Fireside Chat Series: Inclusion & Diversity

Transcription

1 Fireside Chat Series: Inclusion & Diversity Grace Yip Managing Director, Accenture Head of HR, ASEAN Inclusion & Diversity Lead, ASEAN Arun Sundar Chief Strategy Officer, TrustSphere Chairman, Asia Analytics Alliance (a special interest group of ACCA) Founder, The Social Capital Institute On International Women s Day in 2018, TrustSphere s CSO, Arun Sundar caught up with Accenture s HR Head for Asean, Grace Yip to discuss how HR can create more impact with their Inclusion & Diversity programs by leveraging the power of analytics to measure and optimize the value from organizational networks and balance gender dynamics at the workplace. Interview Transcript The world of business has always latched on to topics of glamour seeking attention but it has also evolved in its fairness. Inclusion and Diversity is a topic that is catching a lot of attention and action these days. Asia from this context is very relevant given it is home to a large part of the world s population. But what s happening in Asia from the Inclusion and Diversity perspective, what are leaders thinking about it, what are they doing about it, what are their challenges. Let s understand it and explore it little further with Grace Yip from Accenture who has a very interesting perspective about Inclusion and Diversity. Given the facets of Diversity here in Asia expands beyond the standards of the rest of the world, it goes to the extent of religion, culture, ethnicity and whatnot. Let s hear more from Grace. Thank you Arun. I m the head of HR for Accenture. And yes the Inclusion and Diversity agenda is a very important thing both in terms of the position I hold but more importantly because it s something I ve always been very passionate about. I ve been passionate about this topic because I feel I ve been a recipient of incredible support to be the best that I can be and I feel that is absolutely important to pay it forward to be able to leave a legacy to be able to create and make an impact in a community where I would love to see both men and women thrive. For me Inclusion is really a celebration of individuality. It is about the fact that we all have very different strengths yet if we are able to come together then the sum is greater than the parts. To me that is true Inclusion and in today s context if you think about the power of Diversity, for me it is about experience, it is about different skills, it is about different perspectives all coming together to create great impact. It is time for us to turn a blind eye to things like nationality, skin colour, age, male, female because there is so much more than that. And I believe that we can see when there s true Inclusion. I think that if you are able to look into the eyes of a team member who is a minority in your team and he or she can tell you I feel supported and I feel I m able to perform at my best. And the environment is supportive of that. To me, when someone who is a minority in your team feels that, that for me is true Inclusion. That s very interesting. So you brought in a point of looking at someone from a minority. You look at them and you feel whether it is an Inclusion or not environment, right? But if that is the case, is it how the world looks at it? So for example let s come back to Accenture. Accenture made a statement that by 2025, 50 percent of your workforce will be women. That sounds to me like a number. Is Diversity and Inclusion all about the number or is it a feeling or a mindset we should talk about? 1

2 I think it s a great question. I think the old axiom actually holds true. What gets measured gets done. And I think it is really bold leadership in action for us to come out and say this is important. It is not just important it is urgent. For us real Diversity is a source of strength. It is about the ability to bring creativity and innovation to the table and is something that we are absolutely committed to. But what we are concerned about is not just a number. It s about how we get there--how do we create that support? How do we enable everyone, both men and women to really thrive in their careers at Accenture? One of the things that we ve actually done is to release research called Getting to Equal 2018 and it is an annual research that we have done over the last 14 years as we have been celebrating International Women s Day. It is about the topic Getting to Equal which is all about what are the factors that actually make a real significant impact in creating an Inclusive work place environment and a culture that allows both genders to thrive. And one of the key things that came out in that research was that there are companies that take bold leadership stand and publicly declare their intent and purpose to create an Inclusive environment and to support both genders. That was one of the key findings that actually came out. So I think it is a commitment, the energy, the momentum that we are generating to making this work place Inclusive that will make an impact and difference for us. Very interesting. So there are two perspectives you brought out there, two pillars to ensure you are achieving it. So one is bold leadership, the other one is culture. If I were to look at these two very closely, leadership boils down to a few people in the organization and culture in action boils down to mindsets. Let s take leadership first. If we look at leadership today, most of the leadership is still made of men. So