Hayley Mooney

CRN: What's the most pressing issue preventing progress with diversity today that no one's talking about?

HM: " First and foremost, we have to agree what diversity is. I have recently read the Inclusion at Work Panel recommendations, issued in March 2024, and in that report, that are some interesting points. There is much confusion and lack of understanding in the workplace about this specifically. Most notably for me, there are 2 key areas that stand out:

• Achieving Diversity and Inclusion is not just about a strong mix of gender and race. As an example, if these people are all from the same middle-class area, you are not truly progressing. I find this a prominent point for the channel. Typically, the recruitment strategies are focussed on the local area and so we need to think about how we build upon that to reach the more diverse communities, such as in education and across the classes. For example, taking on apprentices instead of graduates.
• At the same time, we must not forget about the people that have got this industry to where it is today. Age diversity is critical to success and we need a blend of ages to achieve equality in the workplace. We also need their skills and experience in the business for the younger generation to learn from. What got us here might not get us there, but there are so many skilled people in this channel, with great experience. Using their skills, and taking an approach to life-long learning and development, where all people are included, we will achieve more, and faster. There is evidence that we are overlooking very capable candidates because they don't meet the tick box criteria. A tick box exercise in a recruitment process does not make you diverse. I'm a big fan of AI, but nothing takes away the human interaction needed when recruiting humans! Pre-screen bots are holding us back from quality candidate selection that requires good human judgement. A CV will never tell you how inquisitive, how conscientious or how authentic a candidate is. These are critical qualities that our businesses need, and our customers deserve."

CRN: How much progress do you believe the industry has made in diversity since you started working in IT?

HM: " The industry has made great progress. When I joined the IT Channel in 2001, there were no apprenticeships available to me. I just "fell" into the job straight out of school. Much like many of us in this industry. We didn't set out for a career in technology, yet here we are, in a thriving industry. Our female representation has increased and I do believe that most businesses are committed to delivering against their objectives to become more diverse and socially responsible.

"That said, children in schools still don't know we even exist! That's the reason we set up the Tech Channel Ambassadors (TCA). We have an obligation as leaders in the channel to raise as much awareness as we can, into schools, as early as possible, to spark interest, to join our industry. It is thriving and it's growing, and we don't have enough people coming into the industry to fuel us. We need to come together as one voice, and make it known to all communities that they have the opportunity for a modern and long-term career."

CRN: What should senior management teams be doing more of to help create a more inclusive industry for everyone?

HM: " More and more, employers are confused, trying to meet D&I targets, and overlooking the best person for the job. Employers are not educated and enabled on how to achieve equality in the workplace, and so this leads to bad decision making when it comes to recruitment. The new employee doesn't work out and this creates even more work for the people leaders. We need to fix this. Our managers need to be empowered with the data, and educated in the right way.

"The Inclusion at Work Panel report cites confidence and "fear of doing something wrong" as some of the main barriers for people leaders. Legal and HR policies must be defined to support the teams, and they must be enabled properly. D&I must reside at the top, on the board and c-level, and everyone in the business must be committed to achieving the goals. The goals need to be well-defined and measurable, and the teams should be coached accordingly."

CRN: What have been some of your experiences (both good and bad) with how the channel has historically approached diversity?

HM: " I think a lot of the time, you only hear the bad stories. But there are many positive stories too. I believe that we will achieve better D&I when we fix the fundamental problem. We need a bigger talent pool in the first place. With the new initiative from the TCA, we have the opportunity to reach more school children than ever, to tell them about our great industry.

"Every conversation I have in a school, it usually follows with a request from at least a few of the pupils for work experience, whether that be a one to two week period, or an internship over the summer. Work experience can have a great impact on students. A few that I have worked with in the last years have enjoyed the working environment, learned that IT is NOT about being just technical, and have come away from it with a positive perception they didn't have before! If we can encourage more children, from all backgrounds, with varied education paths, we will naturally improve diversity across the channel."

CRN: Do you think companies should be compelled to publish ‘ethnicity pay gap' data?

HM: "Yes. Because there shouldn't be one! But for meaningful context, it requires a regional approach."