At Giganet, striving to increase workplace diversity is not about simply ticking boxes – it’s a valuable and wise business decision. In recent years, research has revealed the benefits of workplace diversity and has uncovered that working with people who are different from you challenges the brain to overcome stale ways of thinking, sharpening performance.
For this week’s ‘Women in Tech’ blog, Talent Acquisition Manager, Charlie Carvell, talks about her career path with Giganet and why valuing employees based on skill naturally creates diversity in the workplace.
A new challenge
After a fascinating and rewarding career in pharmaceutical recruitment, I decided it was time to step out of my comfort zone and start a new challenge. It was important to me to work in an equally fast-paced and vital industry – somewhere I could continue to really make a difference and in April, Giganet offered me an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I became a certified ‘Giganerd’ in the position of ‘Talent Acquisition Manager’. I was keen to get started to help grow the Giganet family, especially as affordable, high quality internet access for all has never been more important.
Giganet has not disappointed, my role here is equally interesting and rewarding. I get to work with every area of this brilliant business, collaborating with the wider People and Culture team, supporting on all things talent and recruitment, and championing our Giganerds. I am passionate about promoting Giganet as an employer of choice within the telecoms industry, and as a team we are striving to ensure Giganet is recognised for our commitment to early careers and diversity and inclusion.
As a team, we aim to ensure Giganet is recognised for our commitment to early careers, diversity, and inclusion. It is something we take very seriously, and the same can also be said of our commitment to encourage women to consider careers in telecoms. One of the ways in which Giganet do this is by being mindful of our recruitment campaigns, onboarding experiences, and engagement processes, to ensure we support and actively encourage women to apply in the first instance. Simple adaptions to the language we use and the environments we create, will be instrumental in truly diversifying our workforce.
Why valuing employees based on skill naturally creates diversity
We are developing a strong early careers program that supports diversity and inclusion. By partnering with local colleagues and universities who share our commitment to DE&I, we aim to create attraction strategies that use inclusive language. We want Giganet to appeal to all demographics, and for candidates to have a clear outline of what to expect during the recruitment process. Our teams work passionately to ensure all screening and recruitment processes are adaptable to create equal opportunities for all, and with the support of our HR and L&D colleagues we continually educate our business on what bringing your whole self to work truly looks like.
A special thing I enjoy about working at Giganet is that everyone values and respects experience and knowledge while also acknowledging the importance of transferable skills. This means background, demographic or previous employment aren’t such a deciding factor when it comes to securing a rewarding career with Giganet. Valuing people based on the skills they bring to the table naturally creates diversity, This in turn enriches the working environment through exposure to varied lived experiences. We aim to move away from “team fit” and instead look to promote the value of skillsets such as teamwork, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and the ability to communicate with people across all spectrums of life and work. This allows us to open our business up to new and smarter ways of working, which ultimately will help improve our company performance at all levels.
Encouraging women into the industry
In my opinion, we must find new ways of working that encourage women into our industry and our workplaces. The first critical step in creating a supportive environment which caters for the mental, physical, and financial wellbeing of our employees is to understand the external environments that affect our workforce from cost of living, supporting dependents, and mental burnout.
Giganet has implemented flexible work schedules, inclusive cultures, and solid communications plans so employees are listened to, and most importantly, feel valued. By continuing to break down barriers and creating more effective ways of working we can enhance the work environment for everyone. To inspire the workforce of the future, our actions must prove to them that there are no limits to what they can do based on how they identify.
Where to next?
If you’re ready for the next step in your career, visit the Giganet careers page to learn more about our workplace culture and employee benefits system. You’ll also be able to view all our latest job vacancies and register your CV for upcoming roles: careers.giganet.uk
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