While diversity has become a become a keyword in business speak as late, HR professionals have long discussed its relevance.  In fact, many of us have been talking about the need for diversity in the workplace for the past couple of decades at the very least.

Diversity is not new.  The embrace of its evolution within the workplace is.  As is being discovered, diversity is not a riddle, but a key to unlocking the vast innovative potential for organizations and businesses of all sizes.

At the risk of dating myself, in the mid 80s, the Federal Government launched “employment equity”, a program to ensure that federally regulated companies were tracking the diversity of their teams.  At the time, I worked in a telecommunications company and we spent a whole lot of time counting the number of visible minorities, women and disabled workers in the company.  This, we were assured, proved the measure of our diversity and yet, we were not close to having any sort of significant diversity.

This approach to diversity management was akin to bean counting. What I have discovered since is an approach that emphasizes being counted.

Fast forward to 2010 and I am happy to say that the company I am with now, Coast Capital Savings, looks for and embraces diversity.  In the quest to find and keep the best talent, it is something of a beacon.  Diversity is absolutely critical to our business success. Having new voices help on our journey to be innovative in the marketplace and ensuring our customer facing staff are reflective of the communities we live in, is of immense value.

Diversity today has transcended ethnic and gender biases.  It now includes faith, sexual orientation, generations, and thought.  I think having diversity of thought, opinions, and approaches are all key to having a great business!

That can only be accomplished by having the right employment promise for everyone. That promise needs to enable all employees to bring their best to the workplace and be backed by the right policies and practices that support and encourage people to show up for work enjoying what they do and contributing to a successful organization.

With the demographics continuing to shift, embracing diversity will not likely be an option, but a requirement for all forward-thinking business. The opportunity to succeed in our common goals will only benefit from the multiple perspectives and innovative energies that diversity brings to the table and our lives.

Jay-Ann Fordy
President, BC HRMA
president@bchrma.org