Women in Tech Flipbook

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Digital Leaders South East January 2016: Reading, Thames Valley Women in Tech: Transforming the DNA of our organisations

Transcript of Women in Tech Flipbook

Digital Leaders South EastJanuary 2016: Reading, Thames Valley

Women in Tech:Transforming the DNA of our organisations

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A recent World Economic Report, entitled The Global Gender Gap, highlighted that the United Kingdom is ranked 18 in the Global Rankings behind countries such as Germany, France, Netherlands and the Nordic Counties, etc. It also highlighted that the UK’s position is

primarily driven by its ranking in Economic Participation and Opportunity and Political Empowerment.Source

In addition, the World Economic Forum’s recent report on The Industry Gender Gap Women and Work in the Fourth Industrial

Revolution, which forecasts that the gender gap could be further exacerbated as the digital world accelerates with the development of AI / Robotics, etc, where some types of jobs could be significantly impacted.

Read more

Context

#DigitalByDesign

In late January, Digital Leaders South East held a salon in the Thames Valley on the Reading University campus. The key topic of discussion was how we could accelerate the growth

of Women in Tech to develop the right skills for the digital DNA of our organisations.The discussant leads at the salon were Gini Ekstein, Microsoft EMEA Director and

Business Psychologist, and Leigh Smyth, Head of Group Digital Inclusion, Consumer Digital, at Lloyds Banking Group.

Background

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you are valued for what you share and not just what you know. This view therefore means that “culture eats technology for breakfast”.

The discussion then focused on how we could make necessary changes to our culture and build in sustainability to achieve a culture that is conducive to accelerating the growth of women and bringing greater value to the organisation.

The key aspects to facilitate cultural

change included:• Reprogramming our

unconscious bias • Developing expert

communication skills

• Delivering grassroots enablement

One of the key aspects in delivering a digital culture is to recognise where each individual resides on the Geoffrey Moore Technology Adoption Lifecycle curve, which is depicted below.

The salon discussion focused on how Microsoft is systematically training people to overcome unconscious bias that

facilitates gender equality.

The four phases to address this concern are:

• Unconscious inability• Conscious inability• Conscious ability• Unconscious ability

The observation was that organisations tend to stop too early at the conscious ability phase when what is really required is the need to

“culture eats technology for

breakfast”

The key learning points from the Microsoft discussion included establishing the business case for change, which included three key elements:

• The new skills required for power

users to successfully change the business

• The effect on new key business processes

• The new behaviours and values required to achieve the culture that is needed to successfully

transform the organisation

These aspects, along with the obvious financial and customer benefits, are essential to transforming your organisation into a social enterprise, where

Microsoft:managing change to deliver the right digital DNA for the organisation.

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“You are only as good as what people understand.”

achieve sustainability of the final phase – unconscious ability. “Training does not equal habit.”

The Microsoft organisation challenges itself on each hiring decision in order to ensure that an unconscious bias does not occur during the hiring process.

Some of the key measures of showing progress on unconscious bias

include improved awareness, identifying the right skills and delivering the right business ROI.

The salon then went on to discuss how we need to recognise the “fight or flight response” when managing change, and how this affects each member of the team or group. Note 1. The key approach to solving this phenomenon is to share each step on the change journey transparently and

communicate what it means to us, even if we are unsure of what each specific step will be. It is important to establish a cadence for transparent communication at each step and use our stories to gain both an understanding and a buy in. “You are only as good as how much people understand what you are communicating.”

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There will be a 1 million shortfall in digital skills in the UK, which represents a major exposure to our economy. Today, only 18% percent of women have a technology-based role and just 10% of women are represented in leadership roles.

Almost half (42%) of the Digital team at Lloyds are women. This has been facilitated by ensuring that 50% of the candidates for each role are female during the hiring interview process.

The Lloyds Banking Group has also used a 3B approach to obtaining the right

skills for the digital environment.

The 3Bs are as follows:

1. Borrow the expertise by using contractors and consultants during start-up.

2. Buying in the expertise by using the critical hires process.

3. Building the expertise by developing and increasing the levels of your own people’s digital skills.

Lloyds has also proactively formed partnerships with universities and polytechnics to acquire the right skills.

The salon went on to discuss the importance of mindset and culture, and how integral they are in the development of digital skills, as well as agility skills and the ability to deal with ambiguity.

Creating a very family friendly environment is the next key aspect of the Lloyds digital environment, as it enables people to manage both their family and business life.

The routine sharing of case studies in order to inspire other women is another aspect of Lloyds’ success in developing women. It has also created a

Lloyds Banking Group: Creating a digital family friendly environment

#DigitalByDesign

We then discussed how we could both adopt and adapt the Jacqueline de Rojas 11 Step Plan so that it could include what we had discussed and learnt during the

salon, and how we could then build this into creating the right platform to accelerate the growth of women in the organisation’s Digital DNA. We then discussed how we, as a

nation, could create the specific steps required to address the digital gap for each generation, so that all ages can smoothly adapt to the digital world.

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11 Step Plan to building the Nation’s Digital DNA

digital apprenticeship and graduate scheme to ensure that there is a skilled pipeline of women who are available for future roles in the organisation.

In addition, Lloyds has created a “breakthrough network” of circa 17,000 women that focuses primarily on life skills. The network utilises typical digital tools, which include teleconferencing, mobiles, Facetime, etc.

To accelerate its digital culture, Lloyds has developed 12,000 digital

champions whose role is to enable the digital lives of its customers in their communities by helping customers to improve their ability to save and manage their money.

It has also integrated digital into its foundation training by creating partnerships with key external organisations, and launched both innovation and transformation projects that are iterative and subject to a six month go / no go criteria.

In addition, Lloyds recently introduced its first Consumer Digital Index, which revealed that 11.1 million people in the UK currently have a low digital capability and is reported to save families an average of £744 per annum.

Read more about Lloyds Digital Consumer Index

Find out more about the 11-step plan:Jacqueline de Rojas speaks at DL Conference

11-step plan on Jacqueline de Rojas LinkedIn post

11 Step Plan to building the Nation’s Digital DNA

#DigitalByDesign Source

2) Make tech fun and inclusive for everyoneEveryone needs at least basic digital skills, so let’s support

STEM education in schools and use technology to empower children with special needs. Get involved and offer your skills

4) Create the digital skills needed across all sectorshighlight that every job will require digital skills. Support skill development by encouraging schools to use digital

technology in non-STEM subjects

10) Ensure we reach across the entire UKLet’s set up tech business alliances to coordinate digital skills

stakeholders in clusters. We must also replicate successful local platforms that connect digital skills stakeholders and scale up tech business support for teaching digital skills in

local schools

6) Support and empower teachersLet’s equip all teachers with basic digital skills by

introducing them to digital teaching qualifications

8) Create new entry routes to techLet’s find new ways of training and recruiting,

whether emulating the National College for Digital Skills model across the UK, or creating code

conversion courses

1) Demystify tech & inspire young peoplelet’s get kids INSPIRED and involved in digital learning programmes early by teaching them in an engaging, practical way – in turn increasing awareness of tech careers

3) Inspire girls to pursue tech subjects and careersLet’s address the tech industry’s “boy’s club” reputation by championing female role models and offering open days in tech businesses for girls

5) Ensure schools are equipped to teach computingLet’s train more ICT teachers and give current ones further development opportunities, so that they can confidently inspire their pupils around digital concepts

7) Create more apprenticeships in the tech sectorWe must put digital skills at the heart of the three million apprenticeship target by making it easier for SMEs to take on apprentices in digital roles

9) Make it easier for industry to volunteerIt’s time to amplify the business benefits of volunteering and facilitate it by creating a matchmaking platform. A new app perhaps?

11) Adopt a “Smart Migration” approach to support the UK as a tech nationWe can’t do it as fast as we need it and we can’t do it alone. We must enable UK tech businesses to thrive with top international talent by considering immigration reform, broadening the pool of skilled digital workers and enabling universities to attract top talent from across the globe

#DigitalByDesign

• Encourage girls at an early age to challenge their own unconscious bias, which can limit their own potential

• Consider the proactive coaching of girls from a very early stage to ensure that they will optimise their career and life

• Challenge the organisation when it makes hiring decisions to ensure

that there is not an unconscious bias in the hiring process

• Integrate consultants and contractors into your organisation’s digital ethos

• Utilise polytechnics, as well as universities, to hire and develop the right digital skills

• Develop a scholar’s programme that focuses on developing the less fortunate young

people in our society• Recognise in your

cultural change plan where each individual is on their digital journey and support them accordingly

• Proactively involve men in the development of women so that we can all become the best that we can be

Key takeaways

“When you get women in roles of leadership, we make things happen.”

Melinda Gates

My Final thoughtThank you to everyone who participated in the salon and thank you once again to Gini Ekstein, of Microsoft, and Leigh Smythe, of Lloyds Banking Group, for leading our excellent salon discussions.

I look forward to seeing you all at the next Digital Leaders South East Salon in April.

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