Natalia Peart lays out a beautiful case for diversity in this Forbes article. She is a psychologist and business/career reinvention expert. She cites ridiculously strong statistics about business performance and how companies with strong culture (in the top 25 percent) perform 200 PERCENT than the bottom 25 percent. People support DE&I across the board. So why are we going backwards in some areas?
We are down in the number of Black Fortune 500 CEOs and they are underrepresented at the senior manager, VP, and Senior VP levels at a measly four percent. And women. Hi. More lead Fortune 500 companies but again, that level just below the top executive saw a decrease since 2019 with the pandemic tightening its grip and women being forced out of the workforce en masse.
So, if we aren’t listening to the experts, like Ms. Peart, and we aren’t convinced by the clear, concise, compelling statistical data of business results, what are we doing?
Performative activism. Surface-level activism. Slacktivism.
These three words/phrases describe what happens when people and businesses want to seem like they care to the outside, but are really just checking a box. They think that if they give us some seminars and attend a few “Lunch and Learns” that we will be satisfied. But that’s just lip service and we have long been on the receiving end of that. And it’s never been good enough by a long shot.
It doesn’t lead with empathy and it certainly doesn’t lead with heart.
We are going to keep having conversations with aviation leaders in order for them to SEE us as the capable, intelligent, and efficient employees and contributors that caregivers are. That is why the Hera Programs are tailored to each group and are dependent on YOUR organization culture. We want to work with you and your teams and really listen to where you are because we believe that the majority of people DO lead with heart. We just need help sorting it out.
Bringing new people into an organization just because they are a different gender or color than the majority of your workforce is dismissive and disrespectful to their talents and value as a human. You aren’t doing anyone a favor by not supporting them and everyone needs to be included.
It’s time to come to the realization that you may need to break your table and build something else. And let’s get crazy – it might need to be a hammock.
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