Chuck Robbins, the CEO of Systems Inc., provides another example of an executive we can look to for inspiration in these times. At the recent Cisco Live event, Robbins took the opportunity to address the world's issues with the pandemic and equality. For many years, Cisco's mission statement was to "to shape the future of the internet by creating unprecedented value and opportunity for our customers, partners, shareholders, and employees.
Tech companies such as Dell, Intel and many others have also made financial commitments to various organizations to support equality. In non-tech sectors, companies such as Walmart announced that it would contribute $100 million over five years to create a new center for racial equity. Many companies, including Cisco, have Corporate Social Responsibly programs. These programs started with a heavy emphasis on sustainability. Many efforts also extended to deeper commitments that support the fair and ethical treatment of labor globally and creating equal pay within roles. However, these promises are useless if an organization doesn't develop a system for uncovering inequalities and holding themselves accountable to take action.
As we look at contract tracing and social distancing solutions, we need to consider the privacy aspect of collecting and managing data. If we're handling personally identifiable information, we can't be lax about our security policies for that information. As we build customer profiles, we need to be selective about what data we want to collect and why.
Absolutely! Empathy is a trait that will play a HUGE part now AND post-pandemic.