DataIQ (DIQ): Could you provide a brief history of your experience with DEI initiatives and programmes?
Manraj Othi (MO): I co-founded and built up several corporate DEI networks over the last 14 years. The first was when I was in my early 20s working in finance, and it grew to become the largest corporate faith-based network in the UK. We went from 15 members to 6,500 in a couple of years. The growth of this community came about through the collaborative nature of the group, which was open to all regardless of background, bringing banks and consultancies together, to learn and connect around a shared interest.
This was coupled with youth career mentoring programmes. I began on an individual basis of going to schools in Bermondsey, London in the mornings for career mentoring with Year 9 students and then on different days I visited at lunchtimes to do literacy coaching supporting reading and writing development for Year 4 students. This was then scaled across the UK, and I expanded the reach through the DEI network to include university students and sixth form students from diverse and socioeconomically challenged backgrounds, who were looking for support on the path forward with their careers as they had no other support at home or networks for this.
I was approached in 2015 by the Mayor of London’s team to become a culture advisor – a non-paid advisory role I still have today. The Mayoral team had heard about the calibre, educational and inclusive nature of the programmes we were facilitating and asked me to work with them on bringing London together on faith and culture. This has allowed me to lead and support a number of different faith and cultural events held throughout the year for all Londoners. I made a lot of good friends over the years through this work, and we have collaborated closely on a broad range of initiatives – visual arts, music, food, youth, charities, business, sports and more.
I also got buy-in from the leadership teams at a well-established law firm and a financial service provider for their DEI journeys. These still exist and are continuing to grow. One started very London-centric in its scope, based in Canary Wharf, but this soon evolved and expanded across the UK, receiving strong collaboration with other sector businesses.
Now, in my role at Starbucks, I have been working to support the DEI initiatives as part of the DEI Council for Europe, Middle East and Africa and how this differs depending on the sector and global location. The scale of employees in each office or region needs to be assessed to effectively address what would be appropriate and most impactful for a programme or project. It can be beneficial to work on a broader range of DEI areas rather than too narrow a space given the scale and collaborate with external networks instead of trying to do everything internally.
DIQ: In your opinion, what are the challenging aspects of improving DEI in organisations?
MO: To get senior leadership teams and decision-makers sponsorship can be a hurdle. To combat this, what is needed is a good, clear narrative that touches upon some form of imperative business case. You need to make sure they know that leadership understand that the DEI initiative proposed is not just a passion project for yourself, but that it aligns to and supports the organisational strategy.
My view has always been that DEI is good for business. If you understand the colleagues next to you better, or you better understand your client – such as different backgrounds and ways of living – you generate better business and productivity. Compelling storytelling helps to make this happen.
When it comes to creating a space and receiving investment for DEI programmes, in my experience there has never been a challenge about understanding why it was needed, but the decision-makers wanted to know why it should be done this way and at this scale. There can be concern when it comes to areas such as faith that setting up an initiative aimed at that topic may isolate or leave some people feeling unwelcome – this needs to be addressed and disproven. For example, if an academic is invited to come and speak about a specific topic, it is for everyone to attend and learn on fact-based basis, not just those from that background or belief system – they are for everyone. If you set up a youth mentoring programme for people of a certain background, it is for anyone who wants to mentor and support the youth, not just mentors that come from that specific background.
A DEI initiative needs to be shown as inclusive and open in how it operates and not something that will create a form of ostracising for different team members. I believe this comes with trust in how you deliver, so I always try to take things slow and steady – see how things go with the first or second initiative and build trust in the operation from there. I have personally found if it is to be faith or culture based, the topics need to be presented in a fact-based objective manner, as opposed to opinions and perspectives. There is overlap here with the ongoing need for data professionals to be adept at storytelling with solid data points – utilising visualisation tools to make sure your points land. People need to leave a discussion educated, informed and excited. A KPI for success needs to be that someone attending leaves having learned something new. That is all the ROI needed, in my opinion, because of the ripple effect on the person going forward to continue being informed or able to have a conversation that they have not had before. It is a learning curve – it is okay to not know something.
