StackAdapt is committed to breaking down barriers so everyone can thrive. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is not just a checkbox for us. It is a promise and commitment, followed by action and consistent learning.
We aim to be the most inclusive, equitable, and diverse place where StackAdapters feel proud to call StackAdapt their professional home. We know that having varied perspectives is what fuels our innovation.
We are a global company, and we must reflect the diverse world we work in. We are committed to a workforce that fully represents the many different cultures, backgrounds, and viewpoints of our employees, our customers, and our communities. With this in mind, we are proud to support inclusive programmes such as Digital Day that seeks to close the digital skills gap specifically with neurodiverse students.
We aim to do more for inclusion in Tech, and reaching out to the neurodiverse community is a great place to start. DEI is a priority for our executive team, and is an essential part of our core culture at StackAdapt. We help advertisers and marketers thrive. And the only way to do that, beyond our software, is to bring people of all backgrounds on our teams to support the important work of both StackAdapt and our clients. That’s why we place the utmost importance on DEI in our hiring practices, our culture, and our engagement with the community.
Generally speaking, the lack of digital skills is a real issue impeding the handling of technology. As it stands, technology innovation is developing at a faster pace than the skills needed to apply such technology. A recent Statista survey (November 2022) stated that 70% of the Global IT organisations surveyed experienced a skills shortage in 2022 that has consistently held them back. According to techUK’s Digital Economy Monitor (October 2022), “57% of UK IT firms find the present talent shortage and access to skills among the biggest barrier for their companies. This is creating a vicious circle, whereby there are fewer people to do the jobs we desperately need to keep innovating”.
Promoting diversity makes business sense, helps maintain a competitive advantage, and improves corporate governance. It positively impacts the bottom line, which means it positively impacts us all.
As our team grew and we expanded globally, we have prioritised DEI and taken the steps to increase diversity in recruitment including neurodiverse staff. We want to ensure that our action is at the core of what we do as a company. We aim to get inclusion right and foster that sense of belonging so everyone at StackAdapt can benefit.
In 2022, we conducted two internal surveys as a baseline to build our roadmap and action plan. We needed to know where the gaps were so that our vision could become our reality. We found out that our overall DEI satisfaction score was of 74% (July 2022, with a 53% company wide participation), out of which 29% of those surveyed identified as neurodivergent or having a disability.
We launched key initiatives as part of our 2022 roadmap such as a StackAdapt Culture Committee which encourages team participation and ensures the company’s core values are reflected in our daily work experience and recruitment.
In 2023, we are prioritising awareness and will continue investing in diversity through our series of ¨people leaders¨ courses, our monthly StackAdapt University presentations and a mix of online and offline events bringing internal and external key stakeholders together.
It was incredibly rewarding to be part of an inclusive program that seeks to close the digital skills gap on behalf of StackAdapt. Students were really engaged and we were truly inspired. Students came up with absolutely brilliant ideas: sustainable waste management strategies and tactics including the use of interactive digital mannequins in stores and QR codes (from our ex-aquo-winning teams) to solve the fashion´s waste problem and impact on the environment. Watch out for the future generation of digital and programmer experts!
We focused on alternating short and clear instructions with roundtables where small groups of students could take the time to brainstorm and discuss their own solutions. We also allocated more time to interact with students per their special needs.
We received excellent support and training from the BIMA team and Alt Bridge School Academics ahead of and during the first workshop we ran in Liverpool. It was great to team up with experts on this who clearly have tons of experience running these events. This made it easy on the day to anticipate and address any doubts or concerns from students in an adequate way.
We will continue raising awareness through our DEI programme this year by partnering with key stakeholders, by building on relevant partnerships and data insights in order to create structural shifts and sustainable long-range change to support diversity including the neurodiverse community.