Pride 2024: Why leaders must recognise the value of diversity

As a leader, I'm often asked about my views on inspiring high levels of performance. What do I think is the secret ingredient for really getting the best from people? For me, the answer is quite simple: embracing diversity within the workforce and creating an environment where everyone feels safe to be themselves.

As Pride Month comes to a close for another year, I'd like to share more of my thoughts on this topic. After all, recognising the value of diversity should be top of mind for leaders all year round.

The power and potential of diverse teams

?Hitachi is a global company. We have close to 300,000 people in multiple territories around the world. Within that vast employee population is a wealth of different backgrounds, cultures, views, and experiences. Especially in an organisation as diverse as ours, leaders must be aware and respectful of people's differences. As a company, we expect all leaders in Hitachi to demonstrate that awareness through their daily work and interactions with others.

?Of course, recognising diversity should never be confused with treating different groups of people in different ways. While it's vital to recognise and value diversity, every team member must be treated equitably. At Hitachi, we assess people based on the talent, skills, and strengths they bring to the team and how they contribute to our company's performance. The question of whether or not they belong to a diverse community will never influence the way in which they are managed.

?Leading with diversity and inclusion in mind isn't simply about doing the right thing. I believe that diversity makes the modern workforce what it is. All those differences in views, skills and experiences make for a vibrant and multi-faceted team that has the potential to do great things. I think that makes today's workplace a far more interesting prospect from a leadership perspective. There is such a wealth of skills and perspectives within our teams - and that is something to be embraced.

?The significance of Pride

?In many of the countries in which Hitachi operates, Pride is part of the social and cultural fabric of modern life. Along with other events that honour diversity in society, I firmly believe it should be reflected and recognised in business life too. Leaders should be open-minded and willing to learn about the various communities within our population. Our recognition of Pride serves as an excellent reminder of that, as well as an opportunity for education.

It also creates another chance for us to reinforce the sense of safety to be their true selves that we want members of the LGBTQIA+ community - along with everyone in the company – to have at Hitachi. We want these team members to feel seen and recognised. Acknowledging Pride is a great way for us to contribute to that year-round effort.

The very last thing I would want for anyone at Hitachi to do is expend energy censoring or 'masking' their true selves to feel safe or accepted. That's not just bad for them, it's also bad for business: we know that for people to do their best work and perform to the peak of their potential, they must first feel safe and able to be their authentic selves.

So, when I'm asked for my views on what great leadership looks like, diversity is always at the top of my list. Without it, our workplace wouldn't be what it is today. As I shared in my previous blog post, we have ambitious goals at Hitachi. We want to achieve carbon neutrality across our business sites by 2030 and through our entire value chain by 2050. We will only be able to do that with the wealth of opinions, ideas, and ways of thinking that come from the diversity within our population.?

Leaders must recognise that if they want to drive performance, building diverse teams and creating an inclusive environment in which everyone feels safe and empowered to do their best work is absolutely essential.