Pooja Bagga , IT Director , Operations , Royal Mail
How can we encourage greater female and BAME inclusion in the tech space ? AMS Founder and Chair , Rosaleen Blair CBE , sat down with Pooja Bagga , IT Director , Operations , at Royal Mail , to discuss how organisations can bring more women into the industry and why soft skills are crucial to individual career progression .
Blair began the conversation with some sobering statistics about female representation in the UK tech space .
According to TechNation , British tech firms garnered over £ 6bn in venture capital in 2018 . Despite this growth , research by PwC suggests that just 5 % of leadership roles in the sector are occupied by women , with just 17 % of jobs filled by females .
“ Where are all the women ?” asks Blair .
“ This is a question I ask myself regularly ,” says Bagga . “ When I look around where I am today , and also what I ’ ve seen throughout my career , you just wonder ‘ where have the women gone ?’.”
Bagga suggests that the sector has to start from the ground up . It is incumbent on the industry to encourage female talent to pursue a career , with “ focused interventions ” both for those starting their careers , and for those that want to progress into senior roles .
This must be underpinned by clear targets and a data-driven approach . In 2014 , Royal Mail set itself the target of having 33 % female representation on its board . Today , 40 % of the executive team are women .
“ It ’ s not enough to have an intention anymore ,” says Bagga .
It ’ s not enough to have an intention anymore
Top-down commitment to diversity
Dedicated work streams have been set up within the network , with volunteers applying their skills and experiences to breathe diversity into the business ’ s processes . These work streams include teams looking at HR and recruitment , mentoring and training .
Members of Bagga ’ s tech team have pitched in through developing supporting apps , designing newsletters and logos to enhance the network ’ s profile within Royal Mail .
Bagga attributes its success to the energy of the network ’ s members , but to also buy-in from Royal Mail ’ s senior leadership .
“ You need both the push from the top , the sponsorship from the top , and to create that energy in the network ,” suggests Bagga .
We have to make a change at every level . If you look around the table , and everyone looks the same , that ’ s a problem
Attitudes are changing
Bagga points out that there is a groundswell of support for greater representation in business . She believes that in the past year alone , there has been a sea change in business attitudes , possibly brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement .
“ People at every level are more open to having a more diverse intervention ,” says Bagga .
“ We are more open to having more diversity at every level of the organisation , whether it ’ s women , whether it ’ s people from different ethnic backgrounds .
“ We have to make a change at every level . If you look around the table , and everyone looks the same , that ’ s a problem .”
Softer skills are your bridge from one sector to another , and these things will always be in your armour
An insatiable desire for learning
Discussing the steps technology professionals can take to further their careers , Bagga highlights her “ insatiable desire for learning ” as a key driver of her success .
She particularly focuses on the importance of soft skills . Once individuals have gained technical knowledge and aptitude in a specific role , developing leadership and interpersonal skills is the key to career progression .
“ If you want to move in your career at some point , from being a specialist to a generalist , the difference is people management .
“ Softer skills are your bridge from one sector to another , and these things will always be in your armour for you to use as a tool .”