Digital Diversity Project Reveals the Key to Greater AdTech Company Success: More Women!

Constance Frazier of Cardinal Change Marta Voda of Strategy Source and Mike Kelly of Kelly Newman Advisors have teamed up to do a deep dive on the diversity or lack thereof in the Adtech industry The Digital Diversity Project clearly delivers a systemic approach to filling the gaps Measure the existing diversity of Adtech companies then build a roster of strong diverse candidates for industry boards and assist in the placement and preparation of those candidatesThe partnership is brilliant in that it is an intergenerational effort smart given that we now have five different generations in today39s workplace Cardinal Change works with universities and corporations to develop DEI programs that are incorporated into curriculums and strategic plans respectively Educational viewpoint beliefs influence behavior and behavior influences culture Strategy Source then picks up the baton from there focusing on talent acquisition instilling DEI belonging and culture building through such skills as how to handle difficult conversations and helping corporations operationalize their DEI KellyNewman already has access and credibility in the boardroom They recognized that to affect change you first need the facts so they commissioned Alice Kendrick at SMU to conduct the resulting research reportWhy the focus on boards Because this is the governing body that drives and oversees and ultimately approves of actions a company takes Rather than taking a bottom up approach this takes a top down where the internal power truly lies to change the dynamicBased on current trends it will take 47 years for women to reach parity with men in corporate officer positions Yet if we39re trying to create a new way of operating in business we need to overcome the barriers to creating organizational boards that better reflect the diversity of our society as a whole and we in the Adtech space can start at homeWe often hear about efforts to add more diversity to public boards and indeed there are regulations and investor groups that are providing guidance on this issue at that level but the vast majority of private boards have no information or guidance In addition private boards are often an easier entry point for diverse candidates to get board experience As such the thousands of private boards are the less visible but much more impactful quotfirst floorquot of the structure Adding one more diverse board member to each private company would create an exponential impact on the current state of board diversity and a powerful future force of diverse directorsWhat39s been the hold up in women getting on boards and some proposed solutions1 The limited titles that qualify for board seatsTraditional board configurations that consist of sitting and former CEOs and CFOs severely limit the pool of qualified female candidates and contribute to a lingering misperception that the female executive talent pool is shallowEven as more and more women take on finance roles board recruiters should broaden qualifying titles to include CMOs and CHROs areas that are primarily populated by women2 Lack of motivation to change the status quoThe majority in power is often not motivated to resolve this issue Still to this day many men don39t see a problem with gender imbalance in leadership and men occupy 80 percent to 100 percent of decisionmaking seats on most boards This is unconscious bias in actionEducate men about unconscious bias and get more women on boards and into leadership positions Support highpotential women to step up own their mics and go after these positions Organizations such as Watermark have been working for 25 years to educate advocate and connect women to such opportunities3 Narrow recruitmentBoards aren39t accessing diverse networks in the recruitment process many boards that genuinely want to balance gender representation don39t have the tools and resources to do soRather than turning to recommendations from your current mainly whitemale board which history shows will result in appointing more white men engage groups such as theBoardlist or the Athena Alliance to cast a wider net4 Lack of visibility of strong female leadersFemale executives aren39t always visible or aren39t visible in the right ways They39re often viewed as the coffeegetter as opposed to the greatideagenerator overemotional rather than passionate or tactical rather than strategicShine a light on the women in your organization Prioritize raising their visibility by making sure qualified female employees are leading key strategic efforts speaking in public or otherwise representing the company Recognize solid ideas out loud and if you notice a man trying to hijack an idea suggested by a woman say somethingAlso make sure your company understands what the language of unconscious bias sounds like Good intentions can result in big insults Watch for comments with hidden criticisms such as quotYou39re such a good mom you always leave on timequot implying that she isn39t staying late with the rest of the team or isn39t pulling her weight5 Trainingqualification mismatchFemale executives aren39t always qualified in the right ways especially related to tenure or breadth of experience For example a candidate who has had nonprofit board experience but not public board experienceClarify expectations and broaden your perspective on the skills you need on your board Of course you need people with experience in governance and finance but what about marketing and human resources or someone from a fastgrowth company instead of just thinking of large ones or a different industry Leveraging a broader set of skills could result in a greater pool of women and more innovation Organizations like the Athena Alliance also can help with board preparationThe bottom lineToday39s business and social environment requires bold steps forward especially for companies and organizations looking to change the paradigms of business Adtech can be a leader in this space Let39s all learn what we must to do the hard work of moving our great intentions about a new way to leading into meaningful actionClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Digital Diversity Project Reveals the Key to Greater AdTech Company Success: More Women!

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Kate Byrne

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Digital Diversity Project Reveals the Key to Greater AdTech Company Success: More Women!

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