Team Scede is continuously growing. Talented, humble and impact-driven humans are joining us all from all over the globe on our mission: to build incredible teams that ship incredible products touched by millions.
We’re all united by this mission and our four core values; Effective Communication, Individual Responsibility, Significant Achievement, and Continuous Improvement. For us, being a Scede’r means driving positive change – not just across our partnerships. Our people are brilliant at what they do and are proud of their craft. They embrace transparency and openness and know that together, we’re greater than the sum of our parts.
It’s important to us that our people feel trusted and have the flexibility to do their best work, where they work best – which is why we’re remote-first and always will be. But we know we have a long way to go to fully represent the community in which we operate. So we’re committed to nurturing Scede as a place where our people feel supported, safe, included, and able to be their true selves. Because our people – and their sense of inclusion and belonging – matter.
We opened the floor up to our team to share their thoughts and experiences on what inclusion, belonging, and Pride means to them.
So tell us, what does inclusion and belonging mean to you?
“In my opinion, inclusion is different from belonging. Inclusion is intentional, it’s a choice – you decide whether someone is included or not. Belonging is natural, it’s a feeling – for me personally, it means to feel a part of something and that I matter to those around me” Poppy Yates, Senior Growth Specialist
“For me, inclusion is the deliberate act of including each person in a team/business equally and actively welcoming and encouraging all ideas and perspectives. Ultimately ensuring the environment and culture is set up for all to be included. Belonging is partly the result of this, the feeling that you’re part of something and not feeling like an outsider or bystander” – Stanzi Lilley, People Manager
What role does inclusion and belonging have in your life today?
“The two have helped me to feel totally comfortable with who I am and have helped me to encourage others to feel the same” – Poppy Yates, Senior Growth Specialist
“This is hugely important for me when considering a work culture that I’d be happy in. I would not want to be a part of a business where certain people felt excluded, even if I myself didn’t feel that way. This is in a large part down to human aspects, but ultimately I believe businesses that don’t welcome all perspectives/opinions are less likely to innovate and succeed long term” – Stanzi Lilley, People Manager
Why is it personally important to you that you can be your authentic self at work? How does that make you feel day-to-day?
“Going through my teenage years I felt I had to hide my true identity and personality. Camouflaging certain areas of my personality and the way I wanted to act, I quickly learned how damaging this was to my mental health. I hid for so many years that now being my authentic self is the only option and it should be the only option, for everyone. Not having to mask who you truly are is liberating, it breathes light into your life, and considering I spend half of my life at work it plays such a significant role to my overall happiness” – Josh Stevens, Senior Principal Recruiter
“Personally, being my unapologetic self is very important to me. I’ve started new roles, sports teams, and even friendships shying away from telling people I’m gay. Being my authentic self cuts through the front – what you see is what you get. At work, it’s helped me and my employers to recognise things in myself that we wouldn’t have. I have my own learning style, personality, traits, interests, etc. It’s important for us both to know my own strengths and weaknesses” – Poppy Yates, Senior Growth Specialist
“Through most of my 20s, I believed that as a woman the only way to succeed was to bring a “tougher” demeanour to work. Ultimately, I created a front, and as a result, I often didn’t act in a way that was authentic to me or deep down made me proud of myself… leading to… misery! Once I found an environment where I could be my authentic self and still grow and succeed, my happiness and confidence grew massively” – Stanzi Lilley, People Manager
How would you describe Pride and why is it important for us to recognise it, as companies, and as individuals?
