Last week, I shared the story of why I founded Magenta Security. I revealed that, unfortunately, what pushed me to start my own business was that my abilities were less important to my employers than the colour of my skin. Though those experiences made me the man I am today, I would never wish them on anyone.
While the discrimination I faced motivated me to quit my job and start my own security company, other people in the same situation may have decided to leave the industry altogether, or worse, stay put and experience more years of abuse.
Founding Magenta Security wasn’t just my chance to escape from discrimination and prove bigotry wrong, it was also my chance to provide a workplace where no one would have to experience what I did. From day one, I’ve made sure that skill and skill alone is what determines success in Magenta.
I’m lucky to work in one of the most diverse cities in the world. I believe for a company to be able to serve the society it’s in, it needs to be representative of that society. If you only hire a certain type of person, your staff will be limited to certain viewpoints and their backgrounds will be limited to a certain range of experiences.
When I walk through Magenta Security’s offices, I see a company that truly looks like it’s from London, and that’s what makes it feel like home.
But diversity means more than recognising skill, it’s also about recognising the diversity within skill itself. If someone isn’t performing well in the position we hired them for, we don’t get rid of them, instead we look at their skills and find other areas in the company where they might flourish.
They don’t need to be doing badly to move about in the company, either. If someone feels like they can do better elsewhere in Magenta and there’s an opportunity for them to prove it, we let them take it. I work with managers who used to be guards and people in our operations team who used to work in sales.
This fluidity not only reduces the need for tiring recruitment processes, it reassures our staff that they’re looked after and keeps them working alongside the people that they’re used to being around. When someone works for Magenta, they get more than a wage, they get opportunities to change their path and better themselves.
By creating an environment that recognises and nurtures skill above all else, it means that whether it’s the guard protecting your business, the support team backing them up or the manager looking after your account, you always get the best person for the job.
Abbey Petkar