how much effort do you think men who enjoyed the biases in their favour would be willing to ensure that an Inclusion mindset becomes a larger agenda which might work against them. What is the role that leadership plays in the whole thing? So maybe we bring in an Asia context. I think Asia is for me the place to be in right now. There s so much energy, there s so much excitement, there s huge transformation platform businesses being formed. In view of this fact for us to be able to drive such huge digital transformations, it is imperative that we leverage the best of Asia s talent. If you look closer to home in Singapore, look at some of the statistics out there. About 30 percent of women are in management positions, about 10 percent in boards and these numbers have not changed very much over the years. And like you said I attribute it back to the fact that we haven t done enough to change mindsets. So much more needs to be done to truly shift the needle. And unless there is a true mindset shift I don t think these numbers are going to change very much. And so if you think about leadership and the importance of leadership there is no question that leadership sets the tone for everyone to be able to create an inclusive environment. A lot of it is about what the leadership says and does. If you think about what really matters, the language that we as leaders use has a huge impact. I also think that it is time to move beyond the assumptions. As leaders if we are able to not assume and are able to ask how may I care more and create a level of flexibility that is specific to each individual s needs beyond just the programs or policies in place and create a sense of security that people can use these programs. That will be incredibly powerful. If I may touch back on the research that I talked about Getting to Equal one of the other very interesting data points that we saw was that in organizations where there was at least one senior woman leader that is three times higher chance of women getting up to manager level. I think that s a powerful statistic right. And women in leadership matter. It is about role models, it is about correcting behaviours that are not supportive of an inclusive environment, and it is about bringing different perspectives to the table, changing the way decisions are being made, having a different voice. So I think it is incredibly important especially in Asia that we support women who are deserving of being in the leadership positions. And if I look around both within the organization as well as in my network externally I don t think we are short of talented brave courageous women. And I think it is time for us to both step up and support them. Absolutely. I completely agree. I don t think there s a shortage of talented women. But coming from Asia my own experience or thought processes says that the typical women in Asia, as she goes through her career, she has to 2

3 manage three different ecosystems. One of the ecosystems is where she works geographically. For example if you take Accenture itself, Accenture is on an international level taking Inclusion and Diversity very seriously. The second is a regional ecosystem in which she works: maybe Accenture in the US is different from Accenture in say Vietnam. So there s a local ecosystem that drives processes. The third is a mindset where she was born and raised. So at any given point in time for a lady in Asia, there are three ecosystems and the mindsets of these three ecosystems at play which is very intangible. So how do you as an organization or as a leader put together programs that ensure that every level of the organization change their mindset? Because what excites the general may not always excite the soldier, and at the end of the day, typical employees interact with the soldiers. So how do you change the mind, to start with the soldiers who are the masses and then initiate a change? I think that s a lot of questions at one go. But I think it talks to perhaps a second big finding. I think they showed up in our Getting to Equal research and that is about organizations taking comprehensive action. I m very proud to be part of an organization that does that. If you think about mindsets and I agree with you. Programs are as successful as the mindsets that they change and in the space of Inclusion and Diversity there are many different sorts of mindsets to change. It isn t one single mindset. If I think about empowering women, it is also about giving them the confidence and the assurance and the support that they can go as far as they want to go, where their potential will take them. I personally have been a beneficiary of some incredible leadership development programs. Actually I ve had three. One was a woman s leadership development program. One was a global leadership development program available to both men and women and there was another leadership development program specifically for the Asian countries. And I learnt different things about being ready to be a leader. I can still remember very clearly in the Women Leadership Development Program, the insights and one session, which I feel made that program very impactful in changing my mindset. First thing was the fact that I felt that I was really capable to do modern delivery. I could do sales because that was what I was doing all along every day. The second thing was the confidence that I have strengths that are worthwhile to bring to the table. I remember walking out of that