trying to build, constant reflection and honesty is paramount. Diversity is a journey not a quick fix.  It needs to start from the top and work down through the company.  Utilising quantitative data is key and can be built around your recruitment and retention matrix.  

Not only analyse processes but survey your staff and see how valued and accepted they feel. Look at who makes the decisions in the company?  Diversity needs to flow through all levels to make positive and profitable developments in a business.  This quantitative data can also then be used to identify gaps in your current teams and help to guide your next hire.
Tools such as the Women in Finance Charter help to hold companies accountable, as does government data, but diversity should be something that comes as second nature to everybody. 
Pioneers of this such as Barclays, with their launch of the accelerator programme, become companies that not only easily attract talent but retain them too!

Poor diversity is not the case across the globe with the likes of the Nordics well regarded for their inclusion, unfortunately the UK is slipping down the ranks.  The question is why? When a diverse team equates to easier recruitment and retention processes, innovative products, and higher profitability.
You cannot have innovation without diverse voices and opinions!

TPN are holding diversity at the core of our values, as we continue to be progressive and immersive in our chosen specialisms.  We actively seek out clients with the same ethos and work as an extension of their team to achieve their diversity mandates.

Many of our clients integrate diversity hiring processes into our recruitment methods and so we are often asked to promote a client’s diverse culture when presenting their offering to candidates.  We also, when requested, send blind CV’s where we have removed all indicators of a person’s gender and age, ensure a 50/50 split based on gender or race and often build pipelines of diverse candidates utilising personality profiling tools.

To find out more on how TPN can help you ensure a recruitment process that is led by diversity, get in touch today 01604 766851