Neill Dunwoody is a passionate professional who thrives on innovation and collaboration. He is the founder of Spryt, Chief Talent Strategist, and Head of Ireland with Tribes.
Building a business isn’t just about having a great idea, securing funding, or finding the perfect office coffee machine (although, let’s be honest, caffeine is crucial). It’s about people: hiring the right ones, at the right time, for the right jobs. And if you’re not thinking about diversity and inclusion (DEI) while assembling your team, you’re setting yourself up for mediocrity.
Why DEI should be at the front of your mind
A truly great team isn’t just a collection of skill sets. It’s a melting pot of thoughts, cultures, and, let’s be real, wildly different senses of humour. That’s exactly what we have at SPRYT and Tribes—a diverse, dynamic team that challenges each other, brings fresh perspectives, and ensures no two meetings are ever the same (or predictable).
Diversity in business isn’t about box-ticking or quota-filling. It’s about building a team that is smarter than you, with different experiences, ideas, and approaches that make your company stronger. When you put DEI at the front of your mind, you don’t just get better results; you get fewer blind spots, more innovation, and a team that actually reflects the customers you serve.
Hiring for the right reasons, not just the right optics
Look, hiring to meet diversity quotas without real intention is about as effective as slapping a ‘low fat’ label on a tub of ice cream and calling it healthy. True DEI isn’t about just looking diverse; it’s about actually valuing different perspectives and ensuring they have a seat (and a voice) at the table.
That means hiring people for their strengths, not their demographics. The goal isn’t to tick boxes; it’s to find the best people who will push your company forward in ways you never expected. And let’s be real, you don’t want a team that just nods along with everything you say. You need people who will challenge you, call out your bad ideas, and force you to think bigger.
Never hire someone just like you
Hiring someone who thinks exactly like you, acts like you, and laughs at all the same jokes as you is a one-way ticket to groupthink and stagnation. As much as we’d all love a room full of people who validate our genius 24/7, that’s not how world-changing businesses are built.
At SPRYT and Tribes, I make it a rule: never hire a carbon copy of yourself. Instead, hire for the strengths you don’t have. If you’re a visionary but can’t manage a spreadsheet to save your life, get someone who lives for financial models and operational efficiency. If you’re all about big ideas but lack patience for execution, bring in someone who thrives on getting things done.
The best teams are made up of complementary strengths, not clones of the founder.
Diverse teams = more innovation, less tunnel vision
When your team is made up of different cultures, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, magic happens. Diverse teams:
See problems from multiple angles: what one person misses, another catches.
Come up with ideas you’d never have thought of because they don’t share your experiences.
Challenge the status quo instead of reinforcing what’s already comfortable and known.
If you surround yourself with ‘yes’ people, you’ll never grow. And if you only hire people from one background, you’ll never truly understand your customers. The wider your team’s experience, the better your business decisions will be.
Hiring at the right time matters, too
One of the biggest mistakes founders make is hiring too fast or too slow. Diversity matters, but so does timing. Hiring an amazing team member at the wrong time can be just as damaging as hiring the wrong person altogether.
Hire too soon, and you’re burning cash you don’t have.
Hire too late, and you’re drowning in work and missing opportunities.
A diverse team is an investment in your business’s long-term success—so plan your hiring with strategy, not panic.
Final thoughts: DEI is a business advantage, not a PR move
The real power of DEI isn’t in looking good; it’s in being better. Better at decision-making, better at innovation, and better at understanding the world around you. A strong, diverse team will outthink, outmanoeuvre, and outperform a homogenous one every single time.
So, if you’re building your business and wondering if DEI should be a priority, the answer is simple: yes, but do it right. Hire for strengths. Hire for perspective. Hire for the things you don’t know. Whatever you do, never hire a room full of people who agree with you on everything; that’s how great ideas die before they even start.
Read more from Neill Dunwoody
Neill Dunwoody, Founder and Talent Strategist
As the co-founder and COO of Spryt and Chief Talent Strategist and Director at Tribes, I lead two disruptive startups transforming healthcare and tech talent and digital transformation. Spryt's AI receptionist, ASA, reduces patient no-shows by offering 24/7 appointment management via messaging platforms like WhatsApp, increasing patient engagement by 160%. Tribes connect businesses with prequalified tech talent and run an award-winning digital studio. I also advise Manna, Prommt, and HR Duo, working on cutting-edge drone delivery, payments, and AI-driven HR solutions. A HIMSS Pitchfest winner, I use my 812k TikTok and 426k Instagram followers to advocate for innovation. My focus remains on building companies that solve real problems.
