Wendy Howell, Cisco Services | Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference 2018
Channel: SiliconANGLE theCUBE
Date: 15/06/2018

Wendy Howell, @wendyhowell711, Chief of Staff, Cisco Services sits down with Jeff Frick at Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference 2018 in San Francisco, CA.

#GITCatalyst #theCUBE #WomenInTech

https://siliconangle.com/2018/06/22/fast-growing-girls-tech-group-drives-cultural-revolution-identifying-talent-gitcatalyst/

Fast-growing Girls in Tech group drives cultural revolution in identifying talent

Not just a buzzword
Beyond nurturing a supportive community of female professionals, Girls in Tech is shifting business priorities throughout the industry. With a number of noteworthy commercial partners, the organization’s influence is creating an inclusion ripple effect.

“What we learn at conferences like this is that there are enough women candidates, but we don’t necessarily recognize those women, and we don’t know where to find them,” Pfeiffer said. “And so we’re sort of trying to change how we speak and think. … It’s a cultural revolution in terms of identifying talent where it sits.”

Motivated by the work being done by the Catalyst Conferences, Howell returned to Cisco with a diversity plan that included more than just a monetary investment in the org. “We’re being a little more thoughtful, and we really want to continue to show the return on investment for our organization. So we’re really focusing more on the recruiting aspect,” she said.

The company is now looking to recruit from the pool of Girls in Tech participants in an effort to more directly shift the cultural paradigm toward inclusion.

While this direct focus on diversity is clearly a necessary culture shift for the industry, companies implementing conscious recruiting strategies are also seeing the business advantages to a diverse team. “Every large organization right now, over the last three years, has come to that realization. This diversity is not just a buzzword, it’s a thing. We know that there are greater ideas that come out of it, more diverse ideas,” Howell said.