DIVERSIFY BLOCKCHAIN
Cutting-edge technologies need diversity as diverse perspectives are necessary to create effective and sustainable solutions. There is no exception for the Crypto and Blockchain industry that needs diverse employees and leaderships – in terms of race, gender, skill sets – because without diversity, it will never achieve its full potential.
What are the benefits of diversity for the blockchain industry? Diversity adds great value to advance its results and turn mainstream. The more approaches that are taken into account, the better the ecosystem design is. Since it’s still at a development stage, Blockchain technology needs more diverse perspectives in order to build a new changing-world than let’s say Silicon Valley, where men own 91% of employees and founder equity. Silicon Valley pledged to become more diverse, but it’s less than a 1% increase since 2014. We shouldn’t let history repeat itself where the finance and tech industries are male-dominated and predominantly white – despite long-term efforts to be more diverse, it has been a struggle.
Many businesses still don’t recognize the value diverse teams bring, and only until they do that’s when a diverse workforce can be achieved. Diversity isn’t just about skin colour or gender, it’s also about having a diversity of thought, life experiences, and perspectives. Blockchain has the ability to tackle inequality, then why don’t we start tackling it within the Blockchain industry itself?
If we want this technology to actually have a positive effect on society, we need these economic improvements to be accompanied by improvements to the accessibility and the inclusivity of this technology.
And, how can the Crypto and Blockchain industry be more diverse? Companies should consider:
1. Being a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) leader in the industry.
Top leaders should take the first steps to create alignment and generate commitment to DEI initiatives and practices in the workplace to drive social change. Being one of the first DEI leaders in the industry, enables your company to establish strong brand recognition and customer loyalty against competitors.
2. Attracting diverse talent through Employee Resource Groups (ERG).
ERG are voluntary, employee-led groups whose aim is to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with the organizations they serve. Look for talent in new places and take more time in hiring. Recruiters need to broaden their sourcing to include places outside the usual places where you find similar people. A few starting points are collaborating with state employment agencies and local meet-ups, attending diversity job fairs, using employee referral solutions and diversity job boards.
4. Implementing bias-free recruiting practices.
A bias-free hiring process is structured to ensure all candidates are assessed in the same manner and against the same criteria. This structure provides candidates with an equal opportunity to demonstrate their skills, knowledge and qualifications for the job. You could use blind hiring, remove bias in job descriptions, tap new sources for talent, reduce hiring bias with AI, combine structured and unstructured interviews, consider equitable hiring practices, provide a salary range, don’t ask for salary history, institute fair chance practices, and provide bias in hiring trainings.
5. Partnering with different communities for diverse outreach.
Community outreach involves providing professional services, or services of a specific expertise, to a group of people who may not otherwise have access to those services. It is performed where those in need are located. Through different communities you can find more diverse candidates from all walks of life.
6. Empowering women, minority and underrepresented groups.
When you empower women, minority and underrepresented groups by investing in training, mentoring, equality programs, or education grants for the finance and tech (FinTech) industry; more women, minority and underrepresented groups will reach their career potential, which is essential to create a balanced diverse workforce in the industry.
7. Investing in financial literacy for women, minority and underrepresented groups.
Financial literacy is equally important for women, minority and underrepresented groups. Statistically, women don’t earn as much as their male counterparts, nor do women, minority and underrepresented groups have the same equal opportunities. In order to hire more women, minority and underrepresented groups in the finance and tech (FinTech) industry, we must invest in financial literacy for the underrepresented groups.
8. Conducting impact measurements.
Diversity and inclusion metrics are needed to identify risk areas, prioritize initiatives, set targets and other program goals, assign accountability, and measure the impact of initiatives. You need to constantly monitor, evaluate and optimize your efforts in order to improve and achieve results.
WemanConnect help you improve diversity in the workforce with leading Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) strategies and methodologies. Many Crypto and Blockchain companies are still lacking diversity in the workforce and you could be one of the first in the industry to lead the pack if you start the implementations today. We will provide you with a satisfactory result to become the DEI leader in the industry, get in touch with us for a free consultation!
Check for more DEI strategies in this article: https://wemanconnect.com/what-companies-could-do-to-improve-diversity-and-inclusion-in-the-workplace/