FROM THE INDUSTRY
events. Get the next generation of leaders involved in your high-visibility events, demos, and conferences. 3. Add more diverse perspectives to your hiring workflow. If one hiring manager gets to make every call, and/or if one AI-powered system is filtering all inbound resumes, then you are probably missing talented people who don’t look like your algorithm — the one that was created by the very people who don’t have those backgrounds or life experiences. Those experiences lead to resilience and creativity, so build a more nuanced hiring process, with input If your company or organisation wants to build the next generation of its leaders, then don’t just send the C-suite to industry events.
We’re in the midst of a quiet revolution. COVID-19 transformed our workflows. Tech layoffs have left a swathe of unemployed talent. AI is rapidly changing tools and business models. Meanwhile, a wave of baby boomers is retiring, leaving gaps in our workforce. We can’t conquer these challenges without “tequity” – a movement to embrace diversity not as some isolated programme, project, or department, but as integral to our financial success as an industry. GALSNGEAR has been working with partners and allies across the industry to build tequity for people who identify as women through four pillars: visibility, upskilling, access and community. To succeed, the first thing we ask ourselves is “What happens if we don’t pay attention?” Everyone loses. Our companies lose access to talent. We don’t develop the next generation of leaders. We stagnate. And in our fast- changing business environment, we endanger our sustainability. At a recent SVG Summit, #GALSNGEAR led participants across the broadcast industry as we workshopped solutions to future-proof our industry. Many of these ideas are incorporated in the tactical list below.
1. Train your managers so they understand their own hidden (and not so hidden) biases. Take a look at both ‘climate’ and ‘culture’ in your organisation. Culture is ‘how we do things around here.’ Climate is ‘the way we feel around here.’ To build diverse, high-performing teams, we need both climate and culture to evolve beyond where we are today in most companies. And that takes listening to new voices and new perspectives. One of the easiest ways to promote a culture change is to add not only more training, but more inclusive social gatherings. 2. Set aside professional development budget for emerging leaders ... and then make them use it. A lot of younger women who participate in our #GALSNGEAR programmes during industry events say that they don’t have any funding from their company to participate. We do our best to find sponsors and wrangle hotel rooms and other support. If your company or organisation wants to build the next generation of its leaders, then don’t just send the C-suite to industry
MARCH 2024 Volume 46 No.1
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