There aremany companies in Canada, as well as around the world, that provide effectivediversity programs.
Throughout these countless organizations that practicetheir own unique diversity programs there are a number of similar, anddistinctive focuses that each program chooses. The companies I have chosen toexamine today are Air Canada, Bell Canada, and the TD Bank Group. All threewere named one of Canada’s best diversity employers, and are well knownsuccessful companies.
I am going to talk about how these organizations approachdiversity in their own way, how they approach it in a similar way, and if thereis an ideal way to approach diversity in all workplaces. Air Canada, Bell Canada, and the TD bank group,all have their independent goals towards the goal of incorporating diversitywithin the workplace. Indigenous people in Canada have been discriminatedagainst, and excluded from many of the freedoms that other races in Canada havehad for much longer. Air Canada recognizes this bias, and chose has apartnership with “imagineNATIVE”, an organization that allows indigenous filmmakersto play their films as part of the in-flight entertainment programming. Throughthis small but impactful incorporation of aboriginal media on a public platform,many indigenous filmmakers now have the chance to communicate their message toa large audience, and educate more with their films. The other initiative isled by Bell Canada, is approaching diversity with something that could bewithin every gender, sexual orientation, race or religion, which is mentalillness through its support of internal mental health by creating a mentalhealth policy, as well as contribution benefits supporting mental health care. Canada’s Top 100 wrote, “Bell Canadaalso supported the creation of the National Standard for Psychological Healthand Safety in the Workplace and is the first company to adopt the standardinternally, providing all managers with Workplace Mental Health certificatetraining.” (Leung).
This shows the progressive stance Bell Canada is takingtowards its mission of achieving diversity in the workplace. TD Bank Group haschosen to take their multicultural appreciation into its forefront, choosingto, “…incorporate diverse groups in advertising materials and initiateddiversity reporting to review its market creative on a quarterly basis toensure marketing materials meet diversity standards from an imagery perspective.”(Leung). By including more diverse groups within advertising, not only are youshowing your support of diversity, but you are also giving more jobopportunities to diverse people. These are the unique ways that diversity inthe organization has been implemented by some very influential companies. One initiative has been pushed by manyorganizations from Canada and otherwise is the goal of supporting women in theworkplace. According to The CanadianEncyclopedia, “The majority of women in the labour force have always beenisolated in “female” occupations, called such because they are often extensionsof the work women do at home and because the vast majority of the people doingthem are women.” (Connelly).
This showsthe discrimination that has been prevalent in North American against womensince the beginning of the industrial revolution. As a means of combating the biasthat took place in the past, companies like Air Canada, Bell Canada, and the TDBank Group all have similar initiatives to break down the gender roles of thepast, and show the appreciation of the women in the workforce in present day. Anarticle published by Cision reported that Human Resource Vice President, ArielleMeloul-Wechsler, of Air Canada stated, “Women work alongside male colleaguesflying our aircraft, maintaining technologically advanced airplanes andsystems, occupying senior management roles in law, finance, accounting, IT,human resources, in-flight service, customer service, commercial services,communications and in specialized airline operations. The sky is truly thelimit, and we strongly encourage girls and young women to pursue their aviationdreams and consider careers in non-traditional professions.” (Meloul-Wechsler).This quote from the human resource vice president of Air Canada shows how muchthey do appreciate the women in their workforce and encourage more young womento think of aviating as a career path. Bell Canada, on the other hand has somemore internal programs such as the national Women at Bell network, as well assponsoring “…female executives’ participation in career development programssuch as The Judy Project and the International Women’s Foundation fellowship.
” (Leung).Bell has participated in the sponsoring of executives for 11 years now, thisshows the dedication and consideration that Bell Canada has put into makingcertain the women within the workplace are acknowledged and supported. BothBell Canada and the TD Bank Group are also supporting the LGBT community bygiving employees who are apart of said community their own network to supportthe inclusion and growth of those employees. The TD Bank Group also supportswomen in the work place, according to the TD website, “Through TD’s Women inLeadership network, comprised of more than 5,000 women across Canada and theU.
S., we are driving development by connecting, encouraging and mentoring eachother.” (TD).
This is proof of TD’s support of women in the workplace,ultimately showing that there is a movement towards supporting women across allorganization across Canada, and the world.The truth is that there isn’t only one modelthat should be followed, but according to Harvard Business Review, there are somefundamental values that all managers must implement to truly have inclusivework environment. The first principle states hiring personal must hire based onthe job candidates’ aptitude in the field rather than what his résumé mighthave written. Sydney Finkelstein explains “It’s not about lowering yourstandards; it’s about realizing that many standards, like prestigious butunpaid internships, are markers of privilege, not innate talent.
” (Finkelstein). This quote further explains the impactthat hiring for talent rather than purely what is written on the résumé, andwhy what is on the résumé can’t always be assumed to be the only bases to hireon. The second thing to do is to “Unleash everyone’s creativity” (Finkelstein).By doing this, managers are asking employees of all level and positions, nomatter what background they may have, to display the talents that you initiallyhired them for. This improves the overall workforce and the outputorganizations will receive from all employees equally. On another standard isto use opportunity as the primary development tool within the workplace.
Conventionally,many managers put limits on the tasks their employees can engage in, like ageand gender, but inclusive managers allow these opportunities to be accessed anyof their staff, believing in their competence no matter their differences. The lastsignificant principle to making a truly diverse and inclusive workplace is to encouragecollaboration and friendly competition. The combination of these two things inthe work place can inspire workers of all circumstances to do their best work.Finkelstein writes, “By being both intensive and nurturing, this kind of culturehelps sustain an insider mentality on the team. Employees come to think ofthemselves as a “band of brothers and sisters” united against the world.” (Finkelstein).
This quote simply explains how the competition and collaboration can worktogether to bring a diverse group of employees together. Ultimately, if anorganization can implement all four of these principals within the workplacethey can achieve a much more inclusive work environment for all employees.In conclusion, many organization have approachedcreating diversity in similar ways and all have their own unique way of solvingthe issue. When these organizations can adopt the core principles to diversityin the workplace, they are able to create more opportunities for the company aswell as the employees of the company.
When employers are focused on the talentof the individual rather than the heritage, sexual preference, or otherunrelated aspects of an employee’s personal life, they greatly increase the qualityof the workforce for their organization. This is why having more diversitywithin organizations is essential to any organization in the 21st century.
