COVER STORY
Tattoos and Piercings:
Is Prejudice Causing SME’s To Miss Out on Talent?
Fem Ngai, CEO, Community Business (third from left) with speakers from the Community Business Conference 2016.
As Dell’s efforts make clear, other than the macro-ideas to do with strategy, collaboration and long-term thinking it is also important to have initiatives that aim to proactively remedy the issues faced today. When it concerns diversity and inclusion, there are a number of initiatives that various companies are carrying out that are making a difference. #3 Flexible workforces Dell is also a strong advocate for a flexible workforce through the promotion of formal flex contracts. Guerin commented, “Currently we have 28% of staff formally registered as flexible workers, and we are really trying to push that up to 50%. It’s great because employees get to choose more of when and how they like to work.” This freedom to work around life’s other demands is a step forward in furthering D&I in the workforce. It is typically women who have suffered from the traditional work life structure, so with a greater flexibility around working hours, it is hoped that one major obstacle to a successful career has been reduced. #4 Men advocating women Sophie Guerin was similarly very keen to discuss Men Advocating Real Change (MARC)—a project that encourages men to join and speak for gender equality. She stated, “When it comes to gender equality, it cannot be just women banging at the door asking for inclusion. We need to get men in on the act as well!” It is no secret that a lot of the decision makers are men, so making use of male advocates is seen as a good solution to overcoming potential resistance.
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#5 Diverse networks At BNY Mellon, to promote D&I employees are invited to engage in internal networks that provide a space for various groups to interact. These include LGBT, special needs, GenEdge and Woman’s mentorship programmes. GenEdge is increasingly catching on, wherein the mentorship model is flipped and the younger talent are actually coaching the more mature including higher management, bridging the traditional generation gap. #6 Local engagement Company-wide initiatives on improving D&I are extremely important, but Chopra insists that a lack of local engagement with strategies is often the reason little real progress is made. Chopra explained, “A strategy can be implemented and deployed at a regional level but also at a very local level. This is where traction and engagement happens.” She further advised, “You need to spend a lot of time in the region. You cannot run a successful D&I initiative from an office in New York. You have to be present there. APAC is very nuanced and unique, and each of these locales has to be understood. It is the fastest growing region in the world, and without a very local view it is not possible to operate and build successful business teams.” So although still a challenging area for HR, there are numerous ways in which D&I can not only be enhanced, but leveraged to drive business success. With a bit of initiative and a lot of persistence HR can champion amazing results through nurturing D&I while at the same time contributing to the bottom line which the CFO will be loving too.
Up until the last decade, tattoos were perceived as the reserve of the uneducated, the criminally intended and those who had not thought about the prospects that their future could hold. With more people—especially women— being tattooed more than ever, is this draconian view of body modifications leading to SMEs missing out on top talent? A recent report by ACAS and King’s College found that body modifications still act as a barrier to employment. Whereas a study of American consumers showed that 97% of adults would not change their shopping habits if employees had visible body modifications A 2015 Yougov poll reported that almost a 5th of UK adults have tattoos, with those under 40 being significantly more likely to have one. Are organisations losing out on emerging top talent and potentially breaching human rights? To have a truly diverse workforce means that you have a truer representation of your customer base. If we were to address the issue at its most basic level; the question would be how much of an impact does a piercing or a tattoo have on an individual’s ability to perform within the workplace. It could in fact be argued that those who have embraced such modifications may have a more liberal and creative mindset and perhaps be more willing to take risks; a trait that many workplaces are now searching for as micro-managing is out and self-management is in. As Richard Branson put it, there is a need for ‘disruptive talent.’