Help Wanted, Seeking Senior Executives

As Canada’s demographic evolution is reducing the number of new labour market entrants with each passing year, skills shortages are already having a significant impact on several sectors in the Ottawa area. At the same time, internationally trained individuals increasingly comprise the most highly skilled and educated segment of the labour force. Within the next year, as … Read More

The Link Between Cultural Diversity and the Bottom Line

Marcus Buckingham, one of the world’s leading management gurus, once said: “Differences of trait and talent are like blood types. They cut across the superficial variations of race, sex and age, and capture each person’s uniqueness.” This uniqueness is what business owners and senior managers may be missing out on when they skip over the … Read More

Hiring: Overqualification and the Law

Being skilled or educated beyond what is necessary for a job — in other words, being overqualified — is an important issue for jobseekers, employers and policymakers. While it is sometimes a personal choice to work in a lower-skilled job, for most people who take jobs for which they are overqualified, it is their only … Read More

Accommodating Different Faiths Begins From Within

Years ago, my Somali colleague Abdi Yunis and I were deciding how to help the managers at an Ottawa corporation learn how to accommodate its Muslim staff. Abdi’s idea was to include a prayer demonstration during our training. I will never forget how the management crowded around as Abdi talked about the ablutions, laid down … Read More

Do We Need to Take Down the Tree? Holiday Ideas for the Inclusive Workplace

As the holiday season approaches, we are all looking at how to celebrate and create inclusiveness in our workplaces, especially in work environments with diverse staff. Since celebrating together is a hallmark of an inclusive workplace, we want to be certain that everyone feels included in the festivities. But does this mean we should eliminate, … Read More

Know your workforce: Using data strategically for inclusion & organizational excellence

Gathering demographic data about your employees is widely regarded as a best practice in diversity and inclusion, according to the Canadian Institute on Diversity and Inclusion.  Their recent report, What Gets Measured Gets Done, suggests that an Employee Census can be a critical first step in designing, implementing and evaluating the efficacy and impact of diversity … Read More