Improving diversity
by Toronto Training and HR
February 2011
3-4 Introduction to Toronto
Training and HR
Contents 5-6 Definition
7-8 Addressing difficulties with a
diverse workforce
9-10 Three lenses of diversity
11-12 Diversity as an onion
13-14 Drill
15-16 Fathers at home
17-20 Women at work
21-25 Barriers to Aboriginal
employment
26-32 Diversity committees
33-41 Caregiving
42-44 Best practices
45-50 Case studies
51-52 Conclusion and questions
Page 2
Introduction
Page 3
Introduction to Toronto Training
and HR
• Toronto Training and HR is a specialist training and human
resources consultancy headed by Timothy Holden
• 10 years in banking
• 10 years in training and human resources
• Freelance practitioner since 2006
• The core services provided by Toronto Training and HR are:
- Training course design
- Training course delivery
- Reducing costs
- Saving time
- Improving employee engagement & morale
- Services for job seekers
Page 4
Definitions
Page 5
Definitions
DIVERSITY
Social category diversity
Informational diversity
Value diversity
Cultural diversity
Page 6
Addressing difficulties
with a diverse workforce
Page 7
Addressing difficulties with a
diverse workforce
Prejudice
Discrimination
Practical guidelines
Ethical guidelines
Page 8
Three lenses of diversity
Page 9
Three lenses of diversity
Multiple identity
Perception
Environmental
Page 10
Diversity as an onion
Page 11
Diversity as an onion
Personality
Internal dimensions
External dimensions
Organizational dimensions
Page 12
Drill
Page 13
Drill
Page 14
Fathers at home
Page 15
Fathers at home
Fathers tend to retain very close links to paid work even
when they have temporarily or permanently left a career
to care for children
Where fathers have given up a formal investment in the
full-time labour force, many replace paid employment
with “self-provisioning” work
Fathers’ narratives of emergent and generative practices
of caring represent a slow process of critical resistance
as they begin to critique concepts of “male time” and
market capitalism approaches to work and care
Page 16
Women at work
Page 17
Women at work 1 of 3
KEY ISSUES FACING WOMEN AT WORK
Pay equity
Glass ceiling
Stereotyped into certain types of professions
Lack of work-life flexibility
Forced to adopt traditionally “male”
behaviours/attitudes
Lack of mentors, champions and advocates
Page 18
Women at work 2 of 3
INTERNATIONAL MANAGERS
Women do not want to be international managers
Organizations refuse to send women to other
countries
A belief that women managers will be ineffective in
certain nations
The perception that it is difficult for women tom
move internationally if they are in a relationship
Page 19
Women at work 3 of 3
SELECTING TALENT FOR INTERNATIONAL
ASSIGNMENTS
How are people selected?
Training provision
Support for dual career couples
Page 20
Barriers to aboriginal
employment
Page 21
Barriers to Aboriginal
employment 1 of 4
A representative workforce
Recruitment issues
Poor recruitment
Recruitment solutions
Retention issues
Retention solutions
Advancement issues
Advancement solutions
Page 22
Barriers to Aboriginal
employment 2 of 4
OVERALL STRATEGY
Put an Aboriginal employment strategy in place
Get senior management commitment
Set specific goals
Integrate strategy into all aspects of company
Negotiate Aboriginal employment clauses into
collective agreements
Page 23
Barriers to Aboriginal
employment 3 of 4
WORK ENVIRONMENT
Provide Aboriginal awareness training to managers
and employees
Flexible work environment to enable following of
traditional pursuits
Corporate communications reflect Aboriginal
awareness
Employee Assistance Program reflects needs of
Aboriginal employees
Aboriginal employee advisory groups in place
Page 24
Barriers to Aboriginal
employment 4 of 4
REALITIES
Many may be coming from a poverty situation
Transportation issues
Single parent issues (day care, start times)
High family demands
Need for flexibility and support
Word of mouth goes a long way
Page 25
Diversity committees
Page 26
Diversity committees 1 of 6
TYPES OF DIVERSITY COMMITTEE
Sometimes referred to as councils, they could be
named:
Diversity and Equity Committee
Employee Resource Group
Diversity and Inclusion Committee
Diversity and Race Relations Committee
Diversity Awareness and Resource Committee
Diversity Affairs Select Committee
Page 27
Diversity committees 2 of 6
BENEFITS TO THE ORGANIZATION
Gives decision-makers a broader view to test ideas or gain
insight and direction on certain diversity related issues
Helps to effect organizational culture change
Establishes processes and practices that can be sustainable
and profitable for the long term
Guides an organization to harness the differences to make
them work
Easy to make decisions that do not take into consideration
the organizational diversity if you do not have a resource
base to draw from
Page 28
Diversity committees 3 of 6
IMPACT ON THE BOTTOM LINE
Creating educational opportunities and awareness of
diversity and inclusion
Helping reach new markets (globally or locally)
Reducing the chances of bias or discrimination costs
Improving the hiring and retention rates amongst
employees with barriers
Raising employee engagement rates
Enhancing and creating community awareness of the
organization.
