Giving everyone a VOICE
It's been a year since our ethnically diverse employee network group, VOICE, was launched. In this blog, VOICE co-chairs Abdul-Rahman Ali and Jeff Reichman talk to us about their experiences with VOICE and what it means to them.
Abdul, Jeff – congratulations on one year of VOICE!
Abdul: “Thank you – I’m delighted to be celebrating a whole year – it seems to have gone very fast!”
Abdul, I know you were the founding member of VOICE. What made you want to set it up?
Abdul: “When I joined Kainos in Belfast the majority of people were white which was to be expected given the demographics here. Whilst I’ve always felt welcome and accepted, I did find that some of the everyday things were a little more difficult than they needed to be.
I’m talking about things which are an essential part of me and my daily routine, things like having to explain why I wasn’t able to celebrate certain events or in certain ways, or why I needed to go and pray at certain times, and then having to book meeting rooms months in advance to ensure I had a private space to pray.
I could see that there was a need to voice these requirements and help make Kainos more inclusive for our growing ethnically diverse workforce and it was encouraging to see that Kainos was open to listening to my ideas and motivated to do something about it.”
And Jeff, you became part of VOICE a little later – why did you want to join?
Jeff: “Yes, I first became aware of VOICE when they hosted a Black Lives Matter webinar. I realised that Jewish employees weren’t represented within the group, so I wanted to join to bring awareness about our religion and culture.”
How does being a member of an ethnically diverse group impact your role at Kainos?
Abdul: “It’s a great thing! I can bring new ideas to the company and a fresh perspective.”
Jeff: “I agree – it helps me to be empathetic to those with different experiences, and makes me more sensitive and curious about other ethnically diverse groups.”
Abdul: “Being ‘different’ in this way helps us to make Kainos a more inclusive company to work for. And that can only ever be a good thing.”
In the countries you work in, our industry is still predominantly white. How did this impact you when you started your career?
Abdul: “That’s an interesting one. I actually lived in London for the first few years of my career and my workplace was pretty diverse. When I moved back to Belfast I knew I would be going into a culture that wasn’t as ethnically diverse, and I expected both my working life and personal life to be impacted. Certainly when I first started at Kainos there weren’t as many people from other ethnic backgrounds and because of that, there were areas I could see needed to be improved.
An example is that when I first started, Kainos asked me for my ethnicity to list on my personal profile, but the drop-down menu was limited and didn’t have my ethnicity. I felt that my true identity wasn’t represented. I’m so pleased to have been part of the project team which overhauled all of the Personal Information options for D&I data which is so important as our ethnically diverse workforce continues to grow.”
Jeff: “I’ve actually been lucky enough to not feel marginalised at any point in my career, and anything I’ve ever needed has always been accommodated at Kainos. But that has only made me more determined to ensure that experience is universal as it makes such a difference.”
VOICE has certainly been a power for positive change within Kainos. What has been your proudest achievement so far?
Jeff: “For me personally it’s been really gratifying to see that my colleagues are interested in my culture. I made a series of posts about Jewish holidays and over 1000 people read them. I was surprised but pleased there was so much interest!”
Abdul: “I think the change that has made the most difference to me is the dedicated prayer rooms. Being a Muslim, offering my daily prayers is one of the most important things to me. It’s something that I have to plan my day around. But Kainos has made this much easier for me by having a dedicated prayer room at our head office, and is implementing this globally at all of the Kainos offices.”
How have your colleagues responded to the creation of VOICE?
Abdul: “The response has been amazing, including from people who do not identify as an ethnic minority. Right from entry level employees all the way up to our CEO Brendan, they have all been supportive, accepting, and have always been keen to understand different religions and cultural events.”
Jeff: “Yes, I agree – I’ve had lots of positive feedback from my colleagues – they’ve all been extremely interested in learning more.”
Abdul: “I’ve also been so proud of my fellow VOICE members. During our webinar about Black Lives Matter, for example, many of them shared deeply personal and sometimes difficult stories. I was amazed at their courage and openness.”
What would you say to any of your colleagues who are considering joining VOICE?
Jeff: “I would say do it! Regardless of your own culture or background, being part of VOICE is an amazing opportunity to learn about the various backgrounds of your co-workers.”
Abdul: “Yes – you don’t have to identify as an ethnic minority to join VOICE, you just have to share our aim to help make Kainos a more diverse and inclusive workforce and to attract more ethnically diverse people to join us.”
What are your immediate priorities for VOICE?
Abdul: “We have big plans! One thing we’re working on right now is to make sure that all Kainos social events are inclusive.
Jeff: “We’re also producing a calendar of religious and cultural events so that Kainos events like our annual all staff Kick Off can be planned around these, making sure everyone is able to attend.”
And what about the long-term?
Abdul: “We have some specific long term goals, some of which are already underway – like installing prayer rooms in all the Kainos offices. We’re also working with our People team on a diversity learning course, and we’re also looking at ways to gather and analyse data about ethnicity in Kainos. And we also want to support our all of our ethnically diverse colleagues, both people who have been in Kainos a long time and those who have joined more recently, to progress in their career in Kainos – after all, we are ultimately working towards having a more ethnically diverse leadership team.”
Jeff: “Ultimately, our main goal is to raise awareness about the amazing array of ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds we have here in Kainos. Raising awareness leads to a better understanding of each other, and that makes for a happier, more inclusive environment for everyone.”