Harvinder Badala, HR Manager at FSB, says that diversity and inclusion is the elephant in the room industry-wide and talks about how the company’s partnership with Rubik Talent is looking to address it

In recent months, there has been a lot of noise made around the subject of diversity and inclusion within the global gaming industry. This is absolutely necessary and I for one am pleased that conversations are now being had as to how we can improve.

While it is important for the industry as a whole to set ambitious targets and goals, and of course to collaborate to achieve them, I also believe that individual organisations can take action. These organisations do not need to move the needle initially – just take small, incremental steps forwards.

This is something FSB has done via our partnership with Rubik Talent which has seen us welcome four candidates from underrepresented backgrounds who will join the business for the next two years on a skills-development and training program with the potential for permanent employment at the end.

At FSB we get contacted by a lot of recruiters, but the proposition put forward by Rubik co-founder Robin MacDonald felt different. The key selling point for us was the merging of talent and diversity, which was at the heart of Rubik’s values, which would clearly bring incredible benefit to the business.

There is absolutely no doubt that diversity helps to enrich an organisation in many ways, including productivity and creativity in the workplace. By embracing diversity and in this case, partnering with Rubik, we saw a way to further blossom our workplace culture.

In addition to this, we are going through a rapid growth phase as we enter new geos around the world including North America, so building for the future with the ability to craft a wide range of required individual and corporate skill sets will undoubtedly benefit us in the long-term.

Another key benefit was that the partnership aligned with our ongoing efforts to have a diverse workforce. We see this as not just being a box-ticking exercise but as a genuine approach from a human resources perspective and this initiative aligned perfectly.

Generally, there is a negative perception about our industry, and this is mostly due to a lack of understanding. That is why we have to be more transparent in the way we operate and communicate both externally and internally.

FSB, like other organisations, needs to keep onboarding talent that fits with our company values. While technical skills are crucial, teamwork, communications, and a willingness to learn are just as important and these factors were considered when choosing our Rubik candidates.

But we also need to show these and other candidates that we are a responsible organisation as this will be a catalyst for changing industry perceptions. At FSB we have endeavoured to build a responsible gambling culture, but we believe there is always room for improvement.

Progress in this area must be constant, whether that be through offering more sophisticated responsible gambling tools to our partners and their players or perhaps by onboarding more talent from underrepresented backgrounds to bring new ideas and ways of seeing things to the table.

A lack of representation by employers from a diversity and inclusion perspective is the elephant in the room industry-wide right now and we hope that our partnership with Rubik will in some way inspire others to undertake similar initiatives.

This is not going to be an overnight fix for the industry but there is plenty of opportunities to find and make incremental gains. This is a fast-paced sector where pausing to reflect is a luxury, so taking small but effective steps is a great way of building and maintaining momentum.

As for our trainees – they have all started well and are incredibly enthusiastic about what is in front of them which we are really excited to see. We will continue to invest in them and offer them a challenging and richly rewarding programme while also leveraging the upsides of a diversified team.

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