By Lori S. Goldsmith, SPHR
In 2007, I won an honorable mention for the following poem in The Love Foundation’s, (http://www.thelovefoundation.com/) annual poetry contest.
“from the first”
babies crave sugar from the first taste
black white gay straight
we label
we teach
violence fear and hate
love respect responsibility
starts first
with me
to
teach
unconditionally
what can be
universally
begins with me
One of my employees once told me that he wished everyone could me like me – that I saw him and not his wheelchair.
To this day one of my proudest moments happened when I had taken on a Senior HR position with one of the world’s largest manufacturing and distribution companies. I started to do job analyses on all of our positions. One of our senior mangers, a Latin male, came to me and admitted that he did not read well and wanted to do a good job on the questionnaire so we set an appointment time so I could go through the process with him verbally. Cultural delimiters were eliminated. I knew I had earned his complete trust and respect.
Caring is the “heart of ethics.” As Edward James Olmos said the HR Florida State Conference & Expo, “There is only one race – the human race.”
As long as we are talking about labels: Democrats – Republicans, whatever your affiliation, our health care system is low ranking in comparison to other industrialized countries. Why is it so hard to wipe away the labels and just focus on the issues? To succeed, it is clear we all have to work together. I don’t have to like you or even agree with you, we do to respect one another and work together.
How many of your employees are unable to afford your company’s healthcare premiums? HR Professionals, let your voice be heard. SHRM Advocacy program makes it really easy for us.
Get involved. We must be part of the solution. To learn more: http://www.shrm.org/Advocacy/Pages/MoreaboutAdvocacyProgram.aspx
In my opinion freedom means responsibility and propriety. It is my hope that someday we all are judged solely on the way we represent the human race – not by cultural delimiters or party affiliation delimiters.
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