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Appreciating & celebrating differences lead to better & innovative decisions: Sharad Goyal, Head of HR, Asia Pacific at Cloudflare
Read this exclusive interview by ETHRWorld International with Sharad Goyal, Head of Human Resources, Asia Pacific at Cloudflare wherein he talks about his DEI mantra and how companies can overcome the deepening digital skills gap in today’s digital-first world.
Driven by curiosity, learning and positive change, Cloudflare's Sharad Goyal is passionate about making an impact and helping people succeed. Building and leading teams, mentoring individuals, solving problems, communicating and executing are key strengths of Sharad.
Read this exclusive interview by ETHRWorld International with Sharad Goyal, Head of Human Resources, Asia Pacific at Cloudflare wherein he talks about his DEI mantra and how companies can overcome the deepening digital skills gap in today’s digital-first world.
Circa 2020, when a tiny virus had created a ruckus in all our lives. And now look at us, how 'normal' our lives have become. What will be your top 3 learnings as a Global HR 'Agile' Leader?
As with any change, I see both good and bad outcomes of Covid-19. We’re all more than aware of the bad ones. In my view, some positives that have emerged in the last two years are:
As a workforce, we have learnt that balancing work and personal life is indeed possible
Our focus and priorities have broadened beyond the ‘rat race’ we often complained about
Having gone through the challenges of the last two years together, we’re more tolerant of one another
My learnings are related to the positives above:
We don’t know what future questions will emerge in this increasingly uncertain world, and we certainly don’t have all the answers. But if we all come together, operate with empathy and understanding, and keep our minds open to the possibilities, we can overcome the adversities we face.
Workplace policies and legislations across the world need to evolve to enable the truly borderless nature of today’s workforce. The speed of such evolution will differentiate countries from one another, in terms of how desirable they are for new businesses and talent alike.
Orgnisations, employers, leaders and managers will need to unlearn outdated concepts and strategies to be effective, impactful and inspirational to their colleagues. Operating philosophies and practices that made us successful in the past may not necessarily work in the future. Looking ahead, it is clear that HR leaders have learnt and benefited from the new ‘way of working’.
Technology is now everything for orgnisations. How can companies overcome the deepening digital skills gap in today’s digital-first world, especially when people say that it's 'kind-of tough' for women employees to cope in the tech-savvy world. What is it like in Cloudflare?
As one of the largest global cloud networks making everything connected to the Internet more secure, private, faster, and more reliable, we are a destination of choice for the best and brightest technology talent in the world.
While our recruiting experience does suggest a demand-supply mismatch for quality technology talent, we don’t see that limited to a specific demographic. We run and participate in many initiatives across the globe to advance technology adoption and the enhancement of technology skills. These initiatives include, but are not limited to, industry-academia partnerships, internships across our many different teams, associate/ trainee programs, Women in Tech programs, the Anita Borg Scholarship, internal talent development programs, and many more. In addition, we run diversity and inclusion initiatives such as Mums@Work (returnships for women who have taken a career break), Grace Hopper events, and “tech talks” for under-represented minorities.
I believe that governments, the education sector, corporations and communities at large have specific roles to play when it comes to addressing any digital skill shortages. Governments need to build infrastructure and introduce incentives that enable and encourage such skills development; the education sector needs to adopt contemporary pedagogy techniques and make their content relatable and easy to understand and consume; corporations need to adopt a growth mindset and invest in talent management strategies for the long term; communities at large need to recognise the shift in socio-economic dynamics and adapt to the new requirements of a changing workforce.
What’s your DE&I mantra? How do you measure the impact of DE&I initiatives at Cloudflare?
Our overarching DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) goal is to make Cloudflare a welcoming and inclusive place for everyone by respecting and appreciating differences.
We believe that by appreciating and celebrating differences, we make better decisions, are more innovative, achieve stronger financial results, and overall build a better workplace for everyone.
We are embedding DEI within all touchpoints in our talent management and employee engagement strategy. This includes applying the DEI lens during the recruiting process, introducing education programs on biases and allyship, curating Employee Resource Groups that are led by employees and sponsored by executives, accessibility initiatives, a confidential ombuds program and hearing our employees' voices via regular feedback and pulse surveys.
How do you see the DE&I agenda evolving in the hybrid world of work?
Traditional aspects of diversity, equity and inclusion - including gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status - will get amplified because of the focus on remote workers in the hybrid world of work. While continuing the focus on these elements is important, it will be crucial for orgnisations and leaders to push for greater inclusivity in the years to come.
‘Remote’, ‘hybrid’, and other non-traditional models of working will continue to emerge and become the norm rather than the exception. A distributed workforce that does not come together in person often, will be harder to engage than a group of colleagues in an office. Orgnisations will need to focus on developing new ways to engage and retain their people, much like they focus on developing new products or approaching new clients.
My belief is that we can create a future that is better, brighter and more flexible than the ways of working we have been used to. This is an opportune time for leaders to set their orgnisations up for success by being more open, diverse, equitable and inclusive. The future, as we see it, is flexible.
With the wave of Great Return going around the globe, nations & organisations are relooking at ways of working to fuel the economy and at the same time provide a better experience to their workforce as they return to the office. In this opening keynote, learn how the Singapore Government is coming up with various initiatives to create an ideal environment for a hybrid way of working in order to support businesses and their workforce to prepare for the future. Watch this video to know how HR leaders can play a critical role in supporting these plans.