Black Lives Matter - Taking action in the fight against racism

Taking action in the fight against racism

The killing of George Floyd and events that have unfolded since, have highlighted the racial injustice that exists within societies around the world. Over the past few weeks, it has been clear to see the anger, pain and frustration felt by black and wider BAME colleagues across Agilisys. At Agilisys we do not tolerate racism […]

The killing of George Floyd and events that have unfolded since, have highlighted the racial injustice that exists within societies around the world. Over the past few weeks, it has been clear to see the anger, pain and frustration felt by black and wider BAME colleagues across Agilisys.

At Agilisys we do not tolerate racism and we support the fight against it.

As a Senior Leader in Agilisys, the Chair of the Agilisys Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) committee, a member of the Agilisys BAME network, and a woman of Maori, Samoan and Chinese descent – I focus on proactively promoting equality for all. For me, that begins with listening and giving people a voice.

That’s why, over the coming weeks and months, we will share some of the thoughts and insights of a number of our black, wider BAME and ally colleagues whose views and talents we cannot take credit for, but who want to share their voices and experiences in helping educate us in understanding issues of race and inequality.

Crucially, alongside this platform, we will be taking further tangible actions. We recognise that we must work harder to educate ourselves, to listen to our friends and colleagues and to hold ourselves accountable if we are going to play our part in achieving meaningful change and deliver the sustainable transformation required.

On Weds 10th June 2020, our CEO, Andrew Mindenhall, circulated five pledges to the 1,300+ colleagues across our business, detailing his commitments to them and, in turn, to BAME people and communities – our colleagues, clients, friends and families.

Those pledges are as follows:

Pledge 1

Racism and prejudice in any form has no place and will not be tolerated at Agilisys. Leaders will continue to use positions of privilege to ensure this statement is clear and continues to be fundamental to our culture and practice within the business.

Pledge 2

Education is key. Agilisys will ensure we have the tools to equip everyone in our organisation with an understanding of the challenges emanating from racial inequality, so that we are empowered to have productive conversations with all our people.

Pledge 3

Support will be available. It’s important that we address the issue of mental health and wellbeing for staff caused by events, right now. We will put actions in place within the week to address this need.

Pledge 4

We are committed to equality , diversity and inclusion. The work of our D&I Committee is one example of how we are trying to do more to level the playing field. Encouraging voices from communities within Agilisys is critical and we will be sharing the personal messages of our black and wider BAME colleagues about what it means to work for Agilisys, the difficulties faced in forging careers, what it means to be involved in the tech sector and much more.

Pledge 5

Diversity will be central to our policies. From our very beginnings, we have been extremely fortunate to comprise of a richly diverse group of individuals, who together have achieved extraordinary success. However, we can do more. In this context we will work with our BAME network to review our HR policies to see that we are committed to attracting Black/Diverse talent (and removing any unconscious bias from that process) and checking that our appraisal process properly captures the contribution of diverse talent.

The D&I Committee and I will report on what I hope and expect will be our improving performance in promoting the confidence of our BAME people in our workplace.

As Andrew said in his statement to the business, Agilisys has an unwavering commitment to build the most diverse and inclusive organisation that we can for all employees, their families and the organisations we work with. It’s simply not enough to just talk – we must take action.

This involves everybody in the business, because only by coming together can we make a real difference and play our part in eradicating the racial injustices black people face every day.

We stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. This blog is part of a series, read the second entry where Csaba Gabor, Principal Consultant at Agilisys, discusses the racial injustices his loved ones have faced, why education is the key factor in addressing the problems.