We recently caught up with Michelle Wong, a leader in Data and Marketing Analytics – to find out about her journey into tech, her life at FARFETCH, and her thoughts on diversity and inclusion in the tech industry.
TECH & YOU
So, how did you get into tech?
After university, I decided to enter into a career in data analytics, which was relatively new at the time. It was mostly tech companies at that time who were at the forefront of leveraging data to drive decisions across businesses. So I naturally moved to working in the tech industry to pursue my interests.
And what is it about the tech industry that you love?
I love that the tech industry is constantly changing and evolving! This makes it an exciting industry to work in as it provides opportunities to innovate and shape a new direction. You have lots of opportunities to learn and grow in this environment.
What are you most excited about, in the data and analytics space?
Firstly, I’m excited that Data and Analytics is moving more and more towards being a key function in organisations, rather than a nice-to-have. Businesses have realised the strategic advantage that data and analytics can provide. The success companies are having with a data-driven approach, is making other businesses make significant investments in this.
And secondly, I’m looking forward to seeing the evolution of AI and automation and the impact on analytics. For example, as more and more manual tasks and trend-spotting become automated, analysts are able to focus more of their time on understanding the whys and so-whats. This will enable increased opportunity finding and therefore more impact generation, which helps with cementing the value of data and analytics in businesses.
YOU AND YOUR ROLE
What does an average day in your role look like?
During my tenure of over 3 years at FARFETCH, I have built out my team and now lead 5 teams of around 35 people. All with expertise in analytics tech, data privacy and compliance, BI and reporting, and analytics. My average day varies from driving and contributing to leadership discussions. Leading and contributing to initiatives driven by my team to drive business value from data. Liaising with different areas of the business to align and coordinate efforts to ensure success and efficient ways of working.
How did you find the transition into a people management role?
Challenging at first as I was balancing responsibilities between identifying what my team should work on, actively working on projects myself whilst ensuring the successful delivery of those completed by my team, and people management of individuals in my team. I was quite stretched but it was a great learning opportunity and I found it rewarding seeing individuals in my team develop and progress with my guidance and mentorship.
What sort of manager are you?
I am supportive and directional in my approach and I foster a collaborative environment that is open to feedback so that we can continuously improve together. I believe leading by example is key to promoting behaviours and values beneficial to the success of your team and business.
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
You’re often referred to as a “Data Leader” in the tech industry; what advice would you give to other women aspiring to become Leaders in their field?
Be proactive in assuming ownership and driving results, and be resilient in pursuing them. Make sure to focus your energy in the right direction and on what you can control and influence.
Lead with a growth mindset by actively seeking opportunities to continuously learn and embrace challenges. Openly seek and take action on relevant feedback, and take setbacks and failures as opportunities to learn and grow.
How can we use data to increase diversity and inclusion in tech?
You need to continuously collect data across each part of an employee’s lifecycle, from sourcing and selection, engagement and retention, development, pay and benefits, promotion, and representation in leadership levels. It’s important to identify, monitor and act on any gaps or changes in key metrics that represent these moments in an employee’s lifecycle.
By analysing this data, you can identify the key opportunities and challenges to improve diversity and inclusion and devise a strategy around this. You can also test ideas and understand the impact they have on improving key metrics to ensure that efforts are focused on initiatives that drive the biggest impact.
How does FARFETCH currently promote inclusivity within the workplace? Are you involved in any of these initiatives?
FARFETCH is committed to promoting inclusivity in the workplace through a number of initiatives. We have all taken part in conscious inclusion training to remove the negative influence of unconscious bias, and we have lots of additional courses available to learn more about inclusion in the workplace. We’re lucky to have Executive Sponsors for Diversity & Inclusion who often speak at all company meetings, in addition to hosting panel events with external speakers, so that we can have open discussions and learn more about this topic.
We also have 10 People Communities across FARFETCH that bring together different communities, for example, the Black Employee Network and Women in Business Network.
I’m personally part of the FARFETCH East Network that launched earlier this year. This was in response to the Asian violence happening around the world. It is an open space to share and discuss these common topics that we care about. As a result, we were able to create an ally guide, donate to charities that support Asian heritage communities, and support our marketing and commercial teams to increase Asian heritage representation too.
FARFETCH is also developing partnerships with professional, academic and social organisations to attract diverse talent to our workforce.
