May 11, 2018 "Why should women aim to be considered equal to men? They can be so much better": Today I found this article by Helena Morrissey in the Globe and Mail:
Helena Morrissey is founder of the 30% Club, former chair of the UK’s Investment Association, 2017 Financial Times business leader of the year, keynote speaker at the Ramsay Luncheon on May 9 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Toronto.
I’m confident that you know some incredible women.
Perhaps a leading female executive at your company, a teacher with the amazing ability to bring out the best in her pupils or a fantastic single mother who works extra hours to provide for her family. You may know women who work full-time and help out generously in their local communities, women who take risks to campaign for a better world or are simply great neighbours to lonely elderly residents.
You may well be an incredible woman yourself, following in the footsteps of many generations of wonderful women, each building on the achievements of the last.
You may well be an incredible woman yourself, following in the footsteps of many generations of wonderful women, each building on the achievements of the last.
And yet gender equality – by which I mean equality of opportunity and fair treatment, without discrimination or prejudice, for men and women, whatever colour, creed or background – remains frustratingly elusive across the globe.
There has been real progress in some countries, but it is clearly unfinished business. Yes, there are (a few) more women at the top, but many others remain discouraged about their prospects, or conflicted in their multiple roles as mothers or carers with careers.
And men, too, may feel unhappy, straitjacketed by societal expectations about their own roles; in Canada, like the UK, the suicide rate for men is three times that of women.
There has been real progress in some countries, but it is clearly unfinished business. Yes, there are (a few) more women at the top, but many others remain discouraged about their prospects, or conflicted in their multiple roles as mothers or carers with careers.
And men, too, may feel unhappy, straitjacketed by societal expectations about their own roles; in Canada, like the UK, the suicide rate for men is three times that of women.
What can we do differently to create better outcomes for more people?
Why have all our collective efforts over many years not yet translated into the result that, to paraphrase Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, seems so obvious in 2018?
Why have all our collective efforts over many years not yet translated into the result that, to paraphrase Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, seems so obvious in 2018?
I’m convinced that we have been tackling gender and other inequalities in good faith but in ways destined to disappoint.
I’m also convinced that, today, we have an unprecedented opportunity to achieve a real breakthrough; but to seize the moment, we need to first see gender diversity through a different lens.
I’m also convinced that, today, we have an unprecedented opportunity to achieve a real breakthrough; but to seize the moment, we need to first see gender diversity through a different lens.
In most businesses, our approach has tended to revolve around special diversity initiatives – helpful at providing focus, but by their nature peripheral rather than central to the main event. Often, the initiatives are led by underrepresented groups, but women talking to women about women’s issues will only get us so far.
And most “diversity programs” have been tacked onto long-established ways of working and managing people. They are incremental steps effectively aimed at fitting more women and other diverse talent into a system of work and career patterns that evolved long before the digital revolution, before women were (at least) as highly educated as men, and certainly long before the term “work-life balance” was coined. We’ve been fiddling around the edges of a “system” that perhaps isn’t really relevant for anyone today.
And most “diversity programs” have been tacked onto long-established ways of working and managing people. They are incremental steps effectively aimed at fitting more women and other diverse talent into a system of work and career patterns that evolved long before the digital revolution, before women were (at least) as highly educated as men, and certainly long before the term “work-life balance” was coined. We’ve been fiddling around the edges of a “system” that perhaps isn’t really relevant for anyone today.
Instead, we now have the opportunity to shake up how we work, live our lives, love and bring up families together, men and women, as partners. Partners that are equal, but bring diverse skills and ideas to the table, improving our collective intelligence and ability to solve today’s complex problems.
Four factors have coincided to create this opportunity.
First, the digital revolution that has already shaken up so many aspects of our lives also enables companies to devise working practices that are more focused on outcomes than on hours at the same desk.
Shaking up the rulebook – for example, defaulting to all roles being “agile” (with a few necessary exceptions) rather than granting women a special favour to work flexibly, can lift engagement and productivity – while improving diversity.
Shaking up the rulebook – for example, defaulting to all roles being “agile” (with a few necessary exceptions) rather than granting women a special favour to work flexibly, can lift engagement and productivity – while improving diversity.
Second, the nature of effective leadership is changing in a networked world. People will no longer be told what to do by leaders they don’t particularly trust. Leaders today need to earn the right to lead, to inspire not force, be emotionally intelligent and able to connect with customers, employees and other stakeholders.
The idea of closing the gender pay gap by training women to be more assertive undermines our valuable differences; instead, businesses need to work out how to enable women to be women at work. Gender-intelligent talent development is the way forward.
The idea of closing the gender pay gap by training women to be more assertive undermines our valuable differences; instead, businesses need to work out how to enable women to be women at work. Gender-intelligent talent development is the way forward.
