Workplace Diversity: Things are Changing

Individuals who work in organizations differ in many ways. They hold different jobs, have different work experiences, and have different demographic or cultural characteristics (e.g., age, race, sex, and citizenship). All of these differences create diversity in organizations. The increasing diversity of the workforce in Canada is evident in the following statistics:

• 73 percent of the people who immigrated to Canada during the 1990’s were visible minorities
• 18 percent of Canada’s population was born outside Canada
• 20 percent of Saskatchewan’s population will be Aboriginal by 2015
• In 2001, approximately 4 million Canadians were visible minorities; by 2017, that number could increase to as much as 8.5 million
• The largest visible minority group in Canada in 2001 was the Chinese, but the South Asian population is expected to grow more quickly during the next decade
• Visible minorities currently make up 40 percent of the population of Vancouver
• By 2017, visible minorities will form more than 50 percent of the populations of Toronto and Vancouver
• By 2017, 22 percent of the total Canadian population will be visible minorities

Changes of this magnitude simply cannot be ignored by Canadian business firms, non-profit organizations, and government agencies. And some organizations are, in fact, doing a good job of responding to the shifting demographics of the Canadian scene. Mediacorp recognizes these organizations by publishing an annual listing of the top diversity employers in Canada. The listing assesses the extent to which companies have employment initiatives that address the needs of five groups: women, visible minorities, disabled people, aboriginals, and gays/lesbians.

The 2009 list shows which organizations scored well in helping members of the five groups (the list below is illustrative, not exhaustive):

• women (Blake, Cassels & Graydon, Corus Entertainment, KPMG Canada)
• aboriginals (Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries, Assiniboine Credit Union, Boeing Canada, Canada Post)
• disabled people (Canada Mortgage and Housing, Canadian Pacific Railway, HSBC Bank Canada)
• gays/lesbians (Hewlett-Packard Canada, Intuit Canada)
• visible minorities (WorkSafe BC, Toronto Police Service)

Various other organizations are also taking steps to deal with the challenges and opportunities that come with rapidly changing demographics. They include Procter & Gamble, Western Union, Bayer Canada, Sun Life Financial, and Enbridge Gas Distribution.

Procter & Gamble

Thirty years ago, P & G was like a lot of other Canadian companies, that is, most of its employees were white males. But that’s changing rapidly. The company organized a major social gathering to celebrate the diverse nature of the 800 people who work at P & G’s Toronto head office (employees come from 40 different countries and speak at least 30 different languages). But the event wasn’t just for fun. Like other companies, P & G has learned that employees are more productive when their differences are respected in the work environment. And that translates into increased corporate success. Since the top management ranks of P & G are still predominantly white male, the company has set a strategic goal to diversify its work force.

P & G thinks that a diverse workforce also helps the company market its well-known brands such as Pampers, Crest, Tide, Mr. Clean, etc. to a diverse group of consumers. And the Statistics Canada report noted above clearly shows that Canadian consumers are becoming more diverse at a dizzying pace. As consumer demographics change, it is important to get more diverse people involved in making marketing decisions. The president of P & G Canada says that a diverse workforce enriches everyone in the company because they are exposed to other cultures. Having diversity among employees also gives P & G a better understanding of its customers.

There are multiple “affinity groups” at P & G, such as the Women’s Leadership Council, the French Canadian Network, the Asian Professional Network, the Christian Network, and the Jewish Network. The goal of these networks is to help employees feel comfortable about participating in corporate life, and to act as resource groups for employees who want to learn how to reach certain specific markets.

Western Union

Western Union is another company that is focusing on diversity, and it may be further along than most companies given the nature of its business: moving money overseas to the families of new Canadians who are working here and want to help their families back in their home country. The potential customers of Western Union are not easily reached by traditional marketing methods, so the company hires people who speak the language of their target market and who know what it feels like to be an immigrant in Canada. When recruiting new employees, Western Union does not demand “Canadian experience” as many other companies do. Rather, the company wants employees with international experience because of the nature of the company’s business. After Western Union hires these people, they seek out local business operators to act as Western Union agents for their own ethnic community.

Marketing Manager Marco Amoranto is typical of the kind of employees that are hired at Western Union. He was born in the Philippines and originally worked for Colgate-Palmolive. He wanted to work in Canada but had trouble landing a job because he didn’t have Canadian experience. At Western Union, he is responsible for marketing to Asians and Europeans.

The Western Union approach has yielded some interesting benefits. In one area of Toronto, for example, customers who wanted to transfer money back to the Philippines got a free loaf of Pan de Sel bread from a local Filipino baker. Thus, the results were positive for Western Union, its customers, and the baker. Western Union also brings in entertainers from its customers’ home countries and then gives these customers free tickets to the concerts.

Bayer Canada

Each year, Bayer Canada has a Diversity Day which showcases the various cultures that are represented at the company. Suzanne Wan began her career with Bayer in Hong Kong and moved to the company’s Mississauga, Ontario location in 1988. She says that businesses benefit from being open to the differing opinions and ideas that are suggested by people from different cultures.

Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc. sometimes hires people even before they enter Canada. It recruits them through foreign embassies where potential immigrants go to apply to enter Canada. Sonia Del Rosario, for example, was hired through the embassy in her native Philippines. She was offered the opportunity to work in financial services in her native language with Canadian customers who originally came from the Philippines.

Enbridge Gas Distribution

Enbridge Gas Distribution tries to put new Canadians at ease when they interview for positions by giving them interview questions an hour early so they can spend extra time preparing their answers. The company does this because new Canadians may be anxious about their verbal English skills.

It’s not just companies that are trying to benefit from diversity. David Cohen is an immigration lawyer who has set up a website called Loon Lounge which helps potential immigrants to Canada connect with workers from their hometown area who are already working in Canada. So, for example, people from Nigeria can put their profiles on the site and find other people from their hometown. That may facilitate their entrance into Canada to work. Canadian cities are doing similar things. The city of Halifax launched a program to help immigrants get connected. Professionals from 40 different companies volunteer to meet with newcomers to offer advice and answer questions.

Questions for Discussion

1. What kinds of problems do diverse work groups encounter? What general guidelines should managers follow as they attempt to effectively manage diverse work group?
2. When managers use the motivation theories described in Chapter 10 to motivate a diverse workforce, what sorts of issues do they need to deal with?
3. Consider the following statement: The productivity of organizations with a homogeneous work force will be much higher than the productivity of organizations with a heterogeneous (diverse) workforce. When you put people from diverse backgrounds together in an organization, they will spend much of their time disagreeing with each other, or trying to figure out how to get along with each other. They will therefore be less productive than workers who don’t spend time on those sorts of activities. Do you agree or disagree with this statement. Explain.
4. Don Smith was reading a government publication that contained some statistics about the Canadian workforce. He learned the following: 8 percent of workers are visible minorities, 1 percent are aboriginals, 60 percent are women, and 5 percent are people with disabilities. In the same document, it was noted that the makeup of the staff at the Canadian Diversity Institute (CDI) is as follows: 11 percent are visible minorities, 6 percent are aboriginal, 66 percent are women, and 5 percent are people with disabilities. Don had also read that the goal in Canada is to have each of these groups represented in Canadian companies at the same level as their proportional representation in the overall workforce. He then became upset, and concluded that the CDI was discriminating against white males. Do you agree with Don Smith’s assessment? Explain your reasoning.

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posted on June 08, 2009