Why Do The Work?

The Business Case

(but what about the money, though??)

The business case for diversity has been made countless times already, by folks much smarter than us (e.g. Forbes and Deloitte). Key findings include the doubling of employee engagement, higher talent attraction and retention, and better decision-making in companies with high levels of diversity and inclusion.

What is new, though, is the prevalence of minority genders in the workforce*, and growing evidence of the impacts of botched corporate allyship.

The median income for gender minorities is 50% less than that of the general population in Aotearoa. More than demonstrating the need for equitable support initiatives for trans and non-binary individuals, this clearly constitutes evidence of widespread cultural incompetence on the part of employers across New Zealand.

To give you the inside scoop on how information travels within the trans communities - spaces where we thrive are rare enough that, when a workplaces demonstrates readiness to accommodate us, we tell everyone we know and flock there en masse.

If we aren’t ‘out’ in your workplace, it’s time to find out why.

Because the reality is that it’s not only us who are affected by the lack of readiness in our workplaces. It affects your bottom line. And that effect is growing fast.

Time Magazine found that over half of Gen Z acknowledge more than two genders. According to Forbes, three out of four of these workers state that they would leave an employer who wasn't supporting community.

By 2025, Gen Z will constitute 30% of the workforce.

Corporate entities across the globe are racing to catch up with this cultural evolution, but there is a marked deficit of trans voices guiding these evolutionary efforts. The results are all too often devastating to the businesses trying for progress - see the recent impacts to Bud Light, Ripcurl and Bonds. (Or don’t. Honestly, the reporting on Ripcurl and Bonds is - so far - exclusively fear-mongering click bait. We couldn’t find any articles worthy of embedding a link).

This backlash to progress is no new phenomenon. Western civilization has been here countless times before. Each wave of the civil rights movement encounters the same counter-attacks, intentionally manufactured by those who benefit from social divisiveness and unwittingly distributed by those who are vulnerable, fearful and ill-informed.

E āta haere ana koutou. With deep listening, intentionality, and leadership from the right voices, we will stay the course. What is needed is a grounding in empathy, and a renewed commitment to our purpose, our colleagues and our friends.

This is a time of acute importance - for our communities, our brands, and our common kaupapa - to proactively scaffolding our DEIB efforts with cultural competency, strategy and policy.

Kua takoto te mānuka. Get on with it, folks. It has never made better business sense to be on the right side of history.

*note: Although there is an increasing understanding of, and identification with, trans and non-binary identities in the western knowledge system, these identities are not new. Countless cultures across the globe have always held linguistic and cultural space for genders outside the binary. The fact that narratives surrounding trans identities is gaining momentum in widespread global discourse is because a) the western world is finally catching on, and b) the cultural angst resulting from the subversion of historical western narratives is selling a lot of advertising. What we’re going through are the growing pains of our cultural adolescence. Trans folk always have, and will always, be here. We’re glad pākeha culture is finally catching up - we just wish y’all wouldn’t get your knickers in such a twist while doing it.