INTERVIEW SKY
“By having a balanced workforce in your business, you are automatically broadening the skills and knowledge
available to you.” Mike Greening, Director – Business Comms, Sky
Talking Diversity
The results are in! Businesses which are more diverse perform better. After recently sponsoring the ‘Women in
Channel’ category at the Comms Business Awards we spoke to Mike Greening, Director – Business Comms at Sky
and Rohita Kopf, Sky’s Business Comms Marketing Manager about the importance of diversity in the workplace.
Comms Business Magazine
(CBM): Why is diversity so
important?
Mike Greening (MG): Women
are powerful consumers with
a growing share of the UK’s
personal wealth and have 80%
of purchasing power according
to McKinsey & Co’s report,
Women Matter. e report
cited that it makes commercial
sense to promote women as well
as men to senior positions and
re ect the customer base within
businesses. It also revealed a
positive correlation between a
company’s performance and the
proportion of women serving
on its executive board. It found
that companies with the highest
level of gender diversity in top
management posts outperform
their sector in terms of return
on equity, operating results and
stock price growth.
We believe our business is
at its best when decisions are
made by a diverse group of
people, which is why diversity
is so high on our agenda. By
having a balanced workforce
in your business, you are
automatically broadening the
(L-R) Mike Greening, Director – Business Comms at Sky and Rohita Kopf, Sky’s Business Comms Marketing Manager
language. Many businesses
are already doing this, but it’s
worth looking at your own job
descriptions to see whether they
are gender neutral. We also
strive to have a 50/50 candidate
shortlists allowing equal
opportunities for everyone.
Additionally, we passionately
believe in creating a great
place to work where people are
comfortable being themselves
and we truly believe we are
better with balance.
CBM: What does this approach
mean to your people?
Rohita Kopf (RK): Inclusion to
me means equal opportunities
for everyone and having a voice
and feeling like part of the team.
I have been with Sky for nearly
a year now and it’s so refreshing
to join a leading organisation
that has so many key initiatives
in place to support all their
teams. Diversity is a hot topic at
the moment including gender
diversity. I feel completely
comfortable being myself at Sky
and it’s great to already see a
50/50 gend er split in our business
comms management team.
skills and knowledge available to
you, creating more innovation
and giving your business a
competitive edge.
CBM: How does Sky strive
to create balance within the
organisation?
MG: We want to achieve a better
gender and ethnic balance at
senior level, our Women into
Leadership programme o ers
sponsorship and training for the
next generation of female leaders.
In technology and engineering,
women are underrepresented,
so we started the Get into Tech
initiative, where women with
no tech experience can learn
skills to enter the industry.
ere’s also our Women
in Technology Scholars
programme which o ers a
£25,000 investment to develop
a tech idea, and our Women in
Home Service scheme, a paid
training programme for women
interested in a becoming an
engineer at Sky.
Our work in this area has
been recognised in e Times
Top 50 employers for women
four years in a row.
Sky is also dedicated to
engaging with young people.
Sky Academy Studios uses the
power of TV and innovation to
open young minds and develop
young people’s creativity while
the MAMA Youth Project
helps drive diversity in the
media industry by training
and recruiting young people
from under-represented groups
in broadcast and production.
We’ve also teamed up with our
local school Bolder Academy
and together have been running
activities that help prepare
students for the world of work.
CBM: How are you attracting
talent?
MG: In a personnel study by
Hewlett-Packard, the company
found that women only applied
for the position if they met
100% of the requirements
whereas men felt comfortable
applying even if they only met
60%, feeling that they could
learn on the job. One of the
ways that Sky is attracting
a broader range of talent is
by ensuring job descriptions
are written in more inclusive
32 | Comms Business Magazine | July 2019 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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