Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER October 30, 2017 FEATURES 13 B orn in Portugal, Gentil Mateus has many employees who are also fi rst-generation immigrants. As CEO of CSSEA (the Com- munity Social Services Employers Association of BC), he thinks it's important that the makeup of the organization refl ects the larger society in which it operates and, to a certain extent, its client base. "For me, that's what diversity means, is that people can identify with the people who are working in the organization... and you're more likely to be sensitive to the needs and aspirations and the challenges of the com- munity you serve," says Mateus, in Vancouver. Diversity also enhances an organization in providing diff erent view- points and perspectives when tackling an issue or developing a strategy. "I've seen organizations where leaders surround themselves with people who think like they think and they have the same cultural back- ground and I always try to do the opposite of that — I actually want people that think diff erently than I do, bring diff erent perspectives to the table — and together it usually makes for better outcomes," he says. But there will be times when people's suggestions are not accepted or adopted. en, it's a matter of leadership circling back to thank the people and say their opinions are still valued, says Mateus. "It requires more thoughtfulness in how you interact with staff ." However, by and large, diversity has been "quite a bit of a passive exer- cise," he says, in the sense of being aware of the makeup of his workforce, but "not necessarily prescriptive." "I always surround myself with the best people — regardless of race, gender, religion, colour — because I feel comfortable with that, and it makes for better outcomes, so it's never really been an issue," says Ma- teus, citing as an example his recent decision to hire a lawyer who held quite diff erent viewpoints than him. "For me it's more 'Be alive, be connected to the people you serve and the community you work in, and does your organization by and large refl ect that?'" Employers will be more successful with diversity if they truly believe in it, instead of being forced to adopt it and put in place a policy, he says. "If you do value diversity, you will inevitably sur- round yourself with people of diverse backgrounds, so if you honestly truly believe that, then you more often than not are going to be fostering a culture of diversity... it almost happens organically." Leadership needs to articulate the values they want to promote and foster within the organiza- tion, and be clear and transparent. "Where organizations fall short is that their words and actions do not match, or they're often incongruent, and when managers and others see the incongruency in the words and actions of lead- ership, it's almost permission for them to do what- ever they want," he says. "It starts fi rst and foremost with valuing diver- sity, and then recruitment is just the means by which you ensure those values manifest themselves in the organization." And that doesn't mean hiring "tokens," says Mateus. "First of all, you started from the wrong premise, as far as I'm con- cerned, and there's an inherently prejudicial bias that goes into the decision-making," he says. "I know you can legislate or create policies about certain stuff , but it's so much better if you actually believe what you're doing instead of it being forced upon you or the organization." And the inclusion part of the equation is important. at means fl ex- ibility, for example, when people make requests around accommoda- tion, as organizations are often more rigid than they need to be, he says. But it's also about communication to avoid any potential backlash, says Mateus. " e piece that you need to circle back is make sure folks in the orga- nization, to the extent possible… are aware everybody is being treated equally — and that doesn't mean the same because some may have dif- ferent needs than others, and that's OK — but people need to feel if they have a similar concern, they would be given the same consideration." Gentil Mateus CEO of CSSEA The Community Social Services Employers Association of BC has 23 employees A s a woman who's only ever worked in roles considered non- traditional for her gender, Leigh-Anne Palter knows well the value of diversity. "Diversity is everything," says the CEO of Chestermere Utilities. Back when Palter started working in the 1990s at a large natural gas utility, diversity was about creating respectful workplaces for women — such as taking down pin-up calendars in the receiving docks. But at its core, diversity is recognizing the importance of having dif- ferences, and being very deliberate about it, she says. " ere's a human nature in all of us that we like to spend time with the people who are most like us, and that can be great for cocktail hours or after-hours type activities, but I don't believe it brings the best results to organizations. And if you're mindful about that, and challenge yourself to think outside of your comfort zone when you're looking at adding team members, (it's about being) very deliberate about making sure that you're really checking all the boxes in terms of the organization's needs." Along with gender, diversity can be about experience or socioeco- nomic or educational diff erences, she says. Palter, for example, spent time in executive recruitment and has done a lot of board work. "It's fascinating to watch the dynamic," she says as, more often than not, diversity meant hiring more women and visible minorities. But once that was achieved, the companies found the decision-making hadn't re- ally improved and they weren't attracting more representative groups. "You sit down and say to them 'All you've done is brought on more people exactly like you — you haven't really dug down deep and done the hard work around diversity, and so a whole bunch of middle-class people, irrespective of their gender or skin colour, isn't really diversity because you all share a degree at a post-secondary and you all enjoy the same means of life, and struggle with the same things.'" But diversity can make for tough dynamics at the leadership table. "You think about (for example) how to be inclusive of First Nations peoples — they have very diff erent interaction styles, and for your tra- ditional board or your traditional leadership team of a utility, (it's about being) committed to understanding what does that mean and how do you have to adapt, how do you make your organization welcoming to the kind of diversity you want?" says Palter. And since she joined the utility two years ago, things have changed. "We've completely turned things over. We have fi rst-generation Canadians, we have young people, we have some folks who are returning for third careers, so they're bringing lots of experience, we have (LGBTQ) folks as part of our team, and people who speak diff erent languages," she says. "We look more like the community that we serve ." But there can be backlash, as Palter has seen at much larger organizations. When there was a women's leader- ship lunch, for example, people would ask if there would be a similar event for men. "Sadly, that's to be expected — people start feeling threatened when there's deliberate action," she says. Leadership is everything because people will model the behaviours that are expected of them, says Palter. " ere's nothing worse than having a leadership team where maybe the CEO and typically the senior vice-president of HR say, ' is is important, this is what we're going to do,' and yet other leadership team mem- bers say, 'Ah, this'll die soon' or they're not being held accountable." It's important to hire leaders with qualities that say, " is is part of who we are," says Palter. It's also about challenging each other and in the hiring process, making sure people are involved from diff erent areas. "You're forcing diversity into the conversation just by the fact of not having people of the same background making hiring decisions." And maintaining that drive requires focus every single day. "Once you get a critical mass in organizations, it can become self- sustaining, it becomes the way that you do things," she says. But one of the challenges is the inclusion side, says Palter. It might be great, for example, to hire a woman who speaks two diff erent languages, but if people can't understand her on the phone, then the employer has to fi gure out a way to make that work. "It's a constant — I wouldn't say it's a struggle — but it has to be a constant point of focus. If (for example) you say you want young, profes- sional women in the workplace, you have to acknowledge they're also the ones having babies, so how do you create a workplace where they feel like they can have both? It's about creating fl exible work schedules and understanding kids get sick and they need to call from home for meetings. Lots of people say it but then they don't adapt the expecta- tions of the workplace." Leigh-Anne Palter CEO of Chestermere Utilities The utility is based in Chestermere, Alta., and has 30 employees

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