IWD23: How to mind the say do gap.
As a leader, what are you saying online – your digital footprints – around key events?
Things like Lunar New Year, WorldPride or International Women’s Day.
Are they seen as one-off opportunities to show potential candidates that you and your organisation are ‘in touch’ with social and cultural events? Or do your efforts go much, much deeper?
I love what Zora Artis, CEO of Artis Advisory, has to say about this and the “say-do gap”. This is the gap – the reputational risk – that emerges when your talk does not match your walk.
Because, the reality is more than 80% of candidates today will research a CEO’s presence and what they’re saying online when considering whether to join a company. (Brunswick)
They’re savvy.
And they’re looking for say-do gaps.
For social or cultural events, if leaders’ social media efforts are seen to be motivated by popularity – not purpose – it is only a matter of time before they will be called out online.
Let's get practical: #IWD23
International Women’s Day 2022 saw many leaders and organisations publicly embarrassed for perceived ‘lip service’ to gender equality reform.
Organisations using Twitter to show their alignment with IWD had their tweets hijacked by the Gender Pay Gap Bot, which then revealed that organisation’s gender pay gap.
I wonder what ChatGPT-fuelled surprises might be waiting on 8 March for organisations who don’t walk the talk…
So, as your team readies for #IWD2023 next Wednesday, here are some considerations:
How is your gender equality ‘say-do gap’ looking? As a leader, are you demonstrating what you stand for through your online actions? What initiatives are you championing on and offline to ensure full and proper participation for women in the workplace?
Who will be posting on IWD from your team? Are you empowering your wider workforce to tell their stories, or are you channeling comms through a select few? As our UniSuper client, Luke Collard recently said: “If you trust your people and the culture of your organisation, give them the microphone.” Amen, Luke!
Whether female or male – what is their authentic connection to issues around women’s rights and equal opportunity? Whoever chooses to speak up, their personal connection to any issue is far more powerful than generic or token messages of support.
Importantly, are there any issues that might emerge – what steps are already being taken to address them? Are you prepared should any perceived say-do gaps be called out publicly next week?
As always, I encourage you to plan ahead and ensure any social media comms are driven by strategic priorities and audiences, not vanity metrics.
If you’d value a quick stress tester conversation on your IWD plans, feel free to book a 15-min call with me below. I’d love to help.
For me, I’ll be using IWD (and every day) as an opportunity to continue elevating the voices and actions of female leaders I greatly admire. In fact, I couldn’t wait until next week…so I gave some a shout out yesterday!
You can see my full post here, recognising nine fantastic women leaders who’ve influenced me in recent years. Please click, follow and support them.
These women set an example for other leaders, their teams and the next generation. Women whose social media efforts are authentic and purposeful, and avoid the say-do gap. I’d encourage you to share these best practice examples with your team.
Because when leaders are purposeful with their social media efforts, trust their own authentic voices, and use their actions to guide their words, who knows what systemic barriers we can all break down?
Until next time, take care.
Roge
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