You Got Them In. Can You Keep Them?

Last week we launched our first ever Paving Pathways program. It is a big moment, not just for us, but for what we are trying to shift in this industry. Because getting someone in the door is not the hard part. The real work begins after that.

Our Paving Pathways first participant; Tazmyn learning the foundations of the trade.

We talk a lot about visibility, but visibility without support is not progress. It is pressure. And too often, it becomes a spotlight without a safety net. People are being hired into environments that were never designed to hold them, let alone grow them. You can post about a new hire. Say the right things. Tick a box. But if there is nothing behind that moment—no structure, no culture, no support—then it is not an opportunity. It is a setup.

That is what this blog is about. Because too many companies are proud of the hire and silent about the harm.

The real test of culture is not how someone is welcomed. It is whether they are backed when it counts. Are they given a chance to grow, or quietly steered toward the easy jobs? Are they treated as part of the crew, or just someone near it? Do they get the same grace to make mistakes, or does one misstep become proof they never belonged?

People do not leave because they cannot do the job. They leave because they were expected to thrive in a space that never considered what they would need to succeed. When the culture stays the same, it sends a quiet message. You are welcome here, but only if you can adjust. Only if you do not need too much. Only if you work twice as hard and take up half as much space. That is not inclusion. That is endurance. And over time, it wears people down.

Being seen without being supported is not progress. It is being watched but never heard. It is walking into a space that says, “We are proud to have you here,” and then doing nothing to keep you there.

Support is not what you say. It is how someone feels walking into work each day. Do they feel like they matter? Like someone has their back? Like they can ask a question without being judged? Like they can fail without it becoming a reason to push them out? Because when support is not there, people do not speak up. They shrink. They shut down. They start doing whatever they can to get through the day without being noticed. And eventually, they leave. Not because they were not capable, but because no one made it safe to stay.

At Amarapave, we do not pretend to have all the answers. We know we have gotten things wrong. But that is exactly why we started Paving Pathways. Not as a showcase. As a question. What could it look like to build something with people, not just for them? To listen first, and shape the support around what they actually need, not what we assume they do?

It is early days, but we are in it with open hands. Because that is the only way forward. For them. For us. And for the industry we want to be part of building.

So if your business keeps losing the very people you claim to support, ask yourself what they walked into. Inclusion is not a headline. Retention is not a metric. They are both a reflection of what happens when no one is watching.

Written By: Ash MacMahon