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InfoQ Homepage Podcasts Jossie Haines and Aneri Shah of Tile on Culture, Mentoring, Diversity and Inclusion

Jossie Haines and Aneri Shah of Tile on Culture, Mentoring, Diversity and Inclusion

In this podcast, Shane Hastie, Lead Editor for Culture & Methods, spoke to Jossie Haines and Aneri Shah of Tile on the culture at Tile, mentoring, diversity & inclusion and retaining women in technology.

Key Takeaways

  • Genuine collaborative and supportive cultures don’t just happen
  • Corporate values need to be real to people, so they feel able to live them every day
  • Looking at diversity and inclusion is not a stand-alone activity – you need to address all aspects of the employee experience
  • Mentoring is important because under-represented groups tend to have the most challenges in the workplace and a proven way to help them achieve success is to provide them with mentors and sponsors
  • 56% of women leave the tech industries after 10-20 years due to their treatment in the workplace – this has to change and we know what to do to change it

Show Notes

  • 00:38 Introductions
  • 01:05 Building the world’s largest location finding network
  • 02:34 Describing the authentic collaborative culture at Tile
  • 02:57 The types of programs that Tile runs to encourage and build the culture
  • 03:17 Explaining the whole-company exercise to redefine the core values
  • 03:59 Listing and explaining the Tile core values:
    • Start with trust
    • Bring it!
    • Build what matters
    • Better together
    • Power what’s next
  • 05:24 The values are real to the people – they deliberately practice them every day
  • 05:32 Value awards enable people to recognize their peers and colleagues
  • 06:08 Ensuring that it’s not just lip-service
  • 06:28 Jossie’s experience leading diversity and inclusion for Tile and how the core values support diversity and inclusion
  • 06:55 Looking at diversity and inclusion is not a stand-alone activity – you need to address all aspects of the employee experience
  • 07:24 Explaining the reason for and background to the mentoring program at Tile
  • 08:16 Mentoring is a passion for Josie
  • 08:43 Mentoring is important because under-represented groups tend to have the most challenges in the workplace and a proven way to help them achieve success is to provide them with mentors and sponsors
  • 09:14 Tile has ~42% women in their workforce
  • 09:33 Describing the monthly group mentoring sessions which are part of the mentoring program
  • 10:17 The key things needed to create a great mentoring program
    • Ensure your matching process develops good matches
    • Set up a good training process for both mentors and mentees
  • 11:23 Stats on the first cohort of mentoring pairs
  • 11:48 The mentorship contract between mentor and mentee
  • 12:31 It’s not just teaching the mentee, it’s giving them a chance to practice what they’ve learned
  • 12:42 Explaining what the mentor gets out of the relationship
  • 13:18 By being a mentor you are developing skills needed for better leadership
  • 13:58 The challenge and discipline needed from the mentee in order to ensure they get the best from the relationship
  • 14:28 The mentee needs to be willing to listen to feedback
  • 15:05 The importance of safety and trust in the mentor-mentee relationship
  • 15:48 The challenges that women in technology face and the high proportion of women who leave the tech industry
  • 16:18 Examples of the way women in technical roles are treated
  • 17:08 The importance of having women in technology to ensure that products are built for women and by them
  • 17:23 Asking Siri about sports as an example of the bias against women in technology products
  • 17:43 56% of women leave the tech industry after 10-20 years
  • 18:03 Things that are needed to create the right environment for women to be successful
    • An inclusive, supportive environment
    • A supportive boss or sponsor
    • Internal resilience
  • 18:34 Resilience is a skill that can be learned
  • 18:48 This is not just a women’s issue – men need to step up, sponsor, mentor and create the diverse environments that are needed
  • 19:04 Men need to call inequality when they see it happen – even if there aren’t women in the room at the time
  • 19:38 Encouraging women not to leave tech, but to find organisations with supportive environments - they do exist today
  • 20:48 Resources for men who want to be more proactive – the book and newsletter Better Allies; Project Include website
  • 21:40 Josie’s new podcast – Retaining WIT
  • 21:52 Book - Brave, not Perfect

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