Why the technology industry needs to up its diversity game

The lack of diversity within the tech industry, combined with the growing technical skills gap, is a ripe opportunity to tackle two problems at the same time. Belton Flournoy, managing director at Protiviti UK, outlines his perspectives on what needs to be happening at board level to break-down barriers and to encourage more proactive environments.

Can you tell us about your background and role at Protiviti?

I’m a managing director in our technology consulting practice, working in our cybersecurity and identity team. Part of my job requires me to help clients understand the maturity of their identity and access management processes within their organisation and to make recommendations to align to best practice. I love to help clients figure out how to navigate the vendor landscape across all these different technologies and to find what makes the most sense for their organisation not only from a risk mitigation perspective, but also from a cost perspective.

Can you share some personal insights on what drives you and how you’ve overcome challenges within your career?

One of the biggest challenges I had to work to overcome was imposter syndrome. As an individual who grew up in Houston, Texas, I was frequently the only person of colour in the room and as an individual going to a Catholic school, I was typically surrounded by people, hearing that being gay was wrong. So, not only did I feel like an outsider, I felt like who I was, was wrong. At a very young age, I told myself that when I walked into a room and everyone stared, it was because I belonged – I told myself that to re-frame negative thoughts and turn them into positive thoughts. That’s been one of the biggest benefits that I’ve had in my career – understanding where you want to get to and how you need to think to get there.

What barriers do ethnic minorities face within the tech industry?

Two common misconceptions I regularly hear are:

1. I do not see someone like me in the workplace
2. I did not think it was a viable option due to its technical nature

Both these assumptions are false, from both a racial and gender perspective. In a bid to accelerate change across the industry, Protiviti has partnered with 11 other tech firms, including Microsoft, Computer Centre, Softcat and many others to create the Technology Community for Racial Equality (TC4RE), an initiative actively trying to increase racial representation across the tech sector, to increase organisations’ productivity and to address the skills gap. One of our flagship initiatives is a campaign called ‘See it, Be it,’ where we’ve taken a variety of diverse individuals, who are all working in technology, and asked them to explain to others what it means to have a career in the industry.

Why is the UK tech industry lagging when it comes to diversity and what impact will this have on the industry in the future?

One of the reasons why I think the tech industry is lagging is because people bring in people who are most like themselves. When you look at start-up founders, the percentages are quite grim for ethnic minorities getting seed funding, and for Black women, it’s even more visible, with less than 1% being backed. When most companies in this country are small businesses and people tend to hire people who look like themselves, what you’re going to find is that naturally smaller organisations are less diverse.

While many large organisations have programmes in place to address this challenge, companies should spend more effort supporting this change across the industry, enabling smaller companies to benefit as well. That’s a great way of really trying to change the playing field.

How can the UK tech industry up its game on diversity?

To up its game on diversity, leaders across the technology sector need to truly care and focus on being proactive, opposed to being reactive. For example, when leaders are planning their annual budget, many are not questioning how to tackle diversity, they are waiting for their DEI leads to tell them how to do it. Yet, for every other critical business challenges in their business, they are the ones tackling the big issues. So, if we want to move the dial in the UK tech sector, we need to understand the value that diversity can provide to your organisation and your bottom line, and then we need to have more leaders to think inclusively as part of their day-to-day operations and be proactive about it.

One insightful study is the London School of Economics (LSE) productivity in diversity initiative, which is going to be one of the largest studies of its kind, to understand the impact on productivity that diversity provides. I also wrote an article for LSE on why people ‘don’t really care about diversity’.

Why are role models so important in helping to inspire people from ethnic minorities to pursue a career in tech? 

When I first moved to London, I went back into the closet. I felt no one could know who I was because if people found out I was gay, I could never be successful. Then I was invited to the inaugural launch event of Outstanding – an LGBT+ power list, which featured the top LGBT+ leaders, future leaders and allies.

When I looked at those names, I thought for the first time, ‘I can do it – I can do it because they have done it.’ When it comes to ethnic minority leaders, I didn’t see many growing up. What we need to realise is when you have the next generation looking out for people who look like them and when they only see one type of person, they don’t view that they can do it. I believe that more visible role models will drive more people wanting to pursue a similar career path.

What practical steps should tech companies take to break down barriers and increase diversity?

First, visibly show your support for the cause – TC4RE is a fantastic community to get involved with. Second, invest in your people being inclusive leaders and don’t make them fear asking for funding to do those types of initiatives. The London School of Economics is offering an amazing inclusive leadership course, where leaders will be shown practical tips they can adopt to drive change in their organisation. Lastly, if there is someone you would like to get advice from and they are quite senior, reach out to them – don’t be afraid to ask for a meeting.

How can we as a community come together to invest more and help to prepare the next generation of technology leaders?

Every year Protiviti conducts a Top Risks survey where we get to interview hundreds of C-suite industry leaders to understand what they feel the top risks are facing them in today’s society. The second top risk in 2024 is an organisation’s ability to attract, develop and retain top talent, and manage shifts in labour expectations. Further to that, risk number six is the adoption of digital technologies requiring new skills in short supply, specifically many of those in the technology world. When these two risks are two of the top risks facing organisations, what can we do to address them? Open up the candidate pool and find more individuals who have the right skill set.