This document discusses strategies for improving diversity, equality, and inclusion in the workplace. It covers topics such as the benefits of diversity, encouraging gender balance, addressing ageism, improving inclusion of LGBT employees, hiring immigrants, establishing inclusive workplace behaviors, and developing diversity and inclusion strategies. Specific recommendations are provided around defining key terms, setting targets, implementing policies, training employees, and evaluating initiatives.

1. Improving diversity, equality &
inclusion
by Toronto Training and HR
February 2012

2. 3-4 Introduction to Toronto Training and HR
5-6 Definitions
Contents 7-9
10-12
Benefits from diversity and inclusion
Male and female leadership styles
13-17 Encouraging a better gender balance
18-20 Older employees
21-30 Ageism
31-40 Improving the inclusion of LGBT employees
41-47 Considerations around transgender
48-57 Hiring immigrants
58-60 Workplace behaviour
61-65 Diversity and inclusion strategies
66-70 Getting top management on board
71-72 Leading change to progress diversity
73-74 Effective diversity and inclusion communications
75-76 Business rationales for initiatives
77-79 Measures to promote and monitor
80-82 Questions to ask interviewers
83-85 Observations about management and evaluation
86-88 Training
89-91 Design of a diversity and inclusion initiative
92-94 Must-haves of an effective program
95-100 Case studies
101-102 Conclusion and questions

3. Introduction
Page 3

4. Introduction to Toronto Training
and HR
• Toronto Training and HR is a specialist training and human
resources consultancy headed by Timothy Holden
• 10 years in banking
• 10 years in training and human resources
• Freelance practitioner since 2006
• The core services provided by Toronto Training and HR are:
- Training event design
- Training event delivery
- Reducing costs
- Saving time
- Improving employee engagement & morale
- Services for job seekers
Page 4

5. Definitions
Page 5

6. Definitions
What is diversity?
What is inclusion?
Page 6

7. Benefits from diversity
and inclusion
Page 7

8. Benefits from diversity and
inclusion 1 of 2
Reducing the potential for backlash impact as
associated with affirmative action
Meeting diverse customer demands more
effectively
Improving understanding and ability to succeed in
the complex globalization of markets
Page 8

9. Benefits from diversity and
inclusion 2 of 2
Delivery of the psychological contract, improved
employee relations and reduced labour turnover
Improvements in the quality and performance of
the internal workforce in terms of skills, creativity,
problem solving and flexibility
Page 9

10. Male and female
leadership styles
Page 10

11. Male and female leadership
styles 1 of 2
TYPICALLY MALE
Task-oriented
Autocratic
Command-and-control
Punishment-oriented
Page 11

12. Male and female leadership
styles 2 of 2
TYPICALLY FEMALE
Team players
Democratic
Transformational
Reward-oriented
Page 12

13. Encouraging a better
gender balance
Page 13

14. Encouraging a better gender
balance 1 of 4
Demand targets for recruiting women to
management
Managerial and leadership shortlists must include
women candidates
Monitor to ensure women are getting their fair
share of opportunities
Ask women in senior management to mentor
younger colleagues
Set up and publicize a women’s network
Page 14

15. Encouraging a better gender
balance 2 of 4
Set up and publicize a women’s network
Create women role models within the company
Offer family friendly workplace policies including
flexible working hours and career flexibility
Promote on merit, but discriminate positively when
candidates are equally qualified
Provide opportunities for development
Page 15

16. Encouraging a better gender
balance 3 of 4
Identify what is ‘unique about your organization’
that would be of interest to potential women job
applicants
Publicize positive results of employee surveys,
flexible working conditions, and commitment to
training and development
Ensure appraisal systems are gender neutral and
performance focused
Page 16

17. Encouraging a better gender
balance 4 of 4
Offer personalized career paths to retain the best
talent
Ensure performance evaluation systems neutralize
the impact of parental leave and flexible working
arrangements
Encourage gender diversity indicators in executive
performance reviews
Page 17

18. Older employees
Page 18

19. Older employees 1 of 2
Should older employees be allowed to request to
work flexibly? This might help to meet the needs
of both the employer and the employee
What role do older employees want to play in the
organization? Would an employee like to continue
working, but in a less senior role? Can an older
employee work effectively as a mentor to younger
and less experienced colleagues?
Page 19

20. Older employees 2 of 2
Performance management systems should be in
place and properly applied-as with all employees, if
there are concerns about capability or
performance these should be addressed
Page 20

