Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER CANADIAN HR REPORTER April 21, 2014 April 21, 2014 8 NEWS NEWS Credit: Neil Valois From left, CBC host Adrian Harewood with TD's Blair Organ, Zhigang Hu, Christine Stevens, Christine Stigter and Carol Brazeau. TD recognized TD recognized for focus for focus on diversity on diversity Hire Immigrants Ottawa celebrates Hire Immigrants Ottawa celebrates innovative integration of immigrants innovative integration of immigrants BY SARAH DOBSON WITH 57,000 employees in Canada, TD serves many diverse communities across the country. And a key part of its success has been embracing that diversity through its recruitment and staff - ing policies. e Toronto-based bank was recently awarded an Employer Excellence Award from Hire Immigrants Ottawa (HIO), a community-based initiative that brings together employers, im- migrant agencies and stakehold- ers to enhance employers' ability to access the talents of skilled im- migrants in the Ottawa area. e annual awards recognize innovative recruitment and re- tention policies and promising practices around the integra- tion of skilled immigrants into organizations. "We've got customers from diverse backgrounds and it's re- ally important to be able to provide services to them in their own languages — that's certainly a benefi t," said Nicole Jacksic, senior manager, diversity recruitment, enterprise talent acquisition at TD Bank Group in Toronto. "We're looking at really attract- ing the best talent for the organi- zation, so what we want to do is get out to as many communities as possible and expand our talent pool to bring in the best talent." All managers at TD are required to take part in cross-cultural train- ing, diversity and interviewing and hiring workshops to guard against hiring bias. "Many of our leaders have gone through micro-inequities training and also our talent advisors, so our recruitment teams, are also going through dif- ferent types of training to become aware of bias, whether they have bias or not — every- body has bias, actually," she said. Potential candidates from other countries are assessed for their fi nancial, technical or customer service experience, along with their fi t within the bank. "What we try to do is really look at what kind of experience they have that is really aligned to the roles we have and not focus on not having Canadian experience," said Jacksic. Several diff erent programs help candidates gain work experience, such as Career Edge Organiza- tion, networking sessions, men- toring and mock interviews. "It also helps managers get a better sense of perhaps diff erent accents and different perspec- tives and diff erent strengths that people are bringing that they may not have had as (much) exposure to," she said. TD also works with local, re- gional and national organiza- tions — such as the People with Disabilities Network, Aboriginal Employee Circle and the Women in Leadership Network — that serve diverse groups. "Really, it is a partnership where we work hand-in-hand and we share our expertise and they share their candidates with us," said Jacksic. But all of the diversity initiatives at TD start at the top because it's the executives who really establish the corporate culture, she said, and their messages cascade down throughout the organization. "Our leaders are really very, very visible at a lot of diff erent events and throughout our communications, through our corporate landing page, on our social networking platforms, etcetera, and I'm actually really amazed at how much diversity messaging is always included in most training sessions as well as any kind of communications that we see… we see our leaders walking the talk." And the Hire Immigrants award is valuable, she said. "It's important for us to be rec- ognized this way because what we want to do is attract as many new employees to the organiza- tion from diverse backgrounds, and by sharing this information that our culture is inclusive and that we value diverse opinions and values, we will hopefully get more and more people applying." Recognition for leadership in immigrant employment David Draper approaches diver- sity initiatives from a business standpoint. As managing director of Keylingo Translations in Otta- wa, he was one of fi ve individuals recognized at HIO's 2014 Employ- er Council of Champions Summit for their leadership in champion- ing immigrant employment. On one hand, there are skills shortages, while on the other hand there are many unemployed — or underemployed — internationally educated professionals (IEPs), he said in an email. "This doesn't make a lot of business sense when employ- ers in industries such as fi nance and health have diffi culty fi nd- ing the skill sets that they need," said Draper, adding groups such as Hire Immigrants Ottawa are helping to identify and address the barriers to employment. But integration into the work- place is another challenge. "Due to culture and upbringing, many IEPs have a very diff erent — diff erent, not wrong — approach to the workplace than Canadian- educated professionals," he said. Credit: Neil Valois From left, Gaye Moffet of GEM Healthcare Services, George Chin of the Ministry of the Attorney General, and Emma Creese of Scotiabank with their Hire Immigrant Awards. EASING > pg. 9 CONTINUING EDUCATION www.durhamcollege.ca/online | 905.721.2000 ext. 2667 Online Education Anytime • Anywhere Students who are interested in maximum flexibility may want to consider online education. Join the many students who are experiencing online learning while working within their own schedule without ever leaving their home or office. Chart a career path by working towards a college diploma, certificate or professional accreditation, or discover a new talent. 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