Stepping out to close the gap
Everyone can contribute to workplace diversity,
The job is by no means complete and every one of us has to be committed to creating a society built on the values of fairness and equal opportunity. Bev Cassidy
Momentum is gathering as businesses across the country are seeing the benefits of improved productivity, profitability and culture from an inclusive workplace.
That’s a workplace that celebrates diversity of gender, culture, ethnicity, belief, age, skills – and most importantly thinking.
Today, we can have those long postponed courageous conversations about the policies, processes and behaviours in our workplaces.
We can look at better recruitment practices for how we choose employees so they are not all the same, introduce flexible hours and locations to enable better work-life balance and family care, and tailor a career path that provides for lifelong learning.
We can even talk about encouraging you to bring your whole self to work without stereotyping, penalty or bias.
Most importantly, real progress is being made to restructure remuneration systems to close the gender pay gap and support equal pay, and reward for performance, not presence.
The job is by no means complete and every one of us has to be committed to creating a society built on the values of fairness and equal opportunity.
Women are still woefully under represented at the top table and C-suite; the gender pay gap has not closed yet but is narrowing,
SMEs are lagging larger organisations in translating awareness into robust and transparent diversity and inclusion programmes as an integral part of how they do business.
And there are still gaps in firms, regardless of size, responding effectively to key issues like wellbeing, flexibility, aging and bias.
But new ways of thinking and doing are being advocated and actioned that reflect the vision, values and aspirations of our society.
Take the Auckland electrical engineering and maintenance firm that introduced exercise, nutrition, literacy and wellbeing programmes and whanau days for its workers, shaving $1 million off its ACC bill.
Work must continue at pace in the boardrooms, executive suite, and with employees, to turn theory into implementable change, to create a future that is fit for the next generation of New Zealanders to inherit.
When I told my teenage daughter I was going to resign, she was worried.
‘‘That’s great, Mum,’’ she said. ‘‘I’m really happy for you, but what about all the girls like me? Who’s going to give us a voice?’’
She’s often listened to me speaking publicly about the female talent pipeline, challenging organisations about gender bias, bullying, harassment and parental support in the workplace.
She’d heard the case of the young woman who was so worried her career prospects would be stalled if she told anyone she had young children.
Change is happening, and it will accelerate. There is no lone voice, no wilderness, but a loud chorus of champions of inclusiveness who will never give up in pursuing what they believe in to create a better workplace, a better society, better balance and opportunity for everyone.