program saying to myself I think I can be a leader in this company. I think I can be successful. I think the environment was conducive for a lot of us women to develop that confidence and that conviction that we could be successful leaders in Accenture. Just as in a global leadership development program, we were open to leadership, to global leadership, and we were collaborating across countries. We all do different things. So I think when it comes to programs it is important to be clear about the outcome that you re trying to achieve. Some of it could be shifting mindsets of women: some of it could be shifting mindsets of men. Sometimes it could be shifting mindsets of both genders. And I think that s important to have that comprehensive view that different initiatives are targeted to deal with different parts of shifting mindsets. I think the other thing that I find very interesting and I think you would agree with me is this concept of networks and the importance of networks in building a career and in leaders. I think you shared with me in the past as well that you know a lot of the research that TrustSphere has done has demonstrated that all men and women typically start up building networks in a very similar fashion. Somewhere along the lines it changes doesn t it? I think we mentioned a bit about the fact that men seem to be better buildings skip levels within networks and relationships. And somewhere along the line women stopped doing that. And I think those are very powerful insights and that s where analytics has a real place to play into this. And again if you look at the fact that we aware of these insights, we provide support to our women. We have about a hundred different networks across the company that allows women to create and build these networks. We have a digital platform called Accenture women s network that allows people to connect, share challenges, get support and it s not just in tunnel networks right? Even locally if we look at how we network we provide opportunities to our women to be able to network externally. For example we have technology, our Accenture women technology women networks where we make sure that we create that opportunity and help people have the ability to network and build those skills in networking. It s very interesting, it sounds to me that you re doing two things. One is you re pulling up a mirror and showing men and women their networks or what is their individual social capital. There is a presumption that if you have extended 3

4 social capital, your potential to grow in an organization increases. The second part is you re creating a conducive environment for women to expand the social capital. But how are women engaging? Are they responsive enough because many of them might be coming from a pretty conservative background that building a network beyond your work network may not be taken well? But if they are shown it s importance and are they digging it? And how are you helping them change their mindsets? I think that ties in very nicely with the power of analytics. And I think the power of analytics, the way I see it; it is about a very sharp surgical knife that is able to cut through a lot of things and to provide actionable insights by which people can actually take targeted actions. I have to say that from my experience a lot of women have stepped up and to be honest a lot of men have also stepped up to provide their female colleagues, co-workers the ability to be successful as they need to be. In the space of networking I have seen actually quite a number of very successful events where we ve brought both men and women together to provide that opportunity to be able to build those networks internally and externally. But back to the point, analytics has three things that are very powerful. One is a clarity that it brings to the data and to the problem. The second thing is about the ability to target and have clear actions. And the third is consistency. I think we re very fortunate today that you know in the space of analytics, a lot of these challenges are now being put into the world of people analytics. And it is an exciting time that companies can start to think about how they use data differently, to change the conversation on Inclusion and Diversity. And if you think about what we re doing at Accenture and let s talk about perhaps talent acquisition, it is really important to make sure we remove structural biases from the recruitment process. What we ve done as recently as last year is rolled out across ASEAN, a new sort of assessment process as part of recruitment and we gamified that experience, we created a fun experience in 12 games in 20 minutes. And we ve actually used real data to grade. This is no longer just looking at a CV but really understanding an individual s potential. And having back tested the assessments to make sure that they are gender bias free is an important part of putting this assessment together and rolling it out. To me the data now gives us a lot more appreciation of the individual strengths and the likelihood of the individual being successful in a company like Accenture and in the roles that we choose to put them into. That s very exciting because I personally believe that bias start at the zero moment. So if you have an existing system which seems to be working there might be inherent biases in that. From the time you scan the CV, you to look at universities to recruit from or put up an interview panel that already