By John Viktorin and Lee Downs
Diversity is key to both helping solve the looming staffing crisis, as well as adding skills and unique perspectives to a business landscape that now spans the globe.
But what’s the reality of diversity today and how will organizations leverage diversity in the future to drive organizational success?
HRPA’s Diversity PD in a Box workshop shows why diversity is critical to the future success of your organization and pinpoints the links between diversity, performance and profits.
This article provides a brief overview of the workshop materials.
What has diversity historically meant?
Canada’s Employment Equity Act and Ontario’s Employment Standards Act changed how we think about diversity and identified four specific diversity groups: women, visible minorities, people with disabilities and Aboriginal peoples. The legislation requires organizations to achieve diversity goals and to accommodate differences.
However, the unintended outcome is that diversity in many organizations is now compliance-driven rather than something done voluntarily and driven by business needs and results.
How are Canadian organizations doing?
The good news is that participation rates for women in the paid economy are nearing the point where most women who wish to work do so. The disabled are also achieving greater success in the workplace with more workplace accessibility and acceptance.
The bad news is the diversity policy-performance gap. While the four target diversity groups have made strides, they are still underrepresented in management and professional careers. Simultaneously, these groups seem locked in roles such as administration and manual labour. In general, participation rates of the four diversity groups are not matching their labour availability.
So while many Canadian organizations are clear on what they need to do to comply with diversity legislation, they lack a comprehensive approach to diversity in the strategic sense. Very few have strategies to attract, develop and engage the skills of a diverse workforce.
Diversity today and into the future—new perspectives
“Change your mindset, and the rest will follow” is a call-to-action: we need to recognize and address our biases as a first step to implementing change in diversity within organizations.
While some diversity statistics show Canadian organizations moving away from the strictly compliance-driven diversity model, the reality is there is a gap between stated support and actual support for diversity programs. A structured and well-researched approach to diversity can mean an improvement in your business’s performance.
In his book The Rise of the Creative Class, the University of Toronto’s Richard Florida discusses the rise of a new social class, including scientists, engineers, architects, educators, writers, artists and entertainers. This high-talent “creative class” is more open to diversity and enjoys working in organizations and living in places that value diversity.
The benefits to looking at diversity in this “new” way include:
- Access to a larger talent pool. The new approach to diversity starts with the four previous diversity groups but is even more inclusive of other groups in our society: newcomers to Canada, younger employees, older employees, people with physical and intellectual disabilities, various ethnicities, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) and others.
- Access new perspectives/ideas. Diversity is about bringing fresh ideas and perspectives to the decision-making table.
- Great inclusivity throughout the organization—a workplace culture that’s distinguished by its commitment to diversity at all levels of the organization, from the board and senior management on down.
An RBC study found removing age, gender and culture-related barriers would add an additional 1.6 million Canadians to the talent pool. And the Watson Wyatt Human Capital Index, which looks at connections related to an organization’s human resources and profits, indicates that an inclusive workplace is related to an increase in market value of 7.8%. Diversity then becomes less about corporate responsibility and more about driving business performance.
Investing in diversity has a strategic payoff that can be seen through:
Increased retention rates, increased individual productivity, improved levels of customer service, which leads to greater customer loyalty.
But will it hurt?
Of course there will be diversity growing pains. Accreditation of foreign-trained professionals is one stumbling block that must be addressed; as is a lack of support from senior leadership, or perceptions about candidates’ abilities, or covert racism, sexism and ageism, or an organizational culture that is closed to difference.
Added to these inhibitors is the fact that diversity initiatives don’t always work. Diversity initiatives fail when they’re introduced too quickly and without proper planning, or when they result in too much change too quickly. These scenarios can create instability and upheaval in any organization.
But when executed well, diversity initiatives can lead to greater employee wellness and development, measurable productivity and quality gains and increased retention. With the talent pool set to shrink, the future of your organization is at stake. Ensure you’re positioned to let diversity meet your organization’s needs and raise your organizations’ profile as an employer of choice.
Lee Downs and John Viktorin are partners in Amoeba Communications a consulting firm that creates communications that engage people and drive performance. They are the go-to team for leaders seeking high impact, high value solutions in four areas: organizational communications, change management, HR communications and leadership communications. You can reach Lee and John at www.engagecanada.com or by calling 416-535-3350.
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