Page 29
Diversity committees 4 of 6
INDICATORS OF A HIGH-PERFORMING COMMITTEE
Senior management endorses and has a least one active
representative on the Committee
All
• levels of the organization are represented and informed
about the work of the Committee
•strategic plan is in place
A
Regular meetings are held and attendance is good
A budget has been allocated
Actions are taken at each meeting
There are time frames and metrics in place to measure the
’s
Committeereturn on investment
Page 30
Diversity committees 5 of 6
TROUBLESHOOTING THE DIVERSITY COMMITTEE
Unsure what the problem is
The organization is unsure what the committee is
doing
Committee members lack energy
Committee members bring personnel issues and
their own personal agendas to the meetings
Meetings are unstructured and it seems like it is
the same people contributing every time
Page 31
Diversity committees 6 of 6
WHY THEY FAIL
Lack of guiding principles or terms of reference
No budget
No diversity and inclusion strategy that they could
be linked with
No endorsement or the participation of senior
management
Page 32
Caregiving
Page 33
Caregiving 1 of 8
CAREGIVING IN CANADA
There are an estimated 3 million Canadians who provide
care to family and friends often with very little
recognition and support. At some point all of us will be
impacted by caregiving – either being a caregiver or
needing care ourselves.
A caregiver is someone who provides care and
assistance for spouses, children, parents and other
family members and friends who are in need of support
because of age, health conditions, injury, long-term
illness or disability.
Page 34
Caregiving 2 of 8
CAREGIVING IN CANADA
Caregivers provide the majority of care at home. The
support they provide can include hands-on care, arranging
resources, transportation, and medicine administration.
They also act as advocates for their family members and
friends.
Without the unpaid labour provided by caregivers, the
Canadian health system would be unable to cope with
increasing demands for care. It is estimated that
caregivers provide $25 billion of unpaid labour annually to
the health care system.
Page 35
Caregiving 3 of 8
CONSEQUENCES FOR EMPLOYED CAREGIVERS
A recent survey of Canadian employees found that 26%
reported experiencing high levels of caregiver strain.
Individuals providing four hours or more of care per week
were more likely to reduce their work hours, change their
work patterns, or turn down a job offer or promotion.
20% of women and 13% of men caregivers aged 45-54
reduced their hours of work.
About 10% of 55-64 year olds reported cutting down on
the amount of time they spent on paid work (12% of
women, 8% of men).
Page 36
Caregiving 4 of 8
CONSEQUENCES FOR EMPLOYED CAREGIVERS
27% of respondents caring for a child with a
severe to very severe disability turned down a
promotion.
16% of retired caregivers identify caregiving as
one of the reasons they retired.
42% of caregivers believe flexible work hours and
provisions for short-term job and income
protection from employers would be helpful.
Page 37
Caregiving 5 of 8
CONSEQUENCES FOR EMPLOYERS
All employers are affected by the caregiving
responsibilities assumed by their workers.
Implications may include lost productivity,
increased absenteeism, and/or the loss of
excellent human capital to the organization.
Caregiver strain is positively correlated with
absenteeism due to eldercare problems and
emotional, physical and mental fatigue.
Page 38
Caregiving 6 of 8
CONSEQUENCES FOR EMPLOYERS
The cost of absenteeism to employers is estimated
to be $2.7 billion.
There is a need to include the economic and social
goal of caregiving as not simply an altruistic value,
but as a vital element of a competitive workforce.
Page 39
Caregiving 7 of 8
WORKPLACE OPTIONS
Examples of simple and effective action to assist caregivers
in balancing their paid work with their caring
responsibilities include:
Flexible working practices - flex-time, working from home,
annualized hours, compressed hours, shift swapping,
staggered hours, job sharing, term-time working, part-time
working, flexible holidays and career breaks.
Emergency leave - this can be critically important to
caregivers who can be called home at short notice when
care arrangements break down or the person they care for
is ill.
Page 40
Caregiving 8 of 8
WORKPLACE OPTIONS
Flexible leave arrangements - compassionate
leave, planned leave, paid leave for emergency or
planned caring.
Workplace support - in-house support groups,
employee assistance programs/ policies.
Accommodations - for example, access to a private
telephone or parking close to the workplace.
Page 41
Best practices
Page 42
Best practices 1 of 2
Lead the effort from the top
Focus on the business case for diversity
Build an infrastructure to support diversity
Make diversity a core value
Focus on diversity in the entire talent pipeline
Cast a wide recruiting net
Network intensively with business-unit managers
Leave room for national variation
Revise business processes to support diversity
Page 43
Best practices 2 of 2
Make diversity learning & development a way of
life
Set clear diversity targets
Establish metrics and track progress
Offer appropriate management incentives
Page 44
Case study A
Page 45
Case study A
Page 46
Case study B
Page 47
Case study B
Page 48
Case study C
Page 49
Case study C
Page 50
Conclusion & Questions
Page 51
Conclusion
Summary
Questions
Page 52