With the above statement, Prime Minister David Cameron set a new challenge for employers to prove that when they say "We are an equal opportunity employer", they actually mean it.
I reckon that, by the time you read this, more organisations would have signed up to, what is becoming one of the fastest responses to a call for paradigm shift.
That the government will team up with employers and the unemployed to co-create a new reality for equality is one that will have a major positive impact, not just in Britain, but globally.
And for those yet unfamiliar with the scenario, emerging report says some of the large Companies, organisations and governmental agencies rapidly, positively responding to that call include, the BBC, NHS, HSBC, the British Civil Service, Virgin Money, and Chartered Accountants Dolloitte and KPMG and many other MNC's.
They are all signing up to the "No Name CV" theme - a new resolution to judge applicants based on fair conditions stripped of racial or identity biases. To build a fair society where no one will have to protest for missing out on invitations for interviews till they change their name.
Not that the issue began with Jorden Elizabeth Berkeley, sited by the PM in his example. What is more important is that, her experience has prompted something good from it all.
But calls for fairness or its implementation can be extensive. And so, hopefully, persons and groups. as well as organisations who still indulge in designing unfair and inappropriate conditions and cultures that make it difficult for fairness to thrive in the environment, will allow themselves the opportunity to be impacted by the new positive wave.
Instances where someone who finds himself/herself in a position of authority begins to design a hostile condition, either anchored on spiritual manipulation of others of plotted to affect and encroach and zoom in on their faiths/beliefs, aiming to deny them that which should have been beneficial to them is condemnable.
In this new dispensation, we should all learn from the leadership we have been provided, to successfully lead our subordinates in a fair, inclusive and mutually tolerant direction, where they too will understand they are expected to pass it on.
Amilcar Cabral once reputedly noted that socially constructed universes are capable of change, and that these will be made by those who constructed it - the society.
Sexually exploiting job seekers, or new employees or needy people in order to do them a favour is one despicable act which almost always leave a bad taste in their mouth. Sometimes, it even backfires on the employer who may find himself/herself in court, with reputation in tatters.
Physical changes are, very often more durable than spiritual changes, and with effective communication, more implementable. So when leaders physically embrace the principle of fairness and lead by example, the benefits to the organisation are almost certainly priceless.
Hopefully, this case for equal opportunity will have the right impact, not just on the big organisations listed above, but also from our micro environment - homes, work places and stores. It's about understanding that how we treat people leaves a multiplier effect on the larger society.
Change is good!
