DIVERSITY Diversity
Paving the way
The business benefits of a diverse workforce are undeniable, but what remains vital is a company-wide commitment to promoting inclusivity at every turn. Sheila Flavell, Chief Operating Officer at FDM Group, shares her experiences in developing a diverse and inclusive culture.
Gender diverse teams are 15% more likely to
perform above the national industry median, with ethnically diverse companies 35% more likely.
passionate about creating and inspiring exciting careers that shape our digital future. This vision not only dictates our marketing and attraction to graduates, clients and university partners, but defines our day to day activities from the way we support Consultants on site and interact with our clients, to our commitment to encouraging young people to consider a career in IT.
F
Findings of the McKinsey ‘Diversity Matters’ report highlight the benefits of a diverse workforce. Gender diverse teams are 15% more likely to perform above the national industry median, with ethnically diverse companies 35% more likely. Whilst the results on improved performance speak for themselves, I believe that diversity adds another vital element to business: culture.
With 60+ nationalities working together as one team, FDM employees represent a huge breadth of cultures, ethnicities, beliefs and languages. We are strong proponents of social mobility and employ candidates from a range of educational and socioeconomic backgrounds. This diversity underpins our culture in which we value ambition, collaboration, integrity, energy and people who seek challenges.
DM Group is the UK’s leading IT graduate employer and we are
FDM makes its mission to recruit people with drive, passion and aptitude for what they do and what they want to achieve. We do not restrict the recruitment process to grades, degree subjects or university. It is this inclusive approach that enables us to find great talent regardless of race, age, gender, socioeconomic or educational background. We continue to recruit graduates from a multitude of degree disciplines and encourage those from non-STEM degrees to not only consider a career in technology, but utilise their transferable skills and thrive. We look for people who are enthused about bringing their authentic self to work. By taking this approach, we advocate diversity and uphold the importance of an inclusive workforce to reflect the diversity of skill, talent and expertise that exists in the technology sector as a whole.
We are committed to providing ex-Forces personnel with a rewarding second career in IT, business and project management. Our dedicated Ex-Forces Programme, launched in 2014, helps personnel to identify the transferable skills they learnt in the Forces and how to apply these to a commercial environment. So far we have trained and placed over 100 personnel with our clients. We employ Consultants with a range of educational and socioeconomic backgrounds; in the UK, 34% of Consultants were the first in their family to attend university and 81% attended a state school.
We aim to recruit 1,000 graduates and ex-Forces personnel to join our Careers Programme each year. To achieve this, we work with students, graduates, careers departments and current and ex-members of HM Forces. Our relationships with
universities and career transition organisations in particular are fundamental to our recruitment process as they enable a steady pipeline of talent for our internal community. Like many graduate employers, we work with specific universities in our bid to recruit the very best talent into FDM. These universities are diverse in terms of location, size and ranking and in turn, our inclusivity begins on day one as we seek out candidates who are enthused by technology regardless of educational background.
As we continue to expand, so does our network of people. Our impact now spans four continents and in the UK, we have centres in London, Leeds and Glasgow. Not only do we benefit from the breadth of cultures, languages and ethnicities present within the FDM Community but so do our clients, as they benefit from diversity of thought, fresh concepts, open mind sets and new approaches. We also encourage gender balance in the workforce and our dedicated women in IT campaign has seen our female staff figures rise to 25% globally and 50% within the senior management team. In addition to supporting and encouraging more women to consider a career in tech,
Diversity is at the forefront of our ongoing campaign to reflect the multiplicity within tech. With thousands of graduates having progressed through our Careers Programme, we have created a solid community of FDMers past and present, building a range of experience and knowledge to be shared. This diversity of knowledge is what enables us to continue creating and inspiring exciting careers that will help to shape our digital future. n
www.agr.org.uk | Graduate Recruiter 25
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36