How to promote equality and diversity in the workplace

Author:

Aoife Daly

How to promote equality and diversity in the workplace

Author:

Reading Time: 4 minutes

How to promote equality and diversity in the workplace

aoife

Aoife Daly

Content Marketing Manager | Operatix

Diversity in the workplace has been under the spotlight as of late – and with good reason. From gender pay gaps to unconscious bias, there are a plethora of issues employers must be aware of and prevent in order to avoid discriminating against both their current team and potential candidates for roles.


With the Equality Act coming into effect in 2010, employers must actively promote equality and protect their staff members from discrimination. In fact, this act states that discrimination in recruitment is illegal. 


Below, we explore exactly what diversity in the workplace is, the benefits of promoting an inclusive environment as well as how to promote equality and diversity.



What does diversity mean?


By definition, diversity refers to the inclusion of different human characteristics and traits. This includes, but isn’t limited to, race, age, gender, socio-economic class, and sexual orientation. More specifically, diversity in the workplace means employing people of various backgrounds and cultures, resulting in an inclusive workplace. 


Here at Operatix, diversity is a key component of the business. Our talented, diverse team of sales development representatives speak a total of 17 different languages and are from a wealth of different cultural backgrounds. This allows us a natural understanding of international markets, delivering campaigns in 109 countries and assisting B2B software vendors with market entry into three continents. 




The importance of diversity in the workplace


There are a plethora of benefits of having a diverse, inclusive workplace – not only for the employees but also for the business itself. This includes:


  • The ability to gain different perspectives – Those from different cultures will likely have different life experiences and skills from one another. Therefore, employing people of different backgrounds ensures you have a well-rounded view, rather than just one perspective. 
  • More likely to outperform competitors – a 2019 study from McKinsey suggested that diverse companies are more likely to outperform less diverse competitors when it comes to profitability. Ethnically diverse businesses had 36% more profitability, while companies with a gender-diverse executive team were 25% more likely.
  • Increased employee engagement and employee – it should go without saying that when an employee feels represented within a company they are more likely to be engaged and have a positive impression of the business, thus improving employee retention.
  • Improved client relationships and customer service having an inclusive team is an asset, helping build stronger relationships with clients of a similar background. For example, Operatix has a number of French-speaking sales representatives that have a strong understanding of the local nuances and cultures. This knowledge will improve their relationships and allow for better communication with clients in France.
  • Increased innovation – research shows that diverse workplaces are 1.7 times more likely to be leaders in innovation for their chosen industry.


It’s clear that promoting inclusivity and diversity in the workplace can benefit both employers and employees alike, not to mention clients.




How to promote equality and diversity in the workplace


While the benefits of diversity may now be obvious, how to ensure you’re taking measures to promote inclusivity is less so. Below are a few tips and tricks in regards to how to promote equality and diversity in the workplace.



Diversity and Inclusion Training

Diversity in the workplace doesn’t just mean hiring people of different cultures and backgrounds, but also recognizing discrimination. Diversity and inclusion training is a key component of ensuring your team is not only aware of how discrimination may present, but how to combat it. 


The training should touch upon how best to work with people of different backgrounds and abilities, as well as why it’s important to flag any instances of discrimination in the workplace rather than acting as a bystander. There are a plethora of online courses that are easy to implement, or you could simply make it part of your onboarding process.



Recruitment

Most recruiters are aware that it is illegal to make comments inferring you’re looking for clients of a specific gender, age or ethnicity, however, there may be some indirect bias during the recruitment process. 


  • Be careful of how you word job advertisements. For example, the phrase ‘recent graduate’ may appear discriminatory against older candidates or those who may not have had the opportunity to pursue further education. Instead, mention that a degree or experience in the chosen field is preferred; alternatively, list necessary skills and only mention education status if it’s a requirement. 
  • Be aware of where you’re advertising your job opportunities. For example, placing an advertisement in a male-dominated magazine or targeting a specific group or gender via an online advert. Posting on your own website as well as promoting on unbiased platforms such as LinkedIn and Indeed is a better approach to ensure it’s seen by as many people as possible.
  • Avoid certain questions. There are certain questions you should not ask during the recruitment process, most of which are described as ‘protected characteristics’ by GOV.UK. This includes what sexual orientation they are, how old the candidate is, if they are pregnant or plan on getting pregnant, what religion they are, and if they are married.


It’s important to be aware of what the language used could imply, even if not purposefully done.



Listen to feedback

Taking on board feedback regarding diversity in the workplace is extremely important, as is ensuring your staff are comfortable enough to confide in you regarding their concerns. An anonymous survey is one way to get honest feedback without bias, as well as allowing for employees to be totally honest with their experiences.


This is important as, for example, a man may not realize the bias experienced by a woman nor would a young person experience the same discrimination an older employee may face. Listen to feedback and ensure measures are made to actively combat any discrimination.