Third, the next generation expects work-life balance. In the UK, a 30% Club survey involving more than 20,000 university students showed that more than 90 per cent of both male and female respondents prioritized “work-life balance” as a career consideration.
The next generation does not just expect women to have career opportunities, but for men to play a significant role in their future family’s life as well. Companies seeking the best and brightest talent are aligning their approaches to a changing definition of success.
The next generation does not just expect women to have career opportunities, but for men to play a significant role in their future family’s life as well. Companies seeking the best and brightest talent are aligning their approaches to a changing definition of success.
And last but not least, increasing longevity – the “100-year life” – is shaking up the traditional career path chronology. Motherhood is certainly not the only reason why women are under-represented at the top of business and politics, but it’s a factor.
So often, the point when women have children has coincided with the moment their male colleagues are throwing everything at their career. With longer working lives and possibly several careers, that linkage will be broken.
So often, the point when women have children has coincided with the moment their male colleagues are throwing everything at their career. With longer working lives and possibly several careers, that linkage will be broken.
These multiple trends are combining to create a brand-new context to aim higher in our gender equality efforts. It’s not a question of intensifying past initiatives. Today, as other forces alter how we all work, live and relate to each other, we can and must be bolder in our ambition.
Working with men, women can contribute to the creation of a world where far more of us have choices, a greater ability to be ourselves, to achieve life goals including – but not limited to – our careers.
Working with men, women can contribute to the creation of a world where far more of us have choices, a greater ability to be ourselves, to achieve life goals including – but not limited to – our careers.
And along the way, let’s make sure we don’t replace one form of injustice with another. Yes, we all know many incredible women, but after centuries where one half of humanity has been regarded as effectively superior to the other, what would be the benefit in just flipping things around? The far greater prize is balance.
"Workplaces taking cues from employees to become more Indigenous friendly": Today I found this article by Suzanne Bowness in the Globe and Mail:
When Tracey King applied for the inaugural position of Aboriginal Human Resources Consultant at Ryerson University in 2010, she brought two sacred items – eagle feathers – along to her interview. One feather was given to her by a traditional healer as an acknowledgement of Ms. King’s efforts in that realm, and the other was from her family for supporting them through her grandmother’s death.
These prized objects, high honours in her Potawatomi and Ojibwa community, helped her to talk about skills that might not be explicit on a résumé but essential nonetheless.
These prized objects, high honours in her Potawatomi and Ojibwa community, helped her to talk about skills that might not be explicit on a résumé but essential nonetheless.
Now incumbent in the role, which Ms. King says is the first of its kind at a university in Canada, she encourages Indigenous candidates to bring their own sacred objects, as well as to smudge (engage in a ceremonial burning of sacred sage medicine) before the interview.
Many take her up on the offer. That’s just one of the ways the university is attempting to be more welcoming to aboriginal hires. Other advances include a diversity statement on job postings that flags First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples specifically, an invitation for aboriginal candidates to contact Ms. King directly via e-mail or toll-free phone call, and a Google group and monthly meeting for members of the community.
Since Ms. King has been at Ryerson, the university has more than tripled its aboriginal faculty and staff numbers, which currently stands at 90 people, including five faculty members.
Many take her up on the offer. That’s just one of the ways the university is attempting to be more welcoming to aboriginal hires. Other advances include a diversity statement on job postings that flags First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples specifically, an invitation for aboriginal candidates to contact Ms. King directly via e-mail or toll-free phone call, and a Google group and monthly meeting for members of the community.
Since Ms. King has been at Ryerson, the university has more than tripled its aboriginal faculty and staff numbers, which currently stands at 90 people, including five faculty members.
Becoming more Indigenous friendly is a goal for more and more workplaces seeking to reflect Canada’s diversity in their hiring. As of the 2016 census, Indigenous or aboriginal people (the identifier is in flux and used interchangeably here), which includes First Nations, Métis and Inuit, made up 4.9 per cent of the national population.
Yet, a 2017 Statistics Canada report showed that aboriginal people generally have lower employment rates, were less likely to work in knowledge education (professional, management and technical positions tending to require postsecondary education) and earned less than their non-aboriginal counterparts. Experts suggest these issues can be addressed by offering more pathways into organizations and reaching out to build employer trust with Indigenous communities.
Yet, a 2017 Statistics Canada report showed that aboriginal people generally have lower employment rates, were less likely to work in knowledge education (professional, management and technical positions tending to require postsecondary education) and earned less than their non-aboriginal counterparts. Experts suggest these issues can be addressed by offering more pathways into organizations and reaching out to build employer trust with Indigenous communities.
Aboriginal Link has been advising workplaces on these pathways since 1999, providing consulting, student recruitment programs and scholarships, and inclusion training workshops, among other services.
