Naimuri Announces new Diversity & Inclusion Power Group Lead
Ruth Mills, has been appointed as the new D&I power group lead, here at Naimuri.
A few words from Ruth....
"As the new Diversity and Inclusion Power Group lead at Naimuri, I want to help make Naimuri a welcoming place for all, irrespective of someone’s background, as well as ensuring our recruitment process and community outreach work are as inclusive as possible.
For Mental Health Awareness Week, I’ve felt inspired to write about the overlap between Diversity and Inclusion and Mental Health.
It’s already been shown that diverse teams frequently outperform teams with less diversity; however, a commitment to diversity and inclusion can also massively improve employee mental health and wellbeing, by helping everyone feel included and valued for their own unique contribution, and ensuring that everyone is treated with dignity and respect.
In many cases, issues related to diversity and inclusion can also impact on mental health - so an understanding of these, and how they can affect people, is important for ensuring that everyone’s needs are taken into account in the workplace.
For example, in my own case, I’m an autistic, queer, trans woman, and a carer for someone with mental health issues.
Whilst my autism is fairly mild, and does not usually negatively affect my work, I do need to be careful to ensure that I get enough “down time” to relax and recharge. I also need to be careful when reading the news, as my mental health can be impacted by negative news stories.
In the workplace, my autism can help with ensuring clarity around requirements, and with improving the developer experience, e.g. I am always keen to automate as many manual steps as possible, so as to minimise the cognitive load (and hence the risk of human error) of performing repetitive tasks. I always prefer going for clear, logical, simple solutions to problems (following the Naimuri philosophy of “not overburden”), as opposed to unnecessarily over-complicating things.
My gender transition has had a hugely positive impact on my mental health. Being able to live as the woman I feel I truly am has been incredible, and has led to massive improvements in areas such as interpersonal skills at work, where I feel more confident and enthusiastic. I have spoken on this at Reframe Women in Tech, and Manchester Tech Festival Women in Tech [Unfiltered], where both talks were very well received, and I have been heartened that everyone I have met in the Manchester Women in Tech community has been welcoming and supportive of trans people. Likewise, I will be speaking at the “Queer in Tech” meet-up in Manchester on Wednesday 12th June.
As a carer, I am well aware of the impact that caring can have on mental health, especially when juggling work with caring responsibilities. This is where the flexible working options on offer at Naimuri can make a real difference. I usually travel to our office in Salford one day a week, which is perfect for connecting with the team in person, and often leaves me feeling energised and inspired. Working remotely for the other days a week, and having a non-working day on Friday, gives me enough time around work to care for my wife, who suffers from depression, and for us to go places together, and take part in activities outside of work such as life drawing - as well as giving enough “me” time to relax and recharge.
I believe that flexible working options are key to a truly diverse workforce, as they enable people to participate who might not otherwise be able to - with the added benefit of helping to maximise the wellbeing and mental health of all employees.
I am sure there will be other intersectional issues affecting the mental health of other employees, and I will do all I can, as the Diversity and Inclusion Power Group Lead, and in collaboration with the Wellbeing Power Group, to help facilitate whatever reasonable adjustments are possible to ensure that the mental health and wellbeing of all employees is catered for".