21. Ageism
Page 21

22. Ageism 1 of 9
What is age discrimination?
IT CAN:
affect anybody regardless of how old they are
adversely affect employment opportunities,
especially those of older people and younger
people
result in failure to consider skills-based abilities,
potential and experience in the workplace
Page 22

23. Ageism 2 of 9
result in significant legal costs, compensation, and
settlements paid to avoid defending expensive
discrimination claims
Page 23

24. Ageism 3 of 9
DIRECT DISCRIMINATION
This applies to all protected characteristics. It is
treating someone less favourably than another
person because of a protected characteristic that
they have. For example, it is promoting someone
because they are of a specific age, regardless of
their ability or experience. Direct age
discrimination can potentially be objectively
justified in the same way as indirect age
discrimination.
Page 24

25. Ageism 4 of 9
INDIRECT DISCRIMINATION
Indirect discrimination occurs when:
a provision, criterion or practice is applied to all.
and:
it puts a group with a protected characteristic at a
disadvantage when compared with another group
an individual is put at a disadvantage
the employer cannot show it to be a proportionate
means of achieving a legitimate aim
Page 25

26. Ageism 5 of 9
OTHER TERMS
Associative discrimination
Perceptive discrimination
Victimization
Harassment
Page 26

27. Ageism 6 of 9
AREAS TO CONSIDER
Recruitment and selection
Medical advice
Reward
Training and development
Promotion
Employee retention
Layoffs
Page 27

28. Ageism 7 of 9
ACTION PLAN-REVIEW
Implement a policy on age, tackling age
discrimination as part of an approach to diversity
and inclusion
Use only objective job criteria essential for
satisfactory performance and ensure that these
can be objectively justified
Communicate the policy on tackling age
discrimination to all employees and offer
appropriate training
Page 28

29. Ageism 8 of 9
ACTION PLAN-KEY ACTIONS
Conduct an age audit
Remove the use of age, age guidelines and age-
related criteria
Challenge the use of age and age-related criteria
in every aspect of employment decision-making
Educate and train all employees about the
implications of age discrimination
Page 29

30. Ageism 9 of 9
ACTION PLAN-KEY ACTIONS
Use dates of birth for monitoring purposes and
administration only
Monitor the age profile of your organization at
regular intervals to spot unfair discrimination
against particular age groups
Consider ways of making sure that all age groups
have access to development and promotion
opportunities and are motivated to continue to
improve the contributions they make
Page 30

31. Improving the inclusion of
LGBT employees
Page 31

32. Improving the inclusion of LGBT
employees 1 of 9
ASSESS THE ORGANIZATION
Policies
Internal knowledge-based activities
Programs and practices
Page 32

33. Improving the inclusion of LGBT
employees 2 of 9
BUILD KNOWLEDGE
Build an organization-specific business case for
LGBT inclusion with solid data
Assemble all information regarding LGBT inclusion
at your organization
Ensure privacy measures are in place to protect
employees who choose to self-identify in surveys
or in human resources information systems
Use metrics and statistics in your business case
for LGBT inclusion
Page 33

34. Improving the inclusion of LGBT
employees 3 of 9
DEVELOP POLICIES AND PRACTICES
Support efforts by senior leaders, managers and
individual contributors to build a more LGBT-
inclusive workforce
Support and leverage networks and employee
resource groups
Engage potential customers, clients, suppliers and
employees through outreach efforts
Page 34

35. Improving the inclusion of LGBT
employees 4 of 9
HOW SENIOR MANAGEMENT CAN SET THE TONE
Develop self-awareness
Get informed
Take action
Page 35

36. Improving the inclusion of LGBT
employees 5 of 9
QUESTIONS TO ASK ORGANIZATION-WIDE
Have you benefitted directly or indirectly from
diversity and inclusion efforts at your organization?
Do you recognize how working with others who
have benefitted from such efforts has helped you?
… How can a more inclusive workplace create
opportunities for you as well as others? …
Page 36

37. Improving the inclusion of LGBT
employees 6 of 9
QUESTIONS TO ASK ORGANIZATION-WIDE
… Are you aware that LGBT-inclusive language can
help LGBT employees feel accepted and encourage
them to share their thoughts and feelings more
openly without feeling vulnerable to judgement?
Have you made efforts to include LGBT employees
in informal conversations?
Have you actively engaged in behaviours that
make LGBT employees feel safe and comfortable
interacting with you?
…
Page 37

