The issue of diversity is squarely on the boardroom table in 2020.
By Kathy Gibson
Women and minorities have traditionally been poorly represented in the technology space, but organisations around the world are now taking positive steps to address the imbalance.
Thibault Dousson, country GM of Lenovo South Africa, points out that the global IT industry is dominated by middle-aged white men, and this needs to change.
But the issue of diversity goes deeper than race or gender, he says.
“Yes, gender diversity is important. Only 33% of our EMEA workforce today is made up of women. This is better than the average but it is clearly not not enough.
“However, diversity is also about being completely international, with people form different backgrounds and cultures.”
This diversity isn’t about being philanthropic, Dousson adds. It helps organisations to keep their finger on the market pulse, and stay ahead of disruption.
“Our EMEA boss comes from Nokia, so he has seen first-hand what happens when boards lack diversity. Nokia, which was the mobile phone market leader by a long way, didn’t see the rise of the smartphone. And we know what happened there.”
Lenovo is sensitive to the need for diversity of opinion and views. “It is important for innovation, and also for a global approach to the business.”
Having a diversity of people in the organisation who represent various age groups, communities and cultures is often underestimated, Dousson says.
“From a brand recognition point of view, we are trying to appeal to different generations and cultures – but we will battle to succeed if we don’t have diversity at the core.
“Cultural understanding is very important,” he adds. Lenovo has learnt that it needs to make sure the people in a particular office are a good match with the customers in that region.
“It is also important for recruitment. You will battle to recruit talent if your company is all one flavour. The new generation of workers don’t want to work for companies where there is no diversity.”
Dousson believes that Lenovo is making the right moves when it comes to diversity. “It’s what I like about our CEO. He actually understands that you need to put local people into a region in order to be successful. At Lenovo, the people from the region run the region.”
And it’s not just a strategy, he says. “The company is really applying it.”
There’s still a long road to travel, Dousson adds, but a start has been made.
Currently, Lenovo employs 66 different nationalities in 66 markets; 33% of the workforce is women, with the number growing to 36% in the international markets. However, women only occupy 19% of executive roles.
“We are nowhere close enough, but there is a push: it is important for the company to do it, and quickly.”
There are a number of marketing strategies and programmes to drive this strategy. A Women in Leadership programme aims to grow women into executive roles. “This is a proper structure to help women pursue a career in Lenovo and to help them to do so.”
The culture of diversity can’t just be an issue for women and minorities, Dousson adds. The whole organisation needs to be sensitised and ready for it.
“The more we create diversity, the more we will be able to attract talent to the company. To do that, we need to create an enable environment within the organisation.”
One of the programmes is sensitivity training to ensure that all employees understand the need for diversity, how it is being done and how it is perceived.
“We want all employees to understand that we are all different. Now people are starting to understand one another a lot better, which has also led to increased trust in the company.”
Dousson says the effects are starting to be felt, and in South Africa there are positive moves to grow the number of women in the organisation.
Currently, about 33% of the local workforce is made up of women, and about 33% of management. “I would like to make these numbers better,” he says. “We have to start the process from the bottom, and grow more women into middle management, which is where we have the lowest representation.
“This what we are working towards: It cannot be just words, we need to ensure that it happens.”