I am really pleased to be the first shipboard colleague to share my thoughts following Arnold Donald’s Leadership Summit in Orlando.
Each year, there’s a new trend in the things that are top of mind for businesses. 2019 is the year when I think you will find that more and more companies start to focus on Inclusion and Diversity.
Neither Inclusion nor Diversity are new particularly at sea but tolerance in shoreside businesses might not have been quite so evident; perhaps less accepting of individual beliefs, preferences, whether consciously or subconsciously?
Diversity can refer to age, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, gender, knowledge, personality and disabilities. Interesting, in my delving into this a bit further, studies have shown that diversity is perceived differently by the generations. It is said that ‘millennials’ embrace the diversity of an individual’s background, experience and perspective, and they take advantage of these differences which leads to innovation. Other generations view diversity as having equal representation within the business but not necessarily factoring it into the impact it has on the business results.
Is there a difference in attitudes between shoreside businesses and shipboard employees with regards to this? Yes, I do believe so. The basics of acknowledging someone that we may not know personally or what may be going on in their mind, whether it be in passing in the workplace, in an elevator or a simple introduction at a meeting without someone having to facilitate the task, shows us that perhaps we are uncomfortable or too reserved in our approach. That simple acknowledgement can affect a person positively and start to break down barriers and create acceptance. At sea in dealing with Guests and each other as crew we have to interact. This interaction helps break down any barriers and assists us in our social interactions and in getting to know others as well as stimulate and perhaps satisfy that curiosity about individuals. This can then lend itself into enhancing both the experience of our Guest on board but also our colleagues. Tailoring simple things for our ships’ company such as observing differing religious festivals and holidays, a more diverse range of food to cater for beliefs or to simply discussing someone’s family’s wellbeing when they are so far away from home for a prolonged period, shows a colleague that someone is interested in them.
Recruitment is also key in the fostering of Diversity and Inclusion in the business, by having it at the forefront of our recruitment policy and strategy. Those who want to work with us have to be able to see us practice the basics in our acceptance of diversity and inclusion, those being fair treatment and equality to training, promotion, teamwork in the working environment and of course showing that we can think out of the box and embrace innovation in the business. No idea is a bad idea.
As a business we employ thousands throughout the world both on land and sea. There is a huge wealth of diversity amongst us all and getting to know and understand, maybe the person sitting next to us, will enable us as individuals to enrich our knowledge. Ultimately if we were all do this, we would create a more tolerant society and workplace which will lead to a more engaged team. If we were all to learn something from the challenges that we each have, and support each other in these challenges, then we will become more successful in not only our roles but our company as a whole.
It is all about having that curiosity and willingness to support, understand, accept and value everyone as an individual with our differences, and to make that commitment to embrace diversity and inclusion.
‘Companies that embrace diversity and inclusion in all aspects of their business statistically outperform their peers.’ – Josh Bersin, President and founder of Bersin & Associates, a leading industry research and advisory firm in enterprise learning and talent management
Pictured above: The Miss Queen Elizabeth pageant which we celebrated back in January – a great example of celebrating occasions on board that mean a lot to colleagues – and create a lot of fun!
Pictured below: Myself and Snowy, who also attended the Leadership Summit. She spoke up on the maternity leave policy for crew members and this is now being reviewed across all the brands.
