Diversity, Equity & Inclusion?

As a working mother, I have to balance and manage my energy to ensure that I have enough to last me throughout the day. My job is a 24/7 job that gets zero vacation days, zero sick days, and zero PTO days.

We wear different hats at different times of the day with different roles and responsibilities and our switch is always on and it can never be turned off.

As a co-parent, I have the sole responsibility of maintaining my home and the lives of my children while ensuring that my duties are met to the best of my abilities within my role between the hours of 9am and 5pm.

While the working world has improved greatly for parents, there is still a lot of work to be done. Parents are still being passed over for promotions and mothers, when they are “at risk” for having a baby, are still not being given fair opportunities to grow and flourish.

I truly believe in diversity, equity and inclusion. It isn’t an award to be worn as a marketing tool to increase profit shares for the stake holders. Diversity, equity and inclusion is not just a phrase to make everybody smile and sing kumbaya. This idea and this program is a set of beliefs and an allyship to people who have been marginalized for years, and sometimes, centuries and who were not given equal opportunity in the workforce.

In order for diversity, equity, and inclusion to be effective, it has to start from the top of the organizational pyramid. This ideal has to be important to the leaders of the organization and it is a set of values that they must live by every single day. When the leaders at the top are engrained with this set of beliefs, it will trickle down the chain and will be embedded within the organizational culture.

It boils down to scenarios and situations as they arise. How does an organization react when the values of diversity, equity and inclusion are tested in a real life scenario? How is it handled? When push comes to shove, is it the values of D.E.I. that guide the journey towards the solution or is it organizational preservation to ensure the reputation of the company is not tarnished?

If it’s the latter, having a department for diversity, equity and inclusion holds no value and is merely a mask that is worn to ensure that employees are drinking the organizational koolaid.

We are all human. We all wear different hats. It is important to recognize the intersectionality of an employee. Our identity goes far beyond our roles between 9am and 5pm. Our motivation is driven by our personal goals and dreams. Each person is a world on their own. We are people with hopes, dreams and aspirations with many roles and many responsibilities. Diversity, equity and inclusion is supposed to celebrate the diversity of our world and the intersectionality of the people within it.

D.E.I. is not targeted at one particular group, it is a fundamental belief system made to protect various groups of people who experienced intolerance and discrimination in the workplace based on family status, sex, gender, race, religion, and the list goes on, characteristics that do not affect the skills required to succeed within the scope of the role. It is a system that is made to ensure equal opportunity and fair treatment for all and to ensure that the best people are hired for the job based on the experience and skills they bring to the table.

While I believe in diversity, I can not stand when it is worn as a badge of “honour”.  To me, it’s like saying, I didn’t go to jail today. The point is, we’re not supposed to go to jail, just like we’re not supposed to be racist, sexist, nor discriminatory towards anyone. This is something that should be engrained within the organizational practice and embedded within the work culture.

To receive recognition for a belief system that should already be engrained within every human being, put it to practice when it matters. As opposed to working from a place of organizational preservation, work from a place of authenticity. If someone within the corporate walls is violating the values of D.E.I and someone speaks up about it, maybe it’s something that should be corrected as opposed to covered up for the sake of the shareholders and public reputation.

Be loyal to those who agreed to give the organization 40 hours per week of their time. Those are hours they will never get back.

Be authentic and honest.

Act with integrity and back the beliefs and the words of diversity, equity and inclusion with action.

In the end, although business is business, people do business with people. If people feel appreciated, it will show in the results.

By: Stephie B ~ Live, Empower & Love