Authentic hiring is not about hitting quotas

It’s now understood that to operate effectively, boards, executive teams, founders and senior management must have diversity and inclusion in all forms, to deliver long-term value to their team and investors.   

In my opinion, it’s more than making decisions in order to hit a quota; rather it’s about ensuring that true representation of all kinds is taking place and learning how to authentically deliver that. 

Many recent studies have produced undeniable results that prove how having women on executive boards brings a higher revenue increase.

The opportunity to fix this lies at a grassroots level, in schools and universities.

The positive impact on a company’s financial performance is classified as 'very significant’ when there are three or more females appointed to a board, according to findings from a 2020 study that analysed the FTSE 100 firms in the UK between 2005 and 2016. 

A McKinsey & Co report also found companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25 per cent more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile.

Every percentile of profitability matters in today’s business climate, so the commercial case for female leadership is evident.

Not just a number 

Last year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revealed in its Women In Fintech Report that only 10 per cent of females held leadership roles in the fintech industry, whether as members of executive boards or founders of fintech firms. 

It is not to say that the proportion of women in leadership roles has not improved over time but to acknowledge the gap that still exists in the fintech sector, more than can be seen within the traditional banking industry or technology companies.  

We see too often companies wanting to tick a quota when hiring, but if gender diversity is not done with intention, it can devalue the employee’s own perception of the business and whether they were hired based on their expertise, or if they simply contribute to a target.

I think the opportunity to fix this lies at a grassroots level, in schools and universities, to break down any remaining bias that still exists and together ensure we provide more opportunities for female leaders at a faster rate.

This can show the next generation that gender equality is here, it is a reality that is happening, just slowly. 

To take inspiration from Gender Lens Investing, a market valued at around $8bn, it would be about designing programmes that “represents the difference between an investment that happens to benefit women and girls and an investment that, from inception, is intended to benefit women and girls".

The approach I have when hiring for long-term success and retention is to focus on 'fit'.

Throughout my own 20 years of experience mentoring, leading teams, or as part of the boards in payments companies, I‘ve witnessed first-hand the value diversity can bring, not just in terms of profitability, but in terms of culture, innovation and productivity.

The approach I have when hiring for long-term success and retention is to focus on 'fit' - within the company and the role. Then you are ultimately finding the people that will naturally bring diversity too, when the requirements around hiring are open to everyone.  

Culture & Diversity are one of many reasons that drew me to my role in ID-Pal. An individual’s exact-match experience is secondary to the importance placed on their fit within our business.

We look for the flashes of brilliance, the personalities that are not afraid of hard work, able to think outside the box and find solutions to issues or blockers to success, because that is where innovation lives. And innovation is at the heart of being a fintech. 

I’m fortunate to work within an industry that continuously works to address these issues and support the increase of diversity and equality.

As a co-founder of networking group ‘Harben & West’ and the Payment Industry Group, we’re committed to keeping diversity at the forefront of agendas and to have visible representation in these spaces.

I think having authentic intention around diversity and representation will enable any business to thrive.  

Sara West is commercial director at Id-Pal