Diversity is key to unlocking staff potential and helping businesses grow
Embracing diversity can enable businesses to grow and tap into a new set of skills and experiences.
That was the message from four leaders in their fields across the Northern region working to improve the mix of diversity and inclusion in the world of work.
Sally Penni MBE, founder of Women in the Law UK, argued that the North is fortunate to have many visible role models.
She said it is important to attract talent to the region, rather than falling into the trap of being too London-centric: “We are in the North and in the city of Emmeline Pankhurst. We need more people to come here and to see that, and invest in us.”
Sally said one area in particular needs addressing: “The number of women CEOs, for example, is abysmal.”
This was picked up by Beth Houghton, partner at Palatine Private Equity which invests in many Northern businesses, who said they work closely with the 25 companies currently in their portfolio on this matter: “We are tracking diversity across our portfolio. We talk about things like unconscious bias,” she said.
Craig Burton, founder of Friends of Dorothy, a group that supports older members of the LGBT community, highlighted the value of being able to utilise experience and different perspectives in life.
He said: “The older, older LGBT community were going back in the closet.”
He said they had lost the sense of community because LGBT bars are now “all flashing lights”.
Craig said: “We set about bringing these people back out and creating a community.
“Community is an antidote to loneliness – simple stuff, but you have to do your research.
“These older people are the giants on whose shoulders we stand. It’s important for us to bring the young community to meet older, older people. It’s a bit like them having grandparents and also about them being leaders of tomorrow as well.”
Irene Afful, a board member of Professional Liverpool and behind Ametrine Coaching & Consultancy, said equality and diversity has been a passion of hers for decades and her work helps businesses embrace change.
Irene Afful
“My company works with organisations to give them something they can measure their progress on – helping organisations to realise their full potential, like having diversity represented at the top of the organisation.”
Sally Penni believes neurodiversity and intersectionality, such as non-visible disabilities like ADHD, are the next areas of focus: “There is a lot of CEO entrepreneurs who are dyslexic,” she said by way of example.
She believes more people with such conditions need to be brought into the economy and businesses. She said: “Some people can’t come in at 9am – bring them in at 2pm, so long as the work is done.”
Sally also highlighted a dangerous attitude that some companies betray, who say ‘We have got a gay – we have got a few women’. She said: “Don’t treat them as competing factors.”
Irene used personal experience to illustrate how companies can benefit from a change of attitude: “I have a son who is ADHD and is being assessed on the autism spectrum.”
She said people with such conditions have great skills to bring to the business world, but are often overlooked: “My son is such a talented and sensitive child, but his skills around academia might not be up to scratch. It is about making the right adjustments to welcome them into the business world,” she said
Session host, broadcaster and entrepreneur Ngunan Adamu, responded: “It’s not about the spellcheck, it’s about the application form.”
And she added a personal view when discussing interview panels: “A friend of mine is Chinese. She lost out on a job interview because they said she didn’t give eye contact. She’s a great exec producer. I thought, really?”
Invest North is a one-day virtual conference bringing together more than 500 people including business and policy leaders to set the agenda for what comes next in the North.
The event has been curated by TheBusinessDesk.com and backed by a broad coalition of organisations spanning the public and private sectors, led by EY, Squire Patton Boggs, Influential, and Impact Data Metrics.
