Diversity in the technology industry is a hot topic right now. Believe it or not, in the UK less than one in three people working in the sector are women. The reasons behind these include a perceived negative image of IT jobs, low female take-up of STEM subjects at school, and unconscious gender bias in recruitment.

This lack of diversity in the sector is something that affects all us regardless of our gender and I feel strongly that we all have a responsibility to address it; companies that make diversity and equality a priority have stronger teams, more engaged employees and happier customers. It’s been proven that having women in at least 30 percent of leadership positions adds six percent to a company’s net profit margin - so businesses just can’t ignore it. 

If you’re struggling to understand where to start when it comes to driving equality in your business, take a look at what Salesforce is doing. We’re taking action to advance equality across the business through equal pay, equal opportunity, equal education and equal rights.

Based on my experiences, here are some key initiatives worth considering:

• Under the guidance of our chief equality officer, we completed our second full salary analysis of employees globally.  As a result, we’ve adjusted the salaries of around six percent of the workforce. 
• Our High-Potential Leadership Programme, designed to provide leadership skills among female talent, has led to a significant increase in the number of women who were promoted last year.
• We often say “you can’t be what you can’t see” and so we encourage female employees at all levels to be active mentors for the next generation as they evaluate career choices. We want young women to see for themselves the rewarding opportunities in the tech industry.  For example, some of our employees are involved in the ‘People Like Me’ ambassador programme.  The programme encourages female employees in STEM careers to visit schools and clubs to talk about their experiences of working in the technology industry.  This encourages young women to pursue a STEM career by giving them female role models and giving them insights on how they can be happy and successful in tech. 

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to work with (and mentor) truly incredible women. I’ve no doubts that diverse teams are stronger teams, are better able to find creative solutions to problems and identify new opportunities. If the UK tech industry is to continue to thrive, it has to work to ensure there’s a strong, diverse talent pool.  

You can read more about the benefits of diversity in the workplace in this CBR article: Women in tech: Could diversity in the workplace benefit revenue?