The Fix

Diversity is simply good for business. Companies with greater gender diversity in their leadership outperform their less diverse competitors, having higher returns on capital and credited with better employee engagement and retention. These companies have loyal customers, are more relevant to a broader customer base, are more innovative and are better at problem-solving. The same goes for companie...

The Great Resignation, has seen employees  leaving their jobs at unprecedented rates. According to the US Labor Bureau in November 2021 alone, 4.5 million employees quit Reports by the online media publication The Plug states that workers across the U.S. are finding more reasons to leave their jobs than having reasons to stay, citing burnout, being overworked amid shortages in some industries and...

Being unaware of people’s experiences of inequality like racism or sexism, often inadvertently and unwillingly leads to behaviors that are racist and sexist. We are simply blind to inequality. Being able to learn about inequality without ever having to experience it, is really the ultimate privilege. But just like inequality, when we deny our privilege we are blinded by it. Privilege makes it easy...

Today on the show my dear friend Eve Rodsky is joining us! Eve has been featured on the show before, with her New York Times best selling book, Fair Play and now Eve is here again with her new book, 'Unicorn Space', which is all about making time for your creative pursuits. As a researcher, I was intrigued with this idea that men and women have different opportunities to pursue creative interests,...

This podcast is dedicated to the topic of hiring diverse talent whilst also looking at what businesses can do to really try and value difference.  Research states that 46% of people’s experiences of inclusion at work are down to their manager’s behavior. So, 46% of your experiences of whether you feel included or not are attributed to your manager’s behavior. So when I hear “not my workplace, I’ve...

As adults, if we have never experienced homelessness, it can be really tempting to turn away and not engage with the humanity of the situation. Sometimes it’s just too upsetting and we feel guilty or even embarrassed about our own comparative security. We need reminding of the importance of engaging with homelessness empathetically and that it is not as far away as we might like to think.  Often i...

I often get asked by people, surely gender equality will just be achieved in time? Aren’t we becoming more progressive? Won’t younger generations ensure we have greater equality because they hold more liberal views.  The answer to all these questions is No.   The belief that we will just achieve equality through the passing of time is one of the reasons we will never achieve equality no matter how...

Over the last four years we have spoken with so many incredible people from all walks of life about how to make a more diverse, equitable and inclusive world.   During that time I have found there are some consistent lessons that people shared around what it really takes to build a workplace that works for everyone.   So to help kick off this year in the right way, we will be discussing my top 10...

As the entire world works to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the role of effective leadership has been brought into razor sharp focus. What people need now are leaders with empathy, compassion and an ability to show support, skills that women leaders tend to exhibit more than men. While it may take a global pandemic to finally acknowledge the unique talents and capabilities women leaders of...

If the pandemic has taught us anything it is that to collaborate either virtually or in person we need to learn how we can bridge our individual and cultural differences and work as one team regardless of our location. We need to create culturally inclusive environments. Culture includes the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, so...

Have you heard of the 'Great Resignation' or the 'Big Quit'? It is an informal name for the widespread trend of a significant number of workers leaving their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. While most news articles are covering the 'Great Resignation' in relation to the United States, the problem is happening on a global level and it is thought to be the result of many different factors, notabl...

Recently a male colleague asked me what he could do to support women at work, and I told him to start by being an ally. Simply speaking up when someone makes a derogatory comment about women, even if it seems innocent enough, is how men can practice this. When one of his colleagues made a comment to him about the size of their female coworker’s breasts, he spoke up. He said, “Don’t do that. Don’t...

Men’s ability to financially support their family is equated with their identity and self-worth. Living up to this requires that men have a job, conform to the 1950’s ideal worker image, and advance at work. This is the expectation we all hold for men, and it limits men’s freedom to explore their identities outside of work. We need to let go of the idea that women’s careers are somehow expendable,...

Over the last two years health and wellbeing has become front and center in organisational life, thanks to the pandemic. We have all heard of the business case for DEI but what about the wellness case for DEI?  It is becoming increasingly apparent that without compassionate, inclusive, people-centred workplaces, health and wellbeing suffers and, in turn, so does productivity. If we want more innov...

Both men and women are feeling even more burned out in 2021 than they were in 2020. The annual  'Women in the Workplace' report from McKinsey & Co. and LeanIn. Org found that the gap between women and men who say they are burned out has nearly doubled in the last year. Women in particular have taken on more responsibilities at home from supervising remote learning for their children to basic house...

When we talk about pressure we usually conjure up negative images  – being pressured into something, feeling the weight of pressure. Even the dictionary definition of “pressure” focuses on coercion and intimidation. And who could forget Queen and David Bowie singing about pressure being the force that burns a building down, splits a family in two, puts people on streets. But is this the whole stor...

When men align with other men who hold positions of power, they are better able to access the privilege associated with that power. This includes things like having direct access to high-profile people, job opportunities, high-profile assignments, and rewards at work. Homosocial behaviors provide men with ways to develop relationships with other men in positions of power, to their benefit. There a...

As workplaces are now taking the steps to shift back to versions of ‘business as usual’, it is also a critical time and a golden opportunity for them to focus on the wellbeing and psychological safety of employees across their organisation. We see psychological safety in teams when members engage in learning behaviours, such as asking for help, seeking feedback, admitting errors, being open about...

When I started out in my career, there were so many articles and news reports, events, training and speakers sharing how to engage and manage millennial workers. And over the years I have seen this same focus extend to Generation Z. Companies want to and need to engage the next generation, many of whom want businesses to change their approach to sustainability, equity and corporate social responsi...

In the process of selling my first book, I spoke to several editors at major publishing houses. One editor revealed that she was thankful her workplace was “not gendered in any way.” In that moment, I realized how much we all take inequality for granted at work. This made me determined to find a way to explain how systemic this issue is and how most workplaces don’t work for men and women in the s...

Last week the supreme court in the United States decided by five to four to allow Texas to effectively ban abortions in the state despite the blatant disregard of the court’s own 1973 ruling legalizing abortion in US, Roe v Wade. United Nations human rights experts have called the new Texas abortion law “structural sex and gender-based discrimination at its worst”.  Women of color, those with low...

From a young age, we are taught what the appropriate behavior is for boys and girls. Through repeated exposure over the years we come to know how men and women are meant to behave. These beliefs are then used to make judgments about women at work. When women succeed in traditionally male-dominated roles, they defy the expectations society has for women and they are punished for it. One study found...

When it comes to innovation, current approaches tend to adopt a male lens, by only considering the needs of men, or only engaging men in the design process. Consequently, many products we have today were never designed with women in mind. While there is increased attention on the gender gap in innovation, it isn't enough.  What we need is a GENDER-RESPONSIVE APPROACH to innovation, which means goi...

Between 2015 and 2020 there was a 107% increase in the number of people employed with the head of diversity job title, according to LinkedIn data. This global hiring trend is set to continue, as more businesses appreciate the fundamental importance, including to the bottom line of having more diverse representation and inclusive cultures.  The top three fastest growing roles in this space, accordi...

There is a loneliness epidemic, and it is affecting people from all ages. A recent study, conducted by the American Enterprise Institute, suggests that the proportion of people who can name six close friends has dropped from 55% to 27% since the 1990's and one in five single men say they do not have any close friends. According to the Guardian, while the pandemic has increased experiences of lonel...