FDM Wins TARGETjobs National Diversity Recruitment Award

On Wednesday night, FDM Group won the Diversity Recruitment Award at the TARGETjobs National Graduate Recruitment Awards. This highly competitive category pitted us against nine other incredibly worthy companies, including major international names like IBM, Accenture and Barclays. In the end, our dedication to diversity propelled us to the top and we came home with the prize.

What makes this award extra special is that we didn’t achieve such a diverse organisation by setting quotas or targeting specific diversity statistics. Diversity is just a part of who we are – our DNA. It is embedded in all of our recruiters that a diverse workplace is a better workplace. Embracing employees of different cultures and backgrounds provides everyone with a greater perspective.

We have initiatives that strive to make the workplace more diverse not just at FDM, but in the industry as a whole. The FDM Women in IT initiative has been at the forefront in the UK to get more women into STEM education and careers. Our Ex-Forces initiative has helped more than 120 military veterans begin civilian careers in business and IT, and we’re just getting started.

There are over 50 languages from over 60 nationalities represented around the world at FDM. 32% of UK assessment centre attendees were the first member of their family to attend university and circa 50% of the senior management team at FDM is female. While statistics and awards for diversity are great and humbling, it really all comes down to one thing: creating a better workplace.

We care about diversity because it makes FDM better for all of the employees who expect their careers to help them grow as people, not just as developers or recruiters or marketers. It makes FDM a place where people want to come to work every day – where they can learn new things from new people and expand their minds. And since we’re talking about a business, the common misconception that you have to sacrifice the bottom line to create a diverse environment is an incredible myth. In fact, it’s proven that fresh perspectives and new ideas are what make companies grow with success.

It has been an absolute honour to win the Diversity Recruitment Award, especially when we were nominated alongside so many other incredible companies. Being recognised for diversity reinstates the effort we have put in as a team to champion diversity in an inclusive environment. Globally, we will continue to push for a more diverse workplace not just for FDM, but the industry as a whole.

Featured Photo via Twitter/@MaddyMaddyfield

Updated 7 April, 2016