As part of National Inclusion week, we recently hosted an insights event with the 30% Club and Moving Ahead at our London innovation centre, Epworth House. The 30% Club is an essential global campaign that aims to increase the representation of women in leadership and is a diversity and inclusion initiative that I hold close to my heart.
The 30% Club was launched in the UK in 2010 to increase female board representation in the FTSE 100 to 30%. While that goal has since been reached, the Club continues campaigning for better representation of women across senior leadership levels. One of the ways in which it executes this is through its cross-company, cross-sector mentorship programme.
At NTT DATA, we believe in the importance of gender diversity and parity in the IT and professional services industry. We are committed to achieving 30% representation of women at all levels of our organisation. We are therefore working closely with programmes such as this and implementing a range of initiatives to aid this cause.
I have been a huge advocate of the 30% Club for many years, and NTT DATA is proud to have been involved with the programme for seven years. I have been a mentee, mentor, and programme partner, so I have seen the programme's benefits from all angles.
The event hosted at the end of September brought together some of our mentees, mentors, partners, and clients to discuss how the mentoring programmes work and their impact.
The mentee perspective
During the event, we heard from Sam Robertson, Managing Consultant, who took part in the 30% Club programme over the past year as a mentee. On her experience of the programme, Sam said:
"When I joined NTT DATA, I'd made a career change, and it was my first consulting role. After spending three years focusing on learning a new career, I decided it was time to access mentoring to develop in broader areas. The 30% Club mentorship programme helped me with this, and for preparing for promotion internally. I was excited to be matched with Laura from a bank, as I wanted to speak with someone outside of consulting.
"The mentorship programme provided a space for an open and honest conversation, which really helped me to form my long-term career plans. Outside of this programme, I never would've met someone like Laura, so it was not only eye-opening but also hugely valuable.
"This programme helped my career immensely and forced me to think further outside of the mentoring relationship. I now have clarity on my career path and have brought a lot of learnings back to NTT DATA and my role. I recommend the programme to anyone considering it and hope to see more partners signing up to participate in this important initiative."
The mentor perspective
During the event, we also heard from Chris Taylor, Senior Director, who mentored on the programme for the first time over the past year. Chris added:
"Mentoring on the 30% Club programme was my first experience in a mentor role, and it completely exceeded my expectations. In my spare time, I am a ski instructor, which gives me a tremendous sense of satisfaction, and I was looking for ways to bring that passion for supporting people’s development into the workplace. I also wanted to give back to the industry, so joining the programme felt like a great fit.
"The mentoring takes place over nine months, during which I saw a transformation in my mentee, achieving successes beyond their expectations. The programme creates a safe and non-judgmental space outside of their normal work context, enabling everyone involved to be true to themselves. I was amazed at the influence I was able to have, and learnt a huge amount myself too, which I've brought into my everyday interactions and to my team mentoring. I highly recommend the programme to organisations considering joining and look forward to participating again."
Continuing the conversation on equality, diversity, and inclusion
At NTT DATA, we believe it's critical to continue pushing forward important initiatives that encourage diversity and inclusion, and we want to encourage this more broadly too.
Alongside our work with the 30% Club, we sponsor Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) which supports women in leadership in the telco industry. In addition, we sponsor 30 women each year to take part in the route2work digital academy scheme to learn Microsoft skills, and we continue to run our Women in Business Network, a dedicated forum open to everyone to discuss gender equality in the workplace.
We recently added to this with the sponsorship of Women in Data to contribute to its initiative to increase women's profiles in our industry, hire new talent and make a difference in our communities. This important work is about improving ratios and providing equal opportunities.
If you're interested in working at an organisation that places D&I initiatives high on its agenda, look at our current openings and unleash your full potential: https://uk.nttdata.com/unleash-the-power.