It was when Emma Burdett had hit “rock-bottom” at a personal level that she founded Wild, short for Women in Leadership Deliver, a network supporting gender equality.
What made Burdett think of a platform for women empowerment and gender equality was that, in her previous role as a regional director for a big manufacturer in the UAE, she was asked to create and lead a women’s network. In an industry which employs only 10 percent globally, the network quickly grew and resonated with many. “We did really amazing work hosting panels and events and working with universities,” said Burdett.
Shortly after Burdett lost her job, and with it her “self-confidence and self-belief”, embarking on a six-month long journey of self-discovery in Thailand where she “really had to work on myself from the inside out.”
“The more I share my story, the more I find it resonates with many women because feelings of not being enough and self-sabotage are actually endemic. We grow up conditioned from childhood and then society that we have to be a certain way or we shouldn’t do this or we can’t do that,” she said.
The idea for Wild came to her on that journey and Burdett said she wrote the business plan for Wild in only a few hours.
“I based it on my values, which are authenticity, integrity, freedom, expression and voice. I really want to be able to use my voice as an advocate for change within gender equality,” said Burdett.
“My slogan is connect, collaborate, conquer, go wild and be wild, because we get lost in the seriousness of life. And I want women to come together, feel a sense of solidarity, safety, a chance to be heard and be vulnerable, but also have fun along the way,” she continued.
Today Burdett is a keynote speaker, moderator and transformational coach in addition to her role with Wild where she organises seminars and conferences around diversity and inclusion (D&I) and gender equality.
Her next step is launching Wild Consult, a system which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify D&I challenges within corporates in a matter of ten days and work with the company to come up with solutions such as team building activities or coaching.
In a wide reaching exclusive interview with Arabian Business, Burdett also talks about an event she is hosting in Dubai in January to raise awareness, especially among men, on the relevance of D&I.
Why is there a need for initiatives that focus on inclusion and diversity in corporations?
One of the main things with gender inequality is the lack of female role models.
There is still a mind-set which “think leader, think man” meaning there is still a patriarchy, particularly in the construction industry.
There are still some form of informal networks, where men do business on the golf course for example, that women are exempt from, and it causes these subtle biases which create a big problem for gender equality as a whole.
Companies have got gotten away for far too long with listing themselves as “diverse employer” on their website and, when you scratch the surface, still being very white and male-heavy, particularly in construction.
But, nowadays, with all of the movements towards inclusion, there is pressure on them to take action on diversity and inclusion and do something about it.
Shareholders are demanding proof of D&I, consumers are wanting to work with or support a diverse company, and, importantly in the war for talent, the next generation of employees – meaning the millennials and Gen Xers – place a high value on diversity. Around 80 percent of them have said that D&I is important when working for a new business so unless the company takes action they are going to be left behind.
Furthermore, we know that diverse and inclusive teams lead to greater productivity and innovation. With all of these factors, companies are now slowly moving from “say” to “do” but more needs to be done and I am shocked that some companies still do not know what workplace gender equality means.
How are you raising awareness on gender equality and D&I?
In January, I’m holding an event called the F word, Feminism Defined. Feminism has, for some reason become a dirty word but actually it means equality.
I am encouraging men to attend and actively participate in the event because they can be advocates and engineers of change. Men are still in leadership positions and still hold the purse strings so if we want to make a difference, we need to tackle this layer and get men to invest in women, in D&I and to become advocates and role models for change.
How does Wild Consult work and how does it facilitate corporate D&I?
When people think of diversity and inclusion, they assume it means simply adding more women to the team. I tell them that is actually the worst thing they can do because they need to address the root cause of the issue first and look at what is going on internally as to why there is gender imbalance.
To do so, companies either work with their HR managers or with consulting firms. These firms conduct interviews with the company’s team members, which automatically are prone to bias because the interviewee isn’t going to be open and be honest. Also, the process takes a minimum of a year and would cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In contrast, Wild Consult uses AI intelligence to rapidly diagnose a company’s diversity and inclusion challenges and understand the root cause, and to provide an execution plan and tangible results in ten days.
The system is essentially a series of automated questions that employees answer alone and anonymously. The AI intelligences picks up on the question and sends another to confirm or clarify. All of that information is then collated and then populates a dashboard, giving a business an almost instant representation of where they are from a D&I perspective.
From this system, I then produce an execution plan for immediate tangible action which I present to the company. It gives five things that are being done well or quick wins which can be promoted and applauded and areas for improvement.
I can then work with the company to suggest solutions in the form of workshops and coaching or leadership training depending on the pain points raised.
I will be launching Wild Consult in January.
What are your expansion plans for Wild and Wild Consult?
I have a partnership agreement to grow Wild into ten locations across the Middle East and GCC which will be launched next year. I am so excited about this especially in countries like Saudi Arabia where gender equality is a pillar to Vision 2030.
I am extremely excited about Wild Consult as I haven’t even formally launched yet and I already have two companies very interested because they immediately saw the value in it.
Most companies don’t know where to start with assessing D&I. With any business proposition, it’s all about time and money so I’m offering something to a business, which will save it heaps of time and can be done at a fraction of the cost consultancies typically charge.
I’m going to take my little business with no funding globally across the GCC and beyond.
What advice would you give women entrepreneurs?
Anything is possible when we remove fear and limitation. I want to show other women that we can be entrepreneurs. It’s a tough journey and it’s isolating and lonely but I’m building this out with no funding and I’m proud to do so from a breakdown.
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