When you have your events, get a photographer. This is excellent for the marketing and exposure of the DEI initiatives. Usually there is good pre-event marketing of something happening, but it can fall off easily after the event. By having good quality photos, you can show that it took place, people had a good time, people were educated and highlight the calibre of the event. This grows momentum and gives people an incentive to attend to experience it. Never be disheartened if only a few people turn up to the first one – be positive and proactive in your marketing.
Other challenges include making sure colleagues within your organisation know that these initiatives and programmes exist and take place. One of the best ways to spread the benefits of DEI is through word-of-mouth. When one person who is taking part in something at their business discusses it with friends and family, it incentivises those individuals to create their own DEI initiatives. There can be a communication barrier that needs to be appreciated and tackled – our lives are busy, but we can prioritise what we do not know about. This allows the initiative’s sustainment and momentum with ongoing participation.
DIQ: How can an organisation critically assess the impact and success of DEI initiatives?
MO: Organisations need to understand having a bottom-up approach matched with a top-down view of strategic priorities is key to ensure the initiative is the right fit for your business. Not just implementing or sorting by the most impactful or effective from the top down. Assessing the potential benefits of the initiative alongside a demand assessment of whether people see this as valuable, useful and informative to them will be key.
Additionally, you need to be aware of new starters – make sure they know from the very start about your DEI initiatives and programmes. Inform them from the first day on the job and get them interested. It will soon become common knowledge and drive better engagement, allowing a better-informed, more inclusive workforce.
DIQ: In a period of recruitment and retention pressures for data professionals, how do you think data companies can create a more inclusive environment to attract diverse employees?
MO: Things have evolved – new staff members are expecting a more holistic attraction proposition compared to before. It used to just be based on salary progression, cultural mission statement values on a page and some free snacks in the kitchen, but now prospective employees are taking a deeper dive into the culture and atmosphere of trust in a business to see if this is somewhere they can feel included, heard and be themselves. Businesses need to walk the walk and demonstrate these aspects with their DEI programmes and investment to bring the right data professionals into the business and differentiate their capabilities from competitors. The nature of the work can be nearly identical between businesses, but the internal culture and scope of DEI initiatives can be drastically different, and this can be the selling point to convince prospective team members to join. It is about the day-to-day, how you are made to feel within the culture and whether you can be truly authentic – this is how businesses can improve recruitment and retention.
DIQ: How can a business get started on their DEI journey? Are there any external starting points that you would recommend, or is it a case of do it yourself and dedicate time for an internal vision?
MO: Without a doubt talking to peers in industries is helpful and the DataIQ community is ideal for this because it allows you to understand what is working well in other businesses and the data community. It can take maybe 12 months of hard work behind the scenes to get a DEI programme up and running, but sometimes you only see the shiny output of what it looks like once it has gone live. The behind-the-scenes part is the difficult bit – getting investment, leadership alignment, resources, etc. By being able to talk with individuals about their experiences and learning how they created their DEI programmes can be extremely beneficial and help you go live even faster without having the same stumbling blocks.
You need to know who your allies are in the business when it comes to launching your initiative and work closely with them. For example, is it recruitment because it is to do with the next generation of the data workforce? Is it learning and development because it is focused on the people already within the business? Usually, HR is a strong ally to have. You cannot do it on your own and you need to be clear about who to work with and receive support from.
You may also find sponsors and support from places you did not consider. For example, a CFO or CMO may have developed an interest in nurturing future talent, and they then become an advocate. It is important to map your stakeholders, allies and sponsors upfront, because if you do not get the right sponsorship the task of setting up a DEI initiative becomes more challenging and may not go the distance. This does depend on the size of the organisation, of course. If you are a 10-person organisation then maybe the CEO is the right person to go to, but if you are looking to scale there is going to be someone else who is passionate about driving improved outcomes for the business.
To get involved with the DataIQ DEI working group, please email Alex Roberts at alex.roberts@dataiq.global. Involvement with the DEI working group is only open to DataIQ members. To become a DataIQ member, click here.
