“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” (Dalai Lama)

At Cubic Telecom we welcome diversity and actively advocate for a culture of inclusion in the workplace. 2020 has been an eventful year so far. As we enter Pride season, and witness Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the globe, an important opportunity has emerged to foster greater inclusivity in the workplace. We should embrace this with open arms!

Cubic’s customers and partners are global; therefore, we represent a wide range of stakeholders from varying backgrounds and cultures. During this prolonged period of lockdown, we have looked inward to assess how representative Cubic is as a company and to plan the next steps in our journey to become advocates and allies.

Achieving Diversity …

Women in leadership

Becoming aware of the need for diversity in recruitment is the first step. The next is creating a system with justified and transparent metrics for recruitment of minorities to avoid unconscious bias playing a role. By incorporating this awareness into our recruitment strategy, we ensure a fair and transparent process.

Women hold 36% of the leadership positions at Cubic. We are drawing on a wider pool of top talent through schemes such as Scoutess Consultancy, a recruitment company that focuses on placing women back in the workplace after extended periods of leave, such as women who have been working in the home raising a family. The current male to female ratio at Cubic stands at 7:3. We are not there yet, but we are making significant progress in the right direction.

Ethnic representation

25% of people who live in Dublin (home to Cubic HQ) are not from Ireland and I am proud to say the Cubic Team reflects this. The Cubic office has always played host to many converging cultures, ethnicities, and races. This is something we pride ourselves on. Our 150 staff members represent 30 nationalities from all corners of the globe. From Detroit to Dubai, our diverse backgrounds and mix of cultures ignite innovation and creativity.

Diversity in the workplace has been proven to boost productivity up to 40% (McKinsey & Co.). Alternative perspectives can push us outside our comfort zone, driving us to challenge the norm. We find new ways to solve common problems, that could not be achieved individually, in turn spurring us to generate new product ideas.

I am certain that the diversity we enjoy at Cubic has been a major contributor to the success we have achieved to date. It would be an uninspiring place to work if we all had the same opinions and ideas!

Becoming inclusive …

Inclusion is key to retention

 I heard a very apt quote recently by Verna Myers (Diversity and Inclusion expert):

“Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.”

Inclusion is a systematic business strategy to ensure that all staff share the same advantages and benefits. Everyone performs, and everyone belongs.

For employees to feel included they need to be engaged and, most importantly, listened to. At Cubic, staff are encouraged to express ideas and openly contribute to new projects. This bottom-up approach is constantly evolving as we aim to create a culture of openness and empower staff to participate, reaching their full potential.

Advocating for diversity and becoming an ally

Diversity is already ingrained in Cubic’s culture. We have set out some further steps on our journey to becoming advocates for inclusion. For the rest of this month we will host internal initiatives to support and educate ourselves on the topic of inclusion:

1. Educate. We invite guest speakers to our weekly company catch up to educate staff on diversity, in turn targeting unconscious bias. Tanya Ni Mhuirthile, a legal consultant to Transgender Equality Network Ireland and one of Ireland’s leading voices on Gender Politics, gave an engaging and informative talk about gender equality in the workplace. Tanya taught us how to be allies for those in the LGBT+ community.

Next, we will host a guest expert on the topic of equality and racism in the workplace. Knowledge is power!

2. Support. We encourage staff to donate to equality or diversity charities. Cubic promises to match those donations. Last year’s chosen charity was BeLong To Youth Services. This organisation supports LGBTQ+ young people in Ireland.

We also plan to sponsor UCD’s “Data in Diversity” event this Autumn.

By making these conscious acts, Cubic is incorporating diversity and inclusion principles into recruitment, company culture, and innovation. Our varying backgrounds positively impact the way we communicate with our clients and build new technologies. If you are interested in applying for a role at Cubic Telecom visit our careers page here.

Authors

Gillian French | Chief People Officer | People Team