Canadian HR Reporter

Canadian HR RepoRteR april 6, 2015 News 11 LOOKING TO HIRE? CFA Society Toronto's employment posting service gives you access to over 8,000 investment professionals. Our Career Centre has become the job source for investment employers. WHY NOT JOIN US? For more information: Tel: 416.366.5755 option 4 Email: jobs@cfatoronto.ca www.cfatoronto.ca WANT ACCESS TO HIGHLY QUALIFIED INVESTMENT PROFESSIONALS? Creating more choices for women Mining program vies to boost confidence, knowledge and abilities BY SaRaH doBSon GrowinG up in Peru 50 years ago, it was unheard of for a wom- an to enter the mining industry — there were even superstitions about women working under- ground, according to Anna Tude- la, vice-president of regulatory affairs and corporate secretary at mining company Goldcorp in Vancouver. Today, the world has obviously changed, but it's still not an easy road for many women interested in the mining sector. Which is why Tudela started Creating Choices in 2010, a program at Goldcorp to help women grow both individu- ally and professionally by building their confidence, knowledge and abilities and providing greater opportunities. Creating Choices began in Gua- temala City and Mexico City and has since expanded to every Gold- corp operation and corporate and regional office in eight countries throughout the Americas. Such was the success of the program that in 2015, Growing Choices — a second, more in-depth phase of the program — was launched at an Ontario mine. "More needs to be done to encourage women's career de- velopment in this traditionally male-dominated industry, both in Canada and globally," said Tudela. "One of Goldcorp's strategic pil- lars is growing people, so expand- ing women's capabilities in mining makes sense for our company. It also benefits the entire sector." Goldcorp is a leader in this area and it has clearly identified wom- en as a strategic source of labour and developed some innovative approaches, said Ryan Mont- pellier, executive director of the MiHR (Mining Industry Human Resources) Council in Ottawa. "Goldcorp is not alone in this… several mining companies today have made a very strategic deci- sion to aim to try to create this en- vironment that is more open and inclusive to women. is is some- thing that I am certain we are go- ing to see more and more of over the course of the next generation or the next decade, as the mining companies develop policies that focus specifically on attracting, recruiting, retaining and advanc- ing women." And there have been improve- ments, with female participation in the mining industry at about 17 per cent compared to 10 per cent 15 years ago, he said. "ere's still a long way to go and obviously a lot of benefit in tapping into this unused source of labour." at's particularly true when it comes to more senior roles, where only about six or seven per cent are taken up by women, said Montpellier. "Part of attracting women into the industry as a whole, part of a successful strategy in doing that, is having role models in more senior roles. And we are seeing more and more women take on those roles, in more supervisory or manage- ment occupations." Module approach Creating Choices has six modules: • "Realize Self-Esteem": Acknowl- edge personal worth, talents, skills and value to others. • "Dare to Dream": Define self- fulfillment, personal aspirations or professional ambitions. • "Choose to Take the Stage": Build courage and conviction to see the world as your stage. • "Create a Strong Script": Portray confidence, assertiveness and leadership qualities. • "Unlock the Power of Your Voice": Realize strength of iden- tity, proceed with poise and stand up for your views. • "Achieve a Leader's Presence": Signal confidence through image, body language and a sense of self. Each module uses a video for- mat and takes about two hours to teach, and each mine designs how it wants to deliver the con- tent to interested participants, such as two hours per day for five days or two full days, said Tudela. Once the program is completed, participants are assigned mentors for a year and then Tudela checks back with them to gauge their development. People who complete the course receive a certificate and, thus far, more than 1,200 women from the 18,000-employee com- pany have graduated. Boi Linh Van, engineering team leader at Goldcorp's Mus- selwhite gold mine in Ontario, was one such graduate. While there weren't many women when she first arrived at the company in 2003, the numbers have im- proved, she said. And if there were any obstacles, they were internal, "in terms of getting ahead, speak- ing up — all the stuff you need to get noticed," she said. So Linh Van was excited to get involved with Creating Choices and keen to have the program of- fered at her mine. "I felt like it would be a good op- portunity and good growth for my other colleagues," she said. "It was a really awesome experience… For me, it always has been intimidat- ing to take the stage, so (it's about) having the confidence to take that step and to step forward and say, 'is is what I want to do.'" e newer Growing Choices has four modules that teach women how to: brand themselves as leaders; balance work and life commitments; plan for career success using SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely) goals; and build effec- tive relationships and networks. And Linh Van is excited about being involved in the new pro- gram, saying it's the next step forward. "Creating Choices was more about self — building yourself up and getting to that point — and then Growing Choices is about the opportunities and planning for your career and how to net- work and kind of show yourself off almost, and to work towards it, have a goal in mind on how to achieve that, so that's pretty exciting." Going forward, Goldcorp is looking to track the success of the programs by looking at where women were five years ago, when Creating Choices began, where they are today and where they will be later, said Tudela. And in the fall, MiHR will re- lease the results of a research study looking at career paths and trajectories for women in min- ing, said Montpellier, citing is- sues such as workplace culture, remote locations and restrictive schedules. "It should be a fairly important publication for us in terms of un- covering some of these barriers and also trying to develop some strategies as to how mining com- panies can create… more strategic diversity practices." "expanding women's capabilities make sense for our company and the sector." Two female employees from Goldcorp at the Penasquito mine in Mexico. Looking to attract more women, mining companies are being strategic about creating more inclusive environments, says Ryan Montpellier of the MiHR Council. Credit: Goldcorp

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