The Full Picture | Colt Technology Services

Many old-school stereotypes around masculinity have thankfully faded away but there are some that linger on – that men shouldn’t express their emotions, aren’t as naturally good parents as women or should earn more than their partner, for example. Let’s put these myths under the microscope and figure out how we can tear them down.

For someone with a disability or long term condition, the workplace can be a minefield of potential obstacles, frustrations and straight-up roadblocks to what they need to do or where they need to go. From accessibility ramps to subtitles on video content, there are a number of things we can do to help our disabled team members feel more at home.

The workplace can be a difficult place to navigate for a trans person – deciding on which bathroom to use isn’t quite as straightforward as it is for cisgender colleagues, for example, not to mention fielding questions on appearance. So how can we best support our trans coworkers? And our coworkers who are transitioning?

In 2019, 56.5% of disadvantaged young people in the UK left school without a GCSE equivalent. Compare that with the 75% of employers who require a GCSE equivalent for entry level roles. And it’s not just education – nepotism is rife when it comes to internships and work experience for young people. What can we do to boost social mobility and break those deep-rooted cycles of class inequality?

A key theme that emerged from 2020’s BLM protest was the active involvement of non-Black people seeking to be allies. But what does being an ally really mean? And how can you be one to those around you – taking constructive steps instead of being patronising or facetious?

There are so many stereotypes about the different generations – that Millennials spend too much money on avocado toast or that Baby Boomers are out of touch – but what happens when members of different generations are all under one roof? In this episode, we look at getting the best out of a multigenerational workforce and how to harness the power of each generation.

Over the past few years, neurodiversity has emerged as an important element to consider in inclusion strategies, but what do we mean when we talk about neurodiversity? And how can we cater to our non-neurotypical colleagues? In this episode, we break down misconceptions around neurodiversity and reshape it as a superpower.

When it comes to the experiences of women in the workplace, we’ve come a long way, but there’s still further to go. This week, Izzy speaks with three women of Colt about their own experiences – Jeme Durici, Finance Director of Operations and Engineering, Shweta Sason, Associate Senior Manager, Billing Account & Tariff Management, and Helen Lawrence, Vice President of Sales Enablement. Their discussions cover the frustrations of tokenism, the importance of taking risks and how to juggle work and family when we’re all working from home.

It seems only fitting to end 2020 with an episode around how this year has affected our mental health and what we can do to safeguard it. Our host Izzy Bishop sits down with Bram Troost, qualified Mental Health First Aider at Colt, and Hayley Dare and Gavin Richardson, cofounders of Wellbeing Mental Health. They discuss how to separate your work and home life, what to do if you're not feeling so festive this year, and how to identify and approach a colleague or friend who may be struggling.

The killing of George Floyd in the summer of 2020 sparked worldwide outrage, becoming a turning point for the anti-racism movement. So how do we transfer that momentum to the world of work? This week, our guests are Tabitha McKenzie, Global HR Business Partner at Colt, and Niall Simpson, Senior Consultant at Wiser and Founder of the Black Tech Sales Network. We discuss the importance of role models, the impact of the events of this summer and how to shape a more representative workforce.

In the first episode of The Full Picture, our host Izzy Bishop sits down (virtually) with Rachel Collins, Head of I&D at Colt, and Andrea Jones-Rooy, Director of Undergraduate Studies at the NYU Center of Data Science. 

They discuss where we go wrong in drawing conclusions from data, what companies should be doing to build a more inclusive environment, and why they're passionate about diversity and inclusion in the first place.