Belinda Parmar is the founder and CEO of LadyGeek and author of The Empathy Era.
Extract:
“Diversity, if it is to be more than a buzz-word, needs to be fundamentally plural. What it calls for is an integrated, comprehensive shift in corporate culture, not a series of online workshops and a three-monthly review. And for this to work it needs to operate from the bottom of the corporate hierarchy to the top.
Results only come if that individual has seniority within the organization – actual transformations require budget. A change in corporate climate and culture needs firm leadership. When diversity is offloaded onto the HR department it risks becoming an administrative issue, just like time sheets and holiday forms.
When its potential is tapped, diversity it a powerful tool that increases a company’s wealth. We won’t manage this through facile training sessions or management reviews. It needs to come from the top, it needs to go deep and it needs proper funding. Appoint a chief diversity officer. Elect an empathy council and give power and funding to the right people so they can implement fundamental changes to the business.
It’s not diversity that is failing business, it’s business failing diversity.”
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