Wednesday 8th March 2023 is International Women’s Day – a day that gives opportunity and an excellent excuse to champion female success on a global scale within any area, from health and sport, to technology and business. The IWD theme for 2023 is #EmbraceEquity and encouraging the conversation around equality vs equity.
Equality is giving everyone the same opportunities with a one-size-fits-all ideology, however this doesn’t always go far enough. As everyone is so different from each other, one set of standard items will not bring everyone the same outcome. Equality is like giving everyone the same bike, but true equity is giving everyone a bike that differs in size to specifically suit the individual person based on their height and build, so that they can ride it to its full advantage. Equality is the goal (everyone on a suitable bike, having an equally fulfilling ride), and equity is the means to get there.
It would be fair to say that the majority of the industries that Lamberts serve – construction; transport; agriculture; offshore and marine; manufacturing and engineering – are typically heavily represented by men. Yet sitting in the driving seat of Lamberts is a female, our Managing Director Trina Beare.
Trina has always been aware of how unusual it is for a woman to be heading up a company that is in the heavy industry sector, however, Trina says, ‘I don’t believe gender should set me apart as any different from anyone else. I’ve always been instilled by my family that everybody is equal.’
This mantra, passed down from Trina’s father and grandfather embraces the fact that everyone should be treated the same and no one is more important than anyone else. This level playing field was perhaps a little ahead of its time when now, decades later, International Women’s Day acts to forge a path to an inclusive world that is free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination.
Not only does Lamberts have strong female representation right at the top, we employ a total of seven women across the team – Trina, alongside Louise, Karen, Nita and Danielle in accounts, with Cindy and Tiger in workwear. Trina says, ‘It’s great to have so many talented women in our workforce. At Lamberts we like to give everyone the same opportunities, no matter their background or gender and if one of our staff came to us looking to diversify their skills in any department of the business we’d always champion that as best as we can – without bias.’
As the power of the International Women’s Day movement grows and the voice of female empowerment is shouted louder around the globe, we can only hope that more businesses and industries #EmbraceEquity and allow female leaders and females within their workforce to blaze the way for generations to come.