Ukie’s Raise the Game Pledge, which was launched a year ago, called upon tech and games companies in the gaming industry to improve diversity and inclusion within their work environments. In doing so, they highlighted some key stats to show just how beneficial a diverse and inclusive workplace can be for a business.
The reports they referenced showed that particularly diverse companies “are 35% more likely to financially outperform their industry’s national average” (McKinsey). And Gender diversity had a significant effect on business strategy, with better decisions being made 25% of the time – 50%, when you include age and geographic diversity (Cloverpop).
Last year, we were one of the many companies who pledged to Raise the Game in Diversity and Inclusion. We knew for us there was a lot of room to improve and we felt compelled to push forward our efforts to cultivate a better-balanced environment – not just for business benefits, but for the enrichment of our working culture.
We had to be realistic on our expectations. Although we work with some of the biggest games publishers and retailers around the globe, our team is relatively small, albeit growing quickly. We didn’t expect to be able to suddenly increase representation of every group across all genders, ethnicities and disabilities. But we did have an opportunity as a growing team to start recruiting with a fresh, more conscious, approach. And there were also ways we could improve inclusion for the current people on our team.
So, how have we progressed one year on? Here are some of the improvements we’ve made so far:
- We’ve more than doubled the number of women across both the commercial and technical side of the business. In conjunction, we’ve started a midweek social on Teams for the Genba women – a relaxed space for them to connect and get to know each other while ‘normal’ social interaction has been on hold.
- We’ve updated our induction pack to include more information on Mental Health resources, as well as communicating our strong desire to be an inclusive, diverse and welcoming environment for all.
- We’ve put our job adverts through a more meticulous editing process to ensure there are no descriptive terms that might alienate or deter certain groups from applying.
- We’re continuing to ensure we dedicate ‘introduction’ posts to new employees at Genba across our social media channels, so that they feel included and welcomed within our team.
It’s great that we’ve had a few wins, but of course the challenge is also in retaining our people. Regarding women, for example, an Accenture / Girls Who Code study found that 50% of women abandon tech careers by the age of 35. This is a rate 45% higher than men the same age. And just 21% said they believed the tech sector was a place they could thrive. So, improving inclusion and providing adequate support and mentoring for employees across minority groups is just as important as attracting them to the roles in the first place.
Looking at tech industries as a whole, there is still a way to go in ethnic diversity too, with ethnic minorities only making up about 18% of the entire workforce. Adding to that an identifiable hesitancy to bring up diversity issues at work, and it’s clear we all need to do more to create diverse and inclusive workplaces.
It’s probably fair to say that cultivating Diversity and Inclusion is a constant effort that companies must always be consciously striving for. With this in mind, we’ll continue to brainstorm new ways to nurture an open and supportive workplace at Genba. As new vacancies open up, we’ll remain open and conscious to increasing recruitment across BAME, gender and disability groups. We’ll continue to review the language and tone of voice in our job adverts and external communications in the hope we can reach a wider, more diverse, audience. And as those from groups new to the Genba team join us, we will adapt to ensure they feel welcome, supported, and included.
You can find out more about our people, culture and values here.
