Senior Vice President & Chief Customer Experience Officer, Energizer Holdings
Search every verified Neenu Kainth interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a September 2021 video conversation with GE Digital CEO Pat Byrne, Neenu Sharma, then serving as GE Digital's Chief Diversity Officer, Interim Chief Marketing Officer, and Vice President of Brand and Corporate Communications, discussed her approach to inclusion and diversity. Sharma defined diversity as "having a seat at the table," inclusion as "having a voice," and belonging as "having your voice heard." She argued that much of the work over the previous 20-30 years had focused on "behavioral inclusion," such as understanding personal biases, but that the priority should shift to "structural inclusion," which examines how equitable systems and processes are and how to prevent unconscious bias from occurring. Sharma outlined a framework she called "TEAMS," which includes talent advocacy, engagement and belonging, awareness and transparency, market and ops integration, and standard work. She stated that any initiative not falling within these areas or lacking an ability for structural inclusion was likely not worth pursuing. Sharma described empathy as her "superpower" and said it could be cultivated through asking questions, discovering commonalities, and listening intently while being vulnerable. She also noted that affinity groups, such as the African Affinity Forum, Women's Network, and Hispanic Forum, help build community and trust, and that during the COVID-19 pandemic, people were "craving moments to connect as a community."
“For me, it was on three levels: it was very deeply personal, it was a professional reason, and also from a business case point of view. I personally believe in the business case of inclusion and diversity which is increase productivity, increase creativity, and that leads to the innovation that we can be proud of.”
“Diversity is having a seat at the table, inclusion is having a voice, and belonging is having your voice heard. So how do we really make sure our teams globally, no matter what their identity is, they really feel that strong sense of belonging?”
“So much work in the past 20-30 years has been around behavioral inclusion—making people on a journey of self-discovery, understanding their biases that hamper their own decision making. But really what we have to tackle is structural inclusion: how equitable are our systems and processes, how do we prevent unconscious...”
“Anything that we really tackle if it doesn't fall within these five areas—talent advocacy, engagement and belonging, awareness and transparency, market and ops integration, and standard work—or have an ability for structural inclusion, it's probably not where we want to spend our time today.”
“Affinity groups like the African Affinity Forum, the Women's Network, and the Hispanic Forum help us build the organization by fostering a sense of community and trust among our teams. These networks are not just about individuals identifying with an affinity but about a larger movement towards connection, understandin...”
“We're craving, especially in these coveted times, moments to connect as a community. As we're establishing programming around that, we're really getting at the core of belonging.”
“My superpower is empathy, which is sharing and understanding the feelings of others. I really believe strongly that you can cultivate empathy. It's what makes me a good communicator, a good marketer, and a good chief diversity officer.”
“One practice of really building empathy is asking more questions and really understanding what motivates people, where they come from, and how they think about what's happening at work and in the world around them.”
“It's just listening really hard, being present in a conversation, and making your own self vulnerable as you're listening and sharing back to really connect with people.”
GE Digital CEO Pat Byrne talks with GE Digital Dhief Diversity Officer, Neenu Sharma. “At GE Digital, we often talk about the ...
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