38. Improving the inclusion of LGBT
employees 7 of 9
QUESTIONS TO ASK ORGANIZATION-WIDE
… Are you comfortable working as an ally or
advocate for an LGBT-inclusive workplace? If
not, what is prohibiting you from doing so?
… Have you heard subtle or overt homophobic
jokes at work or language that might exclude
some of your colleagues?
… Are you aware of how discriminatory comments
and behaviours contribute to an uncomfortable
workplace for LGBT and non-LGBT employees?
Page 38

39. Improving the inclusion of LGBT
employees 8 of 9
QUESTIONS TO ASK ORGANIZATION-WIDE
… How do you avoid saying or doing things that
could be interpreted as exclusionary?
… Do you have a response for inappropriate
comments and behaviours in the workplace?
How do you respond when you hear colleagues
using offensive language?
Page 39

40. Improving the inclusion of LGBT
employees 9 of 9
POINTS TO CONSIDER
… Be open to education and information
Learn and use the correct pronouns
Treat LGBT employees the same as everyone else
Demonstrate your acceptance of LGBT employees
Never make homophobic jokes
Participate in LGBT activities as an ally
Page 40

41. Considerations around
transgender
Page 41

42. Considerations around
transgender 1 of 6
DEFINITIONS
Sex
Sexual orientation
Gender identity
Gender expression
Transgender
Intersex
Page 42

43. Considerations around
transgender 2 of 6
DEFINITIONS
Male to female
Female to male
Passing
Stealth
Page 43

44. Considerations around
transgender 3 of 6
TERMS DEEMED POTENTIALLY OFFENSIVE
Tranny
She-male
He-she
Transvestite
Hermaphrodite
Sex-change, sex change operation
Bio-male, bio-female
Page 44

45. Considerations around
transgender 4 of 6
Where do I fit?
Page 45

46. Considerations around
transgender 5 of 6
WHY ARE PEOPLE TRANSGENDER?
Cultures
Biology
Medical theories
Psychological factors
Right to choose
NOT a mental illness
Page 46

47. Considerations around
transgender 6 of 6
Transgender etiquette
Outing
How to be a help and support towards transgender
people
Page 47

48. Hiring immigrants
Page 48

49. Hiring immigrants 1 of 9
Increased sustainability
Innovation, creativity and new perspectives
Improved responsiveness to the needs of the
community they serve
Reduced recruitment costs and turnover rates
Higher levels of skill and education
Page 49

50. Hiring immigrants 2 of 9
IMPROVING ATTRACTIVENESS AS AN EMPLOYER
Develop promotional materials that depict a
diverse workforce
Participate in collaborative activities with immigrant
serving organizations to share knowledge
Invite someone from the immigrant community to
provide feedback on how your organization might
be perceived by people from within that
community
Attend job fairs and make presentations at post-
secondary institutions
Page 50

51. Hiring immigrants 3 of 9
BUILDING NETWORKS
Attend networking events hosted by immigrant-
serving organizations for skilled immigrants
Make use of the personal contacts of current
employees
Create processes to encourage immigrant workers to
refer other skilled immigrants to your organization
Develop working relationships with immigrant-serving
agencies and send job postings as part of a targeted
recruitment process
Page 51

52. Hiring immigrants 4 of 9
BUILDING NETWORKS
Work with other organizations to address systemic
barriers to attracting immigrants
Attend community or multicultural events and
activities
Promote your volunteering programs
Page 52

53. Hiring immigrants 5 of 9
SCREENING TECHNIQUES AND INTERVIEWING
Credentials
Communication
Lack of Canadian experience
Body language
Interpersonal interactions
Understanding the language
Difficulty or different ways of expressing oneself
Page 53

54. Hiring immigrants 6 of 9
CREATING THE RIGHT CULTURE
Sessions where employees share information about
their cultural norms, what it’s like to work in their
home country, acceptable dress, holidays etc.
Lunch breaks where employees bring traditional food
Team-building activities
Being flexible with schedules in order to
accommodate employee needs
Programs to enhance work-life balance
Conversational English groups
Page 54

55. Hiring immigrants 7 of 9
QUESTIONS TO ASK AROUND STRATEGY
Has our senior leadership made a commitment to
inclusion and written it into our organization’s plan?
Has our board made a formal commitment to
inclusion?
Who in our organization is responsible for the
strategy?
Do we have someone who is prepared to lead the
strategy?
Do we know who will help us promote the strategy
internally?
Page 55

