'It's a pleasure to see we – travel – are now moving with the times'

#EmbraceEquity

By Daniel Pearce, CEO of TTG Media

Another International Women’s Day has come around – and with it, a multitude of comments from companies vying to demonstrate their support for women.

This year, the social media started early. My LinkedIn and Twitter feeds have been punctuated for days by companies and individuals calling for change, celebrating female members of their teams, peppering the #IWD23 hashtag, and sharing the initiative’s logo like confetti.

So far, so good. But while it’s great to see companies shouting about their support for female colleagues in March, it does beggar the question – how many of these companies are actually creating fair and equal opportunities for their female employees, and measuring gender equality within their firms?

At TTG Media, we’ve been on a mission for Smarter, Better, Fairer travel for four years now, and it’s the fairer part of this mission – to create an industry that’s fairer both to the environment and the people within it – that really gets us up in the morning.

We don’t just talk the talk – 50% of our senior leadership team are female; we’ve changed our recruitment methods, investing in new companies to ensure job adverts are seen by more diverse candidates; we’re committed to supporting working parents, offering flexible or reduced hours to allow for school pick-ups; and we remain committed to never hosting all male panels at any TTG event.

Last week, I also proudly turned down an opportunity to join a panel at a publishing conference because it was all male. These might be small steps, but they’re important ones, and they’ll hopefully effect change in the long run.

It meant a huge amount to me to be named Male Ambassador of the Year by the AWTE last December. But it was genuine testimony to our whole team and culture – how we all look to support each other and challenge one another to uphold our standards. It’s in TTG’s DNA now, and not just for Christmas (or indeed #IWD23).

Making it our mission to #EmbraceEquity (to the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day) is undoubtedly good for business. But it’s not enough to just voice our support. Companies must also create open, equal cultures, and offer maximum flexibility in the workplace. As a male ally, I believe it’s also our role to act against negative behaviour – an area where male allies can really make a difference.

Call out men that talk over women in meetings. Banish “laddish” behaviour and offensive banter from the workplace. Refuse to take part in industry conferences that feature all-male panels. Embrace equity and celebrate International Women’s Day with meaningful action.

It’s not just about abhorring discrimination, it’s about taking active steps to prevent it. If all companies – and male allies – committed to this, what a positive way to truly celebrate International Women’s Day that would be.