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Be mindful of religious holidays, events, and practices

There are a number of religious events throughout the year that your employees may want to celebrate, as well as practices you should be courteous of. Consider how you can help celebrate with employees and accommodate their needs. 


This may include offering additional time off, ensuring meetings do not interfere with major events, offering a separate prayer space, and including non-alcoholic options at company events. Seek out people of different backgrounds, religions, and cultures to join a social committee to ensure all bases are covered.


Our multilingual sales team accelerates sales and market entry for B2B software vendors. Find out more about how we can help your business thrive here.

About Operatix

Operatix is a Sales Acceleration company specialized in supporting B2B Software vendors to identify new revenue streams, increase qualified sales pipeline, and accelerate channel development across Europe and North America. Operatix has a wealth of experience in working with the biggest tech players worldwide as well as a multitude of emerging software vendors.

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Channel Transformation

Digital transformation is changing how companies buy and use business solutions, making vendors re-assess the capabilities of their channel ecosystem. With channel dynamics in constant flux, vendors need to be ready to cut ties with partners that don’t share their vision or have connections with the right B2B buyers.

 

Operatix has supported numerous vendors in their path to Channel transformation by assessing current partners and recruiting new partners that are more aligned with their new channel strategy. Once the right partners have been identified, Operatix built scalable outbound sales development programs that accelerated their routes to market.

Inbound Response Management

In a competitive industry like technology every lead counts. Operatix can help you maximize conversion from MQL to SQL and from lead to pipeline, increasing both your revenue and ROI on marketing activities.

Account Identification

Identifying the accounts that are more likely to buy from you is part of our expertise. We will research the market, identify verticals and industries that can benefit from your solution and set up qualified sales engagements for your teams to kick-off the sales process. 

Cold Prospecting

Our team will identify new sales opportunities within the strategic accounts that you haven’t been successful in penetrating through your sales & marketing efforts. By applying the ‘Challenger Sale’ methodology we use a tailored, multitouch approach to connect with prospects, generating qualified sales engagements for your team and ultimately increasing your pipeline.

Outbound Sales Development

Using a proactive outbound sales approach has been proven to be one of the most effective methods to engage with prospective customers. By applying the ‘Challenger Sale’ methodology we use a tailored, human approach to getting in touch with prospects to increase your qualified sales engagements and ultimately generate more pipeline.

Outbound Sales Development

Using a proactive outbound sales approach has been proven to be one of the most effective methods to engage with prospective customers. By applying the ‘Challenger Sale’ methodology we use a tailored, human approach to getting in touch with prospects to increase your qualified sales engagements and ultimately generate more pipeline.

Partner Concierge Service

Our Partner Concierge Service helps vendors accelerate their channel programs, by engaging and nurturing channel partners and supporting them to get to revenue quicker.

Demand Generation

Whether you need to implement a demand generation strategy or get more results out of your existing demand gen engine, Operatix can work alongside your marketing team to yield better results out of your demand generation programs.

Account-based Marketing

An Account-based Marketing strategy is only as successful as the revenue it generates. At Operatix we will support your 1:1, 1:few or 1:many approach to get your team in front of decision makers in the accounts that matter the most to you. 

Lead Qualification

If your marketing leads aren’t converting, it might be a lead qualification issue. Operatix can help sieve through leads that need further qualification, so they are ready for an AE or sales team member to engage with.

Account-based Selling

At Operatix we will support your 1:1, 1:few or 1:many approach to get your team in front of decision makers in the accounts that matter the most to you. 

Pipeline Generation

Generating Pipeline for our clients is our key-objective. And we do that by using a multi-touch, multi-channel approach to generate qualified sales engagements for our customers’ sales teams.   

Account Intelligence / Deep Dive

Understanding buying centres, hierarchies and relevant personas in strategic accounts is a fundamental step to increase conversion rates. By leveraging account intelligence in a sales conversation your team can tailor their message and provide value to their prospective customer. But sales & marketing teams often struggle to dedicate time and resources to do the deep research and this is where Operatix can help.

DMID – Decision Maker Identification

Finding quality data is an on-going challenge for B2B Tech vendors. The accuracy of data platforms is questionable and that is why Operatix developed a manual process to identify & verify contact details for decision makers within strategic target accounts.

Playbook design

Operatix can develop Sales Playbooks that enable teams to sell more effectively. Your Playbook will be fundamental to get your messaging right, accurately position your solution against competitors, and adapt the communication of your value proposition to different buyer personas.

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Sales Playbook Development

Operatix can develop Sales Playbooks that enable teams to sell more effectively. Your Playbook will be fundamental to implementing the correct messaging, accurately position your solution against competitors, and adapting the communication of your value proposition to different buyer personas.