56. Hiring immigrants 8 of 9
QUESTIONS TO ASK AROUND STRATEGY
Do we have commitment from employees at all levels
of the organization?
Do we need to change our current inclusion or
diversity strategy?
Do we have an existing strategy or do we need to
write a new inclusion or diversity strategy?
Have we allocated the necessary resources to
ensure successful delivery of this strategy?
Page 56

57. Hiring immigrants 9 of 9
QUESTIONS TO ASK AROUND STRATEGY
Do we know how we will communicate our strategy?
Have we developed networks with other
organizations to share resources, challenges and
best practices?
Do we know how we will communicate our successes
as well as our challenges?
Do we know how we will monitor the progress and
evaluate the success of our strategy?
Page 57

58. Workplace behaviour
Page 58

59. Workplace behaviour 1 of 2
Introduce a value system based on respect and
dignity for all
Aim to describe the desirable behaviours to gain
positive commitment
Make clear that everyone has a personal
responsibility to uphold the standards
Page 59

60. Workplace behaviour 2 of 2
Introduce mechanisms to deal with all forms of
harassment, bullying and intimidating behaviour,
making clear that such behaviour will not be
tolerated and setting out the consequences of
breaking the organization's behaviour code
Page 60

61. Diversity and inclusion
strategies
Page 61

62. Diversity and inclusion
strategies 1 of 4
Ensure that initiatives and policies have the
support of the board and senior management
Remember that managing diversity is a continuous
process of improvement, not a one-off initiative
Develop a diversity strategy to support the
achievement of business goals, including ways of
addressing the diverse needs of customers
Page 62

63. Diversity and inclusion
strategies 2 of 4
Focus on fairness and inclusion, ensuring that
merit, competence and potential are the basis for
all decisions about recruitment and development
Keep up to date with the law and review policies
through checks, audits and consultation
Address work-life balance challenges in ways that
take account of employee and organizational
needs and offer suitable choices and options
Page 63

64. Diversity and inclusion
strategies 3 of 4
Encourage ownership and discourage risk aversion,
aiming to create an empowering culture so that
decisions do not go upwards without good reason
Design guidelines for line managers to help them
respond appropriately to diversity needs, as they
are vital change agents, but give them scope for
flexible decision-making
Link diversity management to other initiatives such
as Canada’s Top 100 Employers
Page 64

65. Diversity and inclusion
strategies 4 of 4
Be aware that if your organization operates
internationally, its approach to managing diversity
will need to take account of the ways that
individual working styles and personal preferences
are influenced by national cultures
Page 65

66. Getting top management
on board
Page 66

67. Getting top management on
board 1 of 4
Senior management needs to be actively involved
in initiatives to get more buy-in from everyone
else-aim high and don’t be satisfied with lip service
Check senior management is not just ‘caught up’
but ‘signed up’ and that they don’t just find it
easier to seek forgiveness than give support
Encourage senior managers to take a lead in not
tolerating unacceptable behaviours such as
bullying
Page 67

68. Getting top management on
board 2 of 4
Encourage top management to get tough with
those lagging behind agreed actions to progress
diversity
Get top management to understand that key
individuals driving diversity need back-up support
from senior colleagues
Be wary of hindsight in senior managers when
faced with success or questions like ‘Why weren’t
we doing this already?’
Page 68

69. Getting top management on
board 3 of 4
Don’t be fooled by their acceptance of diversity as
a principle-the going gets tougher when action is
required
Make leaders aware of how important they are in
personally supporting diversity openly and in being
well informed
Help them to see that good leadership is needed
to build the courage in others to deal with
unacceptable behaviours
Page 69

70. Getting top management on
board 4 of 4
Top executives need to know they are key
populations as change agents
Leaders should know they need to align customer
and internal behaviours
It requires imagination, even sneakiness, to get
senior management on board
Page 70

71. Leading change to
progress diversity
Page 71

72. Leading change to progress
diversity
Balance emotional and business factors
Learn to manage individuals as well as groups
Act with patience
Try to correct ignorance and misunderstanding
rather than being critical
Acknowledge how scary dealing with diversity is
for many people
Explore individual views and change approaches
accordingly
Share their knowledge
Page 72

73. Effective diversity and
inclusion communications
Page 73

74. Effective diