Canadian HR Reporter

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014 CANADIAN HR REPORTER & STRATEGIC CAPABILITY NETWORK In an innovation-driven economy, diversity and inclusion are key fac- tors to success, according to Renée Bazile-Jones, senior director of learning at the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion in Toronto. e terms can be viewed as an ecosystem supporting both fresh- water and saltwater fish, she said at a SCNetwork event in Toronto. "Think about your organiza- tional culture, and the environ- ment that people work in as an ecosystem," said Bazile-Jones. "What happens if you put the wrong type of fish in the wrong water? ey die. No more Nemo." Employers need to ensure the underpinnings of culture at their organization are supportive of all workers, she said. Ecosystem considerations in- clude attitude towards and treat- ment of staff, corporate infra- structure, policy and application. Without a healthy framework in place, diverse employees will refrain from participating in ide- ation, said Bazile-Jones. "It's your brightest and best people who will leave you — the innovators — depending on the calibre of the workplace environ- ment, your ecosystem." Rather than treating all employ- ees the same, inclusivity favours treating people as individuals, she said. "It is important for us to create workplace environments where we're very comfortable with peo- ple being their genuine (selves). And that means getting to know people aside from name, rank, se- rial number, where they fit in the organization." "It also means having genuine conversations so that we in turn can be respectful of the traditions that you say define you as a hu- man being." e golden rule needs to be replaced by platinum — treat others as they wish to be treated, said Bazile-Jones. "ere are op- portunities here to have a direct impact on your bottom line, or however you measure success, by entrenching the ecosystem and to ensure that there's a place for everyone to feel included — fol- lowing that platinum rule, not on your terms, but on theirs." Defining diversity, inclusion Among Canadian organizations, diversity and inclusion are often misunderstood as representation, said Bazile-Jones. "Often in my conversations with people, their definition of diversity is really about representation, and that's a numbers game. It's only about the types of people who are present in your workplace." Representation supports diver- sity and inclusion solely in terms of visible differences, she said. "It's critical for us to think about how broad the scope is when we talk about diversity, and to also think about our behaviour when we talk about inclusion," said Bazile-Jones. "It is about the mix, our ethnic- ity, our gender. It is about is about sexual orientation — differences that we can see. But diversity is also about differences that you can't see," she said. Diversity is made up of mul- tiple dimensions, beginning with personality, according to Bazile-Jones. "We are who we are when it comes to our personalities," she said. "Are we introverted? Are we extroverted? ose are core to who we are as individuals." After that, diversity includes primary dimensions such as age, place of origin, sexual ori- entation and thinking style, said Bazile-Jones. Secondary dimensions include descriptors such as language, lo- cation, relationship status or reli- gion, she said, noting individuals have more opportunity for choice in this sphere. Finally, all humans are affected by a global dimension, which in- cludes political systems, legisla- tion and world events. "Intellectually, we know that the person sitting next to us is not us," said Bazile-Jones. "e question becomes then: How do we acknowledge those differences? What do we do in terms of our behaviour?" Establishing ROI Most return on investment (ROI) is measured through simple finan- cial gain or loss. However, the key parameter in terms of diversity and inclusion is levels of employee engagement, she said. In general, high levels of diver- sity combined with high levels of inclusion lead to major increases in engagement, productivity and performance — by more than 100 per cent, said Bazile-Jones, citing research by Deloitte. "at's a compelling argument if you're trying to move your organi- zation forward. When you look at what constitutes high engagement, it's really an outcome of diversity and inclusion… Certainly from our experience, you need both." Positive perception towards diversity and inclusion have also been shown to boost team col- laboration by 57 per cent, improve market share by 45 per cent, and increase employee retention by 19 per cent, she said, and it is impor- tant for human resources to pitch diversity and inclusion measures with that type of ROI. "At some point, you've got to sell this. It may not necessarily always be dollars that you're talk- ing about when you're looking at return on investment." e diversity and inclusion con- versation is shifting from "nice-to- do" to investment in performance, making it important to measure it alongside other business initia- tives, said Bazile-Jones. "If you're looking at the idea of creating that business case, where you're focused on the return on investment, those measure- ments and analytics will provide the building blocks that you need to make a really strong business case argument. Because the truth of the matter is you can't do this work without money." Credit: Lightspring (Shutterstock) Unlocking diversity and inclusion Establishing an appropriate ecosystem can maximize return on investment BY MARCEL VANDER WIER "It is important for us to create workplace environments where we're very comfortable with people being their genuine self." MAP > pg. 19

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