MARKET REPORT Diversity
“You should never stop coming up with new ideas and innovative ways of working as the world continues to
evolve. There’s no beginning or end” Esther Park, Group HR Manager at Nimans
workforce, you are automatically
broadening the skills and
knowledge available to you,
creating more innovation
and giving your business a
competitive edge.
is is not something that is
going to fade away, everyone is
talking about diversity because
it is important to all industries.
ere may be a more prominent
topic in the future but
diversity at work will always be
important, employing the right
talent and looking after your
employees will be paramount to
your business success.”
Esther Park at Nimans, says
diversity is not just a trend,
it’s an inherent part of any
successful business.
“You should never stop
coming up with new ideas and
innovative ways of working as
the world continues to evolve.
ere’s no beginning or end.
It’s about creating a culture
where we can continue to
come up with even better ideas
and develop new skills for the
future.”
Will we ever see a truly
diverse Channel?
Alex Tempest at BT Wholesale
says that 27% of Channel
organisations consider diversity
status when selecting channel
service providers/vendors to
partner with.
“With businesses like BT
Wholesale driving real change
within the industry, we are
condent that we will see more
diversity across the board. But
BT Wholesale can’t act alone
in this space; we need other
businesses within the channel to
support and encourage people
from diverse backgrounds into
the technology space.”
Kara Howard at TalkTalk
Business, “Diversity means
dierent things to dierent
people – so it depends what
you mean by a truly diverse
channel. I believe it should be
about equality for all where
there is no unconscious bias. If
we can set a good example for
people from the beginning and
encourage younger people to get
into telecommunications, then
there’s no reason why diversity
won’t continue to increase in the
channel.”
ED SAYS…
Looking at the input received for this article one could be forgiven in concluding that
larger companies have more time on their hands to construct responses for our request
for information on this subject. I mean, how many resellers do you know with an HR
manager let alone a diversity program?
For the sake of sanity I had to check that Mark Allen Group, publisher of Comms
Business Magazine, was on the right page here and I was pleased to receive our
diversity program from HR by return.
those young people who decide
not to go to university.”
Is diversity just another trend
which will fade away?
Iain Sinnott at VanillaIP said,
“I trust the focus will naturally
fade as any question of bias
diminishes. As employers, all we
can truly do is treat all people as
equals and support sta as they
join us. e discrimination that
this sort of overt policy might
overcome is not a problem I see
much of in our industry.
Alex Tempest says BT
Wholesale connects people all
over the world, every minute of
every day.
“We understand that this
connection enables inclusion
for many of our channel
partners, with 70% of channel
organisations rating diversity
as a priority for their business,
and 80% believing that
collaboration technology is an
optimiser for diverse teams.
For BT Wholesale, designing
our products and services with
inclusion in mind is imperative
for our business to continue to
succeed and will be a longterm
priority for the business.
And ultimately the ‘diversity
bandwagon’ will begin to fade
away when embracing diversity
becomes a natural part of
everyday life.”
“People’s attitudes have shifted
over the last decade,” says Kara
Howard at TalkTalk Business
“I think attitudes will
continue to change and see
people as individuals rather
than gender, ethnicity, age etc.
When I rst started my career,
there was an undeniable gender
imbalance in the channel, but
this is changing as more women
choose telco as their career
paths. Ultimately businesses will
thrive when they have a broad
range of people with a breath of
experience and from dierent
backgrounds.”
Rohita Kopf at Sky says the
Channel is a fast-paced growing
industry and we need to be
encouraging the right talent to
help this industry thrive.
“By having a balanced
38 | Comms Business Magazine | January 2020 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
/www.commsbusiness.co.uk