“How long have you got? Pride is important for so many reasons. It’s a time for us to reflect on the progress we’ve made towards LGBTQ+ equality and to recognise how far we have left to go. We all need to feel responsible to educate others on Pride and to help the world keep moving forward with equality. Pride encourages people to remember how damaging homophobia is. It’s a powerful movement and it shouldn’t just be recognised during June. If companies and individuals want to create a true sense of belonging and inclusivity, it’s important to create an environment that is welcoming and safe for all at all times – celebrating Pride is just the tip of the iceberg”– Poppy
“Pride is about love and love outshining (SQUASHING!) any prejudices that stand in its way” – Stanzi
“As a gay man living in 2022 – being accepted & represented, being able to love who I want, marry if I want – it’s so important for us to look back and recognise that it’s been a difficult journey to get us where we are today – and celebrate that with the world” – Jonjo Swann, People Operations Specialist
“Pride is accepting and loving who you are. Pride means standing up for equality. Pride means calling out discrimination. Pride means celebrating humans of all shapes, colours, sizes, identities, and genders. Pride means speaking up for change. Pride means being able to express a version of yourself that is uniquely you. Pride means smashing stereotypes for good. Pride is about loving each other without judgement” – Josh
How would you describe an ally?
“There are two aspects to what I believe an ally is to our community. When someone in your life tells you that they are LGBTQ+ it can sometimes be difficult to know how to respond. Your initial reaction might be one of surprise, excitement, or discomfort. I believe that discomfort comes from a lack of understanding/education, however, whatever your initial reaction is it’s so important that you recognise the impact that this could have. Learn, understand, support, and educate yourself now on our incredible community, so if someone does come out to you as LGBTQ+ your reaction will be one of excitement. Being an anchor for support is being an ally.
The second aspect to being an ally is someone who is uplifting within the community. This doesn’t always mean that you march with us during pride (loads of allies do!) but you speak up if you hear discrimination and you help us enforce equality for all” – Josh
“I think being an ally to the LGBTQIA+ community starts with introspection. Be honest with yourself – acknowledge your level of understanding right now. Learn about the history, ask informed questions, and have empathy for the challenges still faced today” – Laura Bibby, Head Of Growth
“An ally is someone who lifts up the LGBTQIA+ community and has a voice in supporting initiatives, movements, and related matters. They help others to understand the importance of equality, mutual respect, and acceptance” – Poppy
How can we all be better allies to the LGBTQIA+ community?
“I think a lot of it comes down to education; educating yourselves and educating those around us. Learning the history of the LGBTQIA+ community is always a great place to start – that’s what builds understanding. Joining resource LGBTQIA+ groups is also a great way of showing support and helping to make the workplace/culture a safe space. Finally, connecting with LGBTQIA+ colleagues is a good way to foster inclusivity and helps to establish a sense of belonging” – Poppy
“An ally will be mindful of the language they use. Try to use inclusive language in daily conversations or when meeting new people – you could ask about a person’s ‘partner’ rather than assuming they have a girlfriend or boyfriend” – Helen Grant, Senior Principal
“Educate yourself, but know it doesn’t stop there. Recognise how you can be better and turn this into positive action; stand up, speak up, and show up for the community consistently” – Laura
How can companies – especially remotely – ensure they are being inclusive of the LGBTQIA community?
“It boils down to supporting all employees. All employees should feel included and a sense of belonging in any organisation, regardless of their backgrounds or circumstances. There are so many ways to do this; celebrating positive practices, having processes in place to break down barriers to inclusion, integrating inclusivity into the core values, encouraging a continuous feedback culture to ensure all voices are fairly heard and can be acted on” – Poppy
“Inclusion is being proactive about making others feel equal and having their feelings and best interests at heart. Belonging, in my opinion, is a positive consequence of successfully being inclusive – everyone then feels part of the team” – Conor Anderson, Lead Principal
“It starts with embedding values of inclusion and belonging into a company’s values and culture. Then of course driving equity, and fiercely protecting and upholding an inclusive culture as individuals and in teams. Another crucial part is in creating a meaningful, actionable feedback culture, where people can share thoughts and opinions without fear or judgement” – Stanzi
Huge thank you to Poppy, Josh, Stanzi, Helen, Laura, Jonjo and Conor for sharing such valuable perspectives on this important topic.
We know there’s always more that we can do to drive inclusion and belonging forwards for our team, customers, and community. That’s why we’re doing our best to continue to empower our people to have their voices heard, their thoughts and feedback actioned, and to foster a safe environment for these conversations to take place.
If you’d like to learn more about us and our awesome people, connect with us on LinkedIn or Instagram.