I was on a walk with my 12-year-old son, Drew, the other day, and we were reflecting on 2020 and how we will be ready for 2021. I asked him, “When you are 40, what do you think you will remember about 2020?”
He said, “Mom, I think we will remember it as the year we became so close to each other and loved each other more!” He instantly started laughing because our family, like many, have had a ton of “togetherness.”
Some of this time has been amazing, and some of this time has been…well, challenging. Anyone else feel the same?
While I think many of us are ready to shut the door on 2020, maybe Drew is right and I hope he is!
If you think about the timeline of 2020, COVID-19 hit and we had people in their houses, watching the news, and ready to get back to normalcy. Then, the tragedy of George Floyd happened. It rocked our nation to the core. This time, we had a captivated audience of people at home — watching, learning, and listening. I truly believe and hope 2020 is going to be looked upon as the start of something different.
Launching Holmes Murphy Diversity & Inclusion Committee
At Holmes Murphy, we knew we needed to take action. But, instead of running straight into a strategy without much thought, we want to get it right and making it meaningful for our employees, customers, and the communities we live in!
As a result, we recently launched a Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) committee. We had over 50 of our employees raise their hands, so we’ve also formed an Interest Group to include all employees interested in being part of the initiative.
Our first step is to listen and learn. I am so proud of the efforts and thoughts of this initiative. We want it to be true and authentic to who we are and truly just part of our organization — incorporated into our overall purpose.
The time is now to really dig in and look for ways to bring diversity not only to our organization, but throughout the industry. Diversity brings different ideas, thinking, and innovation — these are needed in all organizations.
I am sharing this today because I want to learn and grow. If you have ideas and suggestions, please share. If I can be a resource for you, please reach out.
You know what? I think Drew is going to be right! We are on the verge of something better — 2020 is the start of us making “Tomorrow Better Than Yesterday!”
