When it comes to diversity in tech, 2020 was an inflection point and 2022 was a reflection point, according to Franklin Reed, executive director of global DEI at TEKsystems – and it will be critical for enterprises to hone in on sponsored programs for its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) efforts to not fall by the wayside.

TEKsystems works as an international consulting firm with carriers, OEMs, MSOs, ISPs and more to integrate solutions in network modernization, cloud migration, data analytics, and IoT.

The company’s latest report on DE&I highlights enterprise programs and initiatives both bearing fruit and shedding light on areas of needed improvement, revealing that 74% of IT workers have witnessed or experienced discrimination or harassment at their current workplace.

“I think it's just a call out to not sit back on our laurels and assume that we have arrived at what the ultimate goal is, which is to create these environments where no matter who you are and where you come from, you can thrive,” Reed told SDxCentral regarding the report. “Because real progress – it happens over time.”

‘Tightening the Screws’ on the enterprise problem

Ultimately it’s not the diverse hiring that is difficult, but the movement of that talent, according to Reed.

“Thinking about 2023 and beyond: it's [about] tightening the screws on program initiatives” that both highlight high-potential diverse talent and advance them forward in the enterprise.

As an enterprise approaches DE&I work, Reed remarked it is often segmented from other elements of the business’ operations, “but the work is no different than human resources [who] have to constantly look at the benefits that you're providing, making sure you're meeting the needs of your people at various points of their career.”

No company “of any size would say, we've reached a point where we no longer need our HR organization or HR business partners," he continued, "but for some strange reason, there's this idea that, well, we've hired x, y, and z – we're good. We can no longer invest in or apply resources in our DEI work.”

These programs are ultimately addressing a business challenge: "we're hiring and bringing in diverse talent, but that talent isn't moving through the organization,” Reed explained, noting that because talent isn’t moving, the industry challenges befalling tech are not being approached with enough perspectives to effectively solve them.

While metrics around hiring and retaining underrepresented demographics “are absolutely table stakes,” Reed added that the “intangibles” of fostering an inclusive atmosphere in an enterprise is still very underdeveloped.

As an example, he explained employee engagement survey processes still remain unhelpfully aggregate.

“Ok, 70% of our employees said they have this sense of belonging. Well, what did your people with disabilities say exactly? Those intangibles – we still haven't elevated the value of understanding the role they play in the overall business outcomes as well,” he continued. “We've got to move away from just the sizzle and no steak, as the phrase goes, and away from these wonderful sound bites to really focusing our efforts on real results. And that's where I don't know if we've really made that transition.”

Sponsorship is paramount  

Echoing the words of two Accenture leaders pushing advancement for women in cybersecurity, Reed stressed that the internal advancement that sponsorship advocates within the enterprise is mission critical.

“I am convinced that the most important activity for the people who are already in the room – men at large and then white men as an even more specific subset – the most critical activity of diversifying that room is through sponsorship,” he explained.

Reed feels part of why an organization is often missing this specific method of advocacy is because leadership hasn’t always “made the connection that they themselves made it in the room through the same behaviors and activities.”

“No one moves through an organization just by themselves,” he explained. “You have someone who's speaking on your behalf when you're not in the room, you have someone who's leveraging their voice and their power, their position and relational equity to talk about you. That happens for everyone. What doesn't happen is we don't recognize that behavior.”

Leaders must make that connection and pass it on internally, Reed says, and DE&I programs must circumvent the hierarchical career ladders of the enterprise and “jump the S curve to access sponsors…  because access is everything.”