To date, the organization has accumulated a database of more than 28,000 Indigenous organizations in Canada, to reach a community representing more than 1.5 million Indigenous people. It also hosts AboriginalCareers.ca, a career site used by many employers to reach the community online and through less technological means more suited to remote communities, including circulating postings on bulletin boards and via fax and direct mail.
To date, the organization has accumulated a database of more than 28,000 Indigenous organizations in Canada, to reach a community representing more than 1.5 million Indigenous people. It also hosts AboriginalCareers.ca, a career site used by many employers to reach the community online and through less technological means more suited to remote communities, including circulating postings on bulletin boards and via fax and direct mail.
Michael Milanese, Aboriginal Link’s president, says that while many organizations today are just at the beginning of their foray into this support role, others have been doing so for years. Either way, he says it helps to have senior management on board. “It really begins by demonstrating a commitment to wanting to deal and work with Indigenous people in Canada,” he says.
RBC is one of those organizations that has both a long-standing Indigenous outreach and new programs in development. In 1991, the company established the Royal Eagles, an employee resource group designed to help Indigenous employees connect. The oldest of several equity groups in the organization, today the Eagles have an online platform for information sharing, do outreach in Indigenous communities and hold in-person events for support and mentorship.
Norma Tombari, senior director of Global Diversity and Inclusion at RBC, says beyond the supportive aspect, this group makes business sense. “The resource groups are wonderful resources to the organization as well because they provide feedback on our policies and practices,” she says, adding that they also offer insight into that population within their client base.
“We also get an understanding of what’s going on in the community, into where we can assist and how we can better serve our clients.” The percentage of Indigenous employees at RBC stands at 1.6 per cent. Other initiatives at the company include high-school recruitment programs, a summer internship and cultural awareness workshops.
“We also get an understanding of what’s going on in the community, into where we can assist and how we can better serve our clients.” The percentage of Indigenous employees at RBC stands at 1.6 per cent. Other initiatives at the company include high-school recruitment programs, a summer internship and cultural awareness workshops.
Another company working on boosting its Indigenous presence is the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Marc Barrette, director of talent acquisition, diversity and inclusion for the CBC, says the broadcaster has connected with Aboriginal Link for recruitment and retention seminars, and has a standing profile page on the AboriginalCareers.ca website.
On the Radio-Canada side, a new initiative takes on four Indigenous interns for a full year (most interns are hired for a shorter time period). A new leadership program offers mentorships to several groups including Indigenous employees.
On the Radio-Canada side, a new initiative takes on four Indigenous interns for a full year (most interns are hired for a shorter time period). A new leadership program offers mentorships to several groups including Indigenous employees.
Mr. Barrette calls the efforts a no-brainer. “Our population is very diverse, so we need to make sure that these different groups and communities recognize themselves in our content and also in our work force,” he says. Currently, 2.1 per cent of the organization’s work force is Indigenous, with higher percentages in the North at 31.6 per cent and in Manitoba at 9.6 per cent.
Chantal Fraser, a First Nations HR professional formerly with the Canadian military and consultant who now runs cultural-awareness and recruitment workshops on behalf of Aboriginal Link, says there are barriers at every of stage of the application process that well-intentioned workplaces don’t always realize they are imposing on Indigenous applicants.
At the initial recruitment stage, applicants in remote communities that lack broadband access may not even see postings or be able to complete the electronic application process. Including an e-mail address on job postings, preferably that connects directly with an Indigenous HR consultant who can help walk applicants through jargon and pull out transferable skills to highlight in cover letters, can help. Including Indigenous languages in the list of options candidates can identify as speaking creates a friendlier application.
At the interview stage, knowing about Indigenous cultural norms can help. As an example, Ms. Fraser mentions silence. “Whether you’ve been raised mainstream or traditional, silences are very much an accepted part of the communication process. So, when you’re interviewing somebody who’s Indigenous and has been brought up to respect silences, you have to allow time in the conversation and in the interview process to let those silences naturally occur,” she says.
Another tip is to have the interview team reflect the organization’s diversity. Both Ms. Fraser and Ms. King also make it a priority to reach out to the community through events such as powwows and friendship centres, and encourage organizations to do the same.
Another tip is to have the interview team reflect the organization’s diversity. Both Ms. Fraser and Ms. King also make it a priority to reach out to the community through events such as powwows and friendship centres, and encourage organizations to do the same.
At RBC, Ms. Tombari recommends workplaces new to Indigenous outreach should devise an overall strategy for their efforts and put metrics in place to measure their success. She adds that consulting with Indigenous employees can help ensure you’re on the right track. “Engage your Indigenous employees in the process. … Really listen, engage and get their input,” she says.
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