Tracy Maraj, VP, Global People Operations at Qubit, talks about the exciting new diversity and inclusion program they are implementing in the company.
I’ve recently joined Qubit, the leader in data-driven personalisation, where I am responsible for leading and shaping our people strategy. It is an exciting and unique opportunity to build upon a commitment to diversity and inclusion, to support the full talent lifecycle at a time of accelerating growth for the company.
Introducing an expanded diversity and inclusion program to a company going through such changes can be daunting. I imagine it’s a bit like attempting to weave a cohesive new story through a tapestry begun years ago. For me, the challenge is simplified if we start with a set of guiding principles:
Rapid growth certainly creates a number of challenges for us. How can we better find and compete for the best candidates to satisfy our hiring needs? How do we develop our leadership pipeline? How do we address communication challenges as we expand across the globe? How can we stay focused on diversity and inclusion efforts as initiatives arising from the growth compete for time and attention?
There are many opportunities as well, though, if we look at this growth through a diversity and inclusion lens. Expanding globally provides opportunities to develop expertise working cross-culturally. Having knowledge and skills around working cross-culturally is an asset to our company and the global economy. We can leverage employee resource groups to help educate, inform, champion, drive awareness, support recruiting efforts and align with our strategic partners.
As a foundation for this initiative we’ll focus on the following:
To be sure, there will be pockets of success where the tapestry is vibrant and there will be spaces in between. We will continue to calibrate and refine our efforts, iterating often to ensure the program stays fresh and impactful. Let’s not forget that any D&I initiative is integral to the a company’s people strategy and it’s imperative that leadership at all levels work together to ensure its success.