Suella Braverman is the new Home Secretary. Or should I say, the latest home secretary.
She is something of an odd-ball. As the Guardian put it;
‘… [she’s] become known for her bizarre rants and odd stances.’
Braverman endorsed Tizzie’s campaign pledge to ‘remove diversity advisers from government departments…’
This is a bad move, as discrimination lawyer Robin Moira White, points out;
‘…an employer accused of a random and unpredictable act of discrimination can argue that they took the “reasonable steps” to prevent such action.
But, unless the employer has clear anti-discrimination policies in place and has provided relevant training, this defence is unlikely to succeed.’
It’s important.
If you’re an operational manager in the NHS, with a hugely diverse workforce, how many of the nine characteristics, protected in the Equality Act 2010, can you name?
Is there a Tory war on ‘woke’?
The phrase has become divisive, toxic and the topic of choice for the emerging right-wing radio stations. It’s a symbol of a culture war. But, where did it come from?
Its derivation is from ‘awake’, emerging in the US in the ’40’s. Originally it meant someone who is well informed on the issues of social justice and in particular, racism.
Someone awake, aware and woken-up to the issues.
Now, it is adopted as the flag, rallying point, watchword for a range of social movements including LGBTQ issues, feminism, immigration, climate change and marginalised communities.
In September 2017 the term woke was added to the Oxford English Dictionary, along with 500 other words, including, augmentation and Fatberg…and more recently, in 2019, Confirmation Bias and Fake News!
Now, there’s a new word to add; ‘woke-washing’…
… the act of cashing in on woke. Last December, M&S enhanced their classic BLT sarnie to a LGBT one, basically the same sandwich but with the colours of the LGBTQ flag on the packet.
Somehow, the ambition of inclusivity and diversity and the associated issues has been devalued, to the point of ‘woke’ being synonymous with insult and the concept of political-correct gone bonkers.
It’s hard to see what’s wrong with demonstrating social awareness.
How do managers manage the ‘woke agenda’? At its worst, woke culture contains an aspect of bullying and a message of; ‘I am right, and if you don’t agree with me, you are wrong…’ just around the corner comes group think.
Larger organisations are seeing a shift in the demographic of their workforce.
Younger talent, who want a life and a job, not necessarily a job for life, have different priorities…
… ethical consumption, green issues and the morality of supply chains, all come into play. The ethical credentials of the employer become significant.
An interesting survey of more than 27,000 respondents across 27 international markets, by GlobeScan reported;
60% of respondents under the age of 30 say;
… rebuilding… post-pandemic … the priority should be… ‘restructuring our economy so it deals… with challenges such as inequality and climate change’.
When asked about the role of companies in enacting change, eight in ten agreed;
‘companies and their brands are an essential part of the solution for the challenges facing humanity today’.
Where does that leave the NHS?
- It has one of the largest carbon-footprints of any organisation in Europe.
- It is recruiting nurses from overseas, including Nepal, a WHO red-list, no-no, country.
- Struggles with discrimination claims and blatant examples of prejudice.
- Most of the clinical recruits into the NHS will be under 30yrs.
Companies who try to weave a moral message into their offering usually come unstuck.
BrewDog’s pink beer wrapper on International Women’s Day, was seen as disingenuous… a case in point.
The NHS is built on a moral message of inclusiveness and equality for the public. That must include the people who work in it.
Woke is awareness;
- Woke, is not a game or a political pivot point.
- Woke is not a layer, or a wrapper.
- Woke is not a bolt-on or a lever.
- Woke is part of the foundations, not the rainbow-paint on the front door.
Woke must be like the stripe in toothpaste…
….wherever you squeeze the tube, it’s there.
News and Comment from Roy Lilley
Contact Roy – please use this e-address roy.lilley@nhsmanagers.net
Reproduced at thetrainingnet.com by kind permission of Roy Lilley.