Lead Qualification

If your leads aren’t converting, it might be a lead qualification issue. Operatix can help filter through leads that need further qualification, ensuring that they’re ready for an AE or sales team member to engage with and progress through the funnel. 

Partner Portal / Marketing Concierge Service

Vendors often spend thousands of dollars building multifunctional Partner Portals to help channel partners educate their teams, manage opportunities, and create marketing programs. Still, these portals are often underutilized due to lack of bandwidth and capacity from vendors to offer support in enabling their partner community. Operatix, through their Partner Development team, can support your partners to make the best use out of your partner portal, managing the relationship with your partners and helping them set up co-marketing campaigns to drive more revenue for both businesses. 

Marketing & Sales Alignment

The sales development function is often seen as the “glue” that brings sales & marketing teams together. By working as an extension of your teams, Operatix will be your predictable source of pipeline, sales & revenue.

Optimization of MDF

Market Development Funds are an important component of any channel ecosystem, though vendors believe they are not maximizing the return on investment they should be getting from their MDF programs. At Operatix, we build scalable outbound sales development programs that will give you the visibility of return over the invested spend and will provide clear value for your channel partners.

Increase Partner Productivity

The 80/20 rule is still very applicable to the channel, which means that investing in partner productivity should be a priority for vendors looking to grow their businesses. Operatix can increase partner productivity and shorten sales cycles, by identifying ready to engage sales opportunities for your most valued channel partners.

Virtual Channel Account managers

Our VCAM team is responsible for building, maintaining, and managing sound relationships with current and prospective channel partners. They can get involved in opening up new sales conversations as well as closing small businesses up to $ 10k.

Tier 1 & Tier 2 Activation

Whether your business decided for a Tier 1 or Tier 2 distribution model, Operatix can help your channel partners get to revenue quicker. By providing qualified sales engagements to your channel partners we can accelerate your route to market with tangible and easily measurable results.

Solution Selling Training

Far too often vendors insist on enabling their channel partners to talk about features and technical details of their solutions. Customers don’t buy features; they buy the benefits your solution can bring. Operatix will work with your partner community to train them in articulating your message from a high-level business perspective, enabling them to talk to prospects about the value your solution can bring to their company from a board-level perspective.

Channel Enablement

Enabling your channel partners have measurable wins for your business when done right. Operatix has a proven track record in enabling channel partners from a sales & marketing perspective, providing them the knowledge and tools to successfully pitch your solution and sell the value & benefits of it. 

Partner Recruitment

Recruiting the right Channel Partners is the first step for a successful channel program. Operatix has helped over 350 B2B Software vendors recruit suitable channel partners across EMEA and North America, supporting them to scale and expand their presence in different geographies and verticals. 

Risk/Reward Business Model

To truly work as an extension of our client’s sales & marketing teams, we have also adapted our business models to show how our clients operate, and how their success is measured. With our risk/reward business model your investment is proportional to the results our team delivers.

Sales Qualified Leads

On average, 52.5% of the sales engagements set up by our team progress into a next step in the sale process. That means that 5 out of 10 meetings will progress either into a POC, a Demo or a pipeline opportunity.

Geographical Scale

Trading in different geographical markets not only requires a knowledge of the native language, local rules & policies, but a deeper understanding of the local culture and habits. We have the ability to deliver campaigns in multiple countries with flexible resource allocation. This is through our team of international speakers, who have the ability to sell in 17 different languages across the globe.

Increase Revenue & Decrease Cost

Building an internal sales development team comes with many additional costs and challenges that aren’t always taken into account: recruiting resources, training and enabling them etc. You also need to take into account the need for having the data and tools to make them successful, which in turn requires time, capital and effort. By outsourcing your sales development to Operatix you will see your revenue increasing, while decreasing costs and business risk.

Predictable Pipeline Generation

On average, our clients see a 26X ROI on the programs we deliver. By understanding your revenue targets and sales pipeline gap, we will work on a sales & marketing plan that will deliver tangible results.

Vertical Growth

Entering new industries or launching new product lines? Operatix can accelerate your growth by supporting your go-to-market strategy, and getting your sales teams in front of decision makers in key target accounts.

Reduce Headcount

By outsourcing your sales development and partner programs to Operatix; we reduce headcount and the challenges that come with managing people, technologies, and processes. We take care of your sales development, so you can focus on what matters the most: growing your business.

Revenue Acceleration

Operatix helps your business get to revenue quicker. By providing qualified sales engagements for your direct sales team (to kick-off new sales cycles), or by accelerating the growth of your channel partners, our focus remains on delivering tangible results for your business. 

Persona-based Selling

Operatix team will design specifically tailored messages to influence the different levels of decision makers in the sales process, tailoring the communication according to each job function. Our focus is to sell the value of your solution from a business perspective, not its features.    

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