might have a bias. But at the end of the day, Accenture has a business to run where the business gets measured in terms of its balance sheet. So how do you tie these programs which you are running to reflect well in the balance sheet or how do you establish causality of that or is that a thinking that you are in the process of addressing right now? So I think that for a long time we ve done so much research internally and externally to know that it is a clear case that organizations that bring creativity, organizations that have a good amount of Inclusion and Diversity bring creativity and innovation to the table. For us that causality was established a long time ago. What we are trying to do now is really to up our game, to be able to increase the speed, to be able to see how our actions and our programs and our mindsets can change at a faster speed and to be able to bring this to reality. So let me shift gears a little. I would like to understand more about what do you think is the biggest difference in Asia when you re leading an Inclusion and Diversity function compared to say in the U.S. or any of the western parts of the world where this topic has been discussed far more than in Asia? I think we need to create open safe environments for these conversations to happen. And that takes some work. I think that happens when there is an ability to have open compelling conversations. When people choose to adopt a growth mindset, this topic of how leaders need to step up to demonstrate that change, that to me will spark huge 4

5 change. And I think that in the past perhaps this is an area that we haven t done that much of and I m proud to say yes we celebrate International Women s Day in Singapore. That s exactly what we re trying to create, a safe environment where people both men and women regardless of their level in the organization can come together and start having open conversations, listen to different perspectives and recognize that each of us have an ability to champion change. Because we believe that Inclusion starts with each individual and in each of our sphere of influence, we have an ability to stand up. You know when we see something that s not right, we have the ability to support you and know you have the support of our fellow colleagues and our teams. It s a choice that we each individually need to make. We can create an environment where people recognize that their voice matters. That leaders are demonstrating a visible commitment to this makes me think the conversation really can change. So what has been your biggest challenge in doing all of this? The biggest challenge perhaps is thinking outside the box and perhaps trying something new and different in terms of bringing analytics to the table. Because I really believe that the power of analytics could really change this conversation. But that includes perhaps doing things differently, exploring opportunities differently and trying to find the time to sit down and think about how we can use the power of analytics in a more effective way such that each individual, department or team is able to have the insights it needs that is specific to them, specific to their teams and use that information to be able to drive real action. So any specific advice to upcoming Inclusion and Diversity leaders, specifically in Asia? Where do you think they should start. What other things would you suggest they should be very careful about at the start of the journey? I really think that this is Asia s time and I think that the hot bed of Asia can be strengthened with both men and women voices and I think that it is time for both men and women in Asia to stand up and own this Inclusion and Diversity agenda. I think it s in true partnership and in creating an open and safe environment, that will be a great place to start. I do think that we have a long journey ahead and I think each of us need to understand the nature of our own organizations and try and find the real sponsors and supporters to be able to drive these conversations. But more importantly I think that in creating an Inclusive environment, helping each individual be able to feel their best in the organization, bring their best, I think that is an important piece of the puzzle that will really drive this conversation of gender diversity forward. Thank you Grace. From what I have learned from Grace today, bold leadership, open mindset and technology seems to be the three pillars of Inclusion and Diversity. As communities and business evolve to having fairness as their fundamental fabric, Inclusion and Diversity is not a good to have, it s a must have, something which we owe to the future. With leaders like Grace and the advent of advanced technologies, the future definitely seems bright but we all have a role to play. Interesting times. TrustSphere is the pioneer of real-time Organizational Network Analytics, revolutionizing People Analytics and Human Capital Management. By analyzing the meta data from enterprise communication and collaboration systems, TrustSphere empowers true data-driven decision making. Current uses include accelerating employee onboarding, identifying key influencers and collaborators, answering essential organizational design questions, and predicting employee burnout. The results are achieved without ever accessing any communication content. The solutions are deployable in real time or as a diagnostic service. For more information, us at PeopleAnalytics@trustsphere.com. 5