In July Makers attended Civil Service Live in London. This year the themes of Educate, Engage and Empower were a perfect backdrop to several recently launched Government initiatives, including the Civil Service Apprenticeships Strategy and Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.
From Left to right: Mel Gladwin, Account Director Public Sector, Grant Jessup , Head of Partnerships & Sales and Nicky Fyfe, Marketing and Events Coordinator @ Makers
Two full days were spent meeting people across Government departments with one purpose — to find and connect with leaders who want to transform the make-up of their tech teams in a way that will create a workforce and culture reflective of the community it serves. We were looking for what we call future Change Makers!
From a business perspective there is a simple connection between diversity and business outcomes. This being more diversity leads to more varied ideas and innovations, which leads to increased productivity.
Diversity = different ideas & innovations = increased productivity
The Business Driver
But what many people in the Civil Service also understand clearly is the social value of diversifying the workforce. This is the correlation that more diversity leads to better understanding, which leads to better services and better outcomes for individuals.
Diversity = better understanding of people = better services = better outcomes
The Social Value
This is a critical goal within tech career streams in particular, which continue to struggle in diversifying its members. Events like these, the dedicated efforts of DDaT, and internal ED&I programmes across Civil Service departments are making good progress in awareness and buy-in. Change within Civil Service tech teams therefore does not appear to be being held back by a lack of awareness or understanding of the benefits of diversity and inclusion. What seems to be needed is not the ‘why?’, but the ‘HOW?’.
Our small Makers exhibition stand in the corner of the exhibition hall was met with concentric rows of people patiently waiting to speak to us, all wanting to learn HOW we could help them make change.
Demand for diverse tech teams is high — but so are the challenges!
A number of themes emerged over these two days, reflecting some of the top barriers in Hitachi and Dodds’ recent nurturing differences survey of UK Gov Digital, Data and Technology profession. These were:
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Implicit bias impacting decision making
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Poor understanding of marketplace diversity
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Invisible process barriers
Events like these draw together people who want to learn how to overcome the obstacles and speed up the rate of change. As a company dedicated to speeding up diversification of the tech workforce we are shaping ourselves to meet these challenges as they grow in prominence, and offer these as solutions to address some of these most prominent ones within Government:
1. Challenge Unconscious Bias
Implicit bias is very hard to avoid when there is already limited diversity. Asking questions of yourself can help uncover potential group-think that may be causing barriers. Questions can include:
- Why can we not hire someone with different qualifications?
- Am I looking for new staff in new places?
- Am I looking for experience or ability?
When it comes to apprenticeships in particular it is essential that professional support is provided during attraction and selection of candidates to ensure any implicit bias is challenged as part of the process.
Mel Gladwin, Account Director for the Public Sector at Makers says “what makes someone an asset in the tech industry is not where they were taught, previous job titles, or how similar they are to previous employees. What is of value is their knowledge, skills and behaviours — especially passion. We need to challenge ourselves and our processes to keep implicit bias in check and create a new vision of what good looks like.”
2. Diversify Training Options
If we are seeking diversity in the workforce, then it makes sense to diversify the approach to training, especially where training provision is a specific and celebrated benefit to employees. Those that embrace a variety of approaches here are casting their net the widest and are able to attract and retain people that others are likely to be overlooking.
Diversification can be within: types of training (sponsored degrees/apprenticeships/long courses/short courses/books), methods of delivery (in person/remote/bootcamp/self-led) and also suppliers (SME/large/specialists/those with specific values).
One thing that consistently seems to feel new in tech training are Coding Bootcamps. Coding Bootcamps have been around for nearing a decade. Case studies of success are plentiful and even the big tech giants like Google, Meta and Apple are employing bootcamp graduates. However, people still seemed stunned to hear that people with no coding experience could be transformed into proficient junior developers in just four months. In addition, many hadn’t heard of this front loading training option via apprenticeships.
3. When there are Barriers think like a Change Maker
Invisible barriers can manifest themselves as bureaucracy, postponement of decisions or ghosting. This will be inevitable as people attempt to turn the tide on diversity in tech. Change is hard. Thinking like a Change Maker is about addressing each barrier as it presents itself and remembering to focus on your goal.
If understanding of the apprenticeship levy process is poor, ask a provider to speak to your budget holders about how it works. If there appears to be only limited options when it comes to reskilling, check with your learning and development teams — there are options developed by departments such as the CCS to give you access to a wide range of pre-screened suppliers to enable buying to be as easy as possible. Network with other like-minded people within your own team, department and beyond too. Use them to work on the challenges together.
Haylee Potts, Head of Partnerships Marketing and Coordinator of Women in Software Awards says “Change cannot happen without collective effort and understanding that diversity and inclusion are all of our responsibility, not just that of HR teams and leaders. We all have the opportunity to be ChangeMakers through active allyship.”
The Way Forward
What is clear is that the mindset and core tools to make our tech teams truly diverse are becoming firmly embedded. Many people see the need, know the benefits; and are ready to make this happen. What will put it at risk is the undercurrent of inertia that fights change.
Civil Service tech teams are overcoming so many of the inward facing challenges traditionally faced on diversity and inclusion including: resistance to change; prioritising change; and engaging employees on the benefits. The 2021 Hays Report in particular praises the Public Sector for leading the way in terms of perceived action with “54% of professionals agreeing their employer is taking action on ED&I [equity, diversity and inclusion] in comparison to 43% of professionals in the private sector” .
As a company on a mission to enable change in the tech sector we will continue to look for solutions to help motivated people and their organisations make the difference they are looking to achieve.
Makers deliver apprenticeship and bootcamp training on coding and software related skills across the UK public and private sectors. Their mission is to transform lives and organisations by bridging tech industry needs and under-discovered talent.
If you would like to know more about how Makers can help you to build diversity into your tech team then please reach out to Mel Gladwin, Makers Account Director for the Public Sector.
