We need to celebrate the role everyone can play in a workplace diversity

Published on March 2, 2020 in Responsible Business

This blog is authored by Fujitsu’s Kam Dhillon, Head of Services Marketing EMEIA and Kirsty Gallacher, Global Service Delivery Manager

It’s time again to celebrate, inspire and recognise the power of diversity and inclusion. Often, high performing teams will be diverse and inclusive – and this is key to a successful business.

To achieve this, the workplace needs to be an environment where everyone can bring their true selves to work and feel supported no matter who they are.

It’s everyone’s responsibility to contribute to creating this type of environment. And during periods of uncertainty and change, we need to step up and consider what role we can all play.

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is “Each for Equal.” For us, this means recognising and celebrating male and female role models who have supported workplace diversity.

By celebrating progress – no matter how small – we can facilitate real change. Everyone brings unique value to a team, but sometimes that stays hidden. We find that sometimes women doubt their abilities, or feel uncomfortable in sharing ideas or voicing their achievements.

This is why initiatives like Google’s #IamRemarkable programme are so important. They provide tools and techniques to recognise your achievements, no matter how small, as well as empowering women to feel comfortable in celebrating these with others.

Initiatives such as this are great springboards for ensuring all talent can reach their potential within a company. That’s why, at Fujitsu, we’re supporting women by running these workshops, as well as other events to help them gain confidence in their talents.

4 practical actions everyone can take this International Women’s Day

Consider the diverse role models within your business to ensure different perspectives are represented across the company
Celebrate your colleagues’ successes and be aware of consciously ensuring you are giving praise where praise is due
Model positive self-promotion in your own career, speaking openly about your own achievements to help others to see the unique contribution that you made and encourage others to do the same.
Run your own #IamRemarkable workshop to drive behavioural change in your team and beyond

Ultimately it’s about all pulling together in the same direction and taking these small considered, incremental approaches will have an impact. As leaders of the each for equal movement we also need to look at new and creative ways in which we can drive positive change, considering the big and bold actions that we can take in how we recruit, develop and nurture our women. That’s how we make our companies more inviting to diverse talent.

We can change this together. If we can come together as an industry, consider the impact of our actions and each make changes we can cause a huge shift towards a more inclusive tech space.

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