Just mentioning the word “equality” gets people going. Some men roll their eyes and moan, “Here comes another feminist to tell me what I’m doing wrong.” Some women (especially Millennial women) insist that inequality doesn’t affect their careers. Some Baby Boomer women remark that it’s only real if you let it be. Why such a range of opinions?
The levels of misinformation coupled with blissful ignorance, vehement denial, or frustrated surrender have brought us to this point. We are seeing an unengaged workforce at its peak while opposing views are angrily shouted from both sides. I am declaring that our current rates of equality, diversity, and inclusion are reasons why there is declining employee engagement.
My Experience
Although my background is primarily Entrepreneurial, I did work three separate stints at large corporations. What I found fascinating about the corporate world is that the very thing you are hired for (in my case it was for being “like a fresh breath of air”) is the first thing you are scolded for. We want your new ideas and we want you to bring yourself fully into the fold, and then we will beat your uniqueness out of you as quickly as we can.
I remember when I first learned that lesson. It was a result of NOT spending the entire budget for the current fiscal year within the first six weeks after I started, so my next-year budget was cut accordingly. Just stupid. So wait, I need to spend money even though we don’t have a plan because being fiscally responsible results in punishment?
Corporations beat independent thinking out of you through regulations and employee handbooks, and by desperately trying to be politically correct because they need to reduce risk exposure and arrive at a baseline (which often resembles a flat line).
Why Does Declining Employee Engagement Exist?
Declining employee engagement has a lot to do with employees not feeling seen, heard, or valued. Too often, the response to this scenario is to get by with doing the minimum.
Because if you can’t see me for who I am in all my colors, why should I invest all of myself only to get shut down?
When we are evaluated against, and forced to follow, the tried and proven way, it’s a continuation of the dreaded school system that most of us didn’t fit and couldn’t wait to leave behind. Now we are back in the same situation and we still don’t like it.
For the company, it means getting only more of the same. The entire system is set up to have the same type of people hire the same type of people (who are just like them) to get the same everything, advance the same way, with the end result of the completely “normal” brotherhood of white men ruling corporations and politics.
How Can It Change?
IT IS SO SIMPLE. The numbers are in. We know engagement is down and we know that with all the effort we are putting toward diversity, inclusion, and equality most companies are barely making a dent. The needle is not moving. It’s stagnant out there.
Yet some organizations, like my client Merck and Co. Inc., and companies like Chevron are trailblazers in equality, inclusion, and diversity. They have put many programs in place and invest a lot of time and money to keep things moving toward balance. I am thrilled to tell you that speaking to the IT group of Merck was very encouraging because there really was a diverse and balanced group in the room. They get it. They understand it is critical for innovation to lead and not follow and be an ongoing continuous effort.
If you have not yet read and understood what equality means for a business, please download this Insights Paper now. It gives you nine reasons why acting like a girl matters.
The numbers are indisputable. And the more numbers and data that come in, the clearer the image emerges. There is no way around getting on board with equality. And really, there is no way around embracing inclusion and diversity, too. The fabric of our times is mixed. Our clients are mixed. Our businesses serve everybody, so it’s only fair to ensure the people who provide our services are diverse as well.
Balanced Leadership is designed to provide the structure for balanced teams through our Sliding Scale of Leadership Attributes. Ultimately, our goal is to remove the labels Female, Male, and Diverse and let the contributions of an individual matter most. But until we reach that maturity, we have to first establish a balance. It’s a challenge I am delighted to take on.
What Should You Do?
Imagine your organization is a luxury cruise ship. Before you leave the dock to start the journey, you must prepare the ship, stock supplies, sell cabins, chart the course, and hire crew.
You WANT a plan and you must put time, resources, and money behind it. Frankly, I am just about exploding with happiness energy seeing some companies push the issue as hard as they are (Salesforce immediately comes to mind). And sometimes, I just shake my head when I hear of a “program” that has no structure, no measurables, no outside facilitator, no money, and is just dumped on the few who championed the idea.
Make a plan and put money and resources behind your initiative before you throw bodies at the problem, because they won’t stay long if the culture remains as it always has been.
The Women’s Code aims to educate women through our grassroots movement and through my book Happy Woman Happy World (as of this week my book is a #1 Amazon Bestseller in USA, UK, France, Germany, Australia). We also offer a corporate training program to bring the message of equality to the workplace. Why not invite us to do a pilot program for your organization?
You Want To Explore
Equality, diversity, and inclusion training are buzzwords. Many will wait for the tried-and-tested way to achieve better engagement (you see how we get back to the same baseline again) because they want proof that it works before they do it. By that time, the ship may already have left the harbor without you.
Yet, the great explorers we learnt about in school didn’t have proof their ideas would result in anything significant. If you want to be an explorer and discover uncharted territory, you’d better get that ship ready and take a risk. Otherwise, someone else will get all the glory for pushing boundaries.
Call me.
At her lowest point, Beate Chelette was $135,000 in debt, a single mother, and forced to leave her home. Only 18 months later, she sold her image licensing business to Bill Gates in a multimillion dollar deal. Chelette is a nationally known ‘gender decoder’ who has appeared in over 60 radio shows, respected speaker, career coach, consummate creative entrepreneur, and author of Happy Woman Happy World. Beate is also the founder of The Women’s Code, a unique guide to women leadership and personal and career success that offers a new code of conduct for today’s business, private, and digital worlds. Determined to build a community of women supporting each other, she took her life-changing formula documented it all in a book Brian Tracy calls “an amazing handbook for every woman who wants health, happiness, love and success!”
Through her corporate initiative “Why Acting Like a Girl Is Good For Business” she helps companies with gender diversification training, and to develop and retain women.
If you’d like to book Beate as a speaker on New Leadership Balance or Creative Entrepreneurship for your next event please connect with me.