Inclusivity is right at the heart of our culture. Everyone can contribute. Whatever your level, you’ve got a platform to be heard. Ask questions. Challenge stuff. Put ideas forward. People will listen.
Shola Aminu (Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) and Steve Wood (Head of People Development) have been working really hard on our DEI training material. Built in-house, it’s accessible to all of our people. The aim is to highlight the importance of DEI – what we expect of our people and the ways we can support each other. The learning content is a mixture of bite-size courses and real-life stories told by our staff.
Steve: We wanted to make sure we created something meaningful, something that people in DAZN would relate to, so this content was made ‘By DAZN, For DAZN’. This learning content forms a part of our overall efforts to drive forward improvements in Inclusion and aligns completely to our strategic Inclusion ambitions.
Shola: Storytelling helps us humanise the topics at hand. So many stories have just reached me organically, and I have felt honoured to be able to showcase a handful of these in a compelling and innovative format for our global business. The stories we’ve collected are incredibly impactful and harness the hearts and minds of our audience in understanding the importance of DEI and the expectations of our people.
There are so many touching real life stories in the course. One being about a leader who hasn’t come out at work and feels as though they can’t share that part of their identity with their colleagues. They talk about how they feel ‘like an actor’ at work and fearful that they might ‘slip up’. They speak about the views that the sports industry has on LGBTQ+ people and although we have come a long way, they don’t feel a sense of belonging. They were incredibly happy to see that DAZN celebrated pride month this year and they look forward to the day that they can share this part of their identity with the company. All of the real life stories in the course were followed by a video from Shola explaining why someone may feel like this and what we can do, as DAZN employees, to understand and support these employees.
European Diversity Awards
Earlier this year, we were shortlisted as part of the ‘diversity in technology initiative of the year’ category at the European Diversity Awards. They received a record number of entries this year, but only eleven get shortlisted. This is something we should be really proud of!
We were invited to present our vision and our solution on DEI to the judges. This included some short testimonials from DAZNers on their experience and examples of our DEI content and training. The winner is going to be announced in November!
Since then, we have been shortlisted by two further industry bodies – the Learning Technologies Awards and the Engage Employee Awards. We’ve also been recognised as an inclusive employer by myGwork!
Learning Technologies Exhibition and Conference Awards
The Learning Technologies Awards recognise commitment, enthusiasm, and passion for learning technologies across the world. Over 450 companies entered themselves into this award and we have been shortlisted as finalists! Another achievement we should be really proud of.
Engage Awards
The Engage Awards celebrate the success of industry-leaders across all sectors in the business world. They recognise innovation and excellence of customer and employee engagement. Again, hundreds of entries were made this year, so to be shortlisted as a finalist is a big deal!
I think it’s fair to say that these examples of industry recognition are a massive achievement and demonstrate the progress we’re making and the culture we’re building. The hard work from everyone in each department is the reason that we are achieving things like this!
The winners of all of these awards will be announced in November. Let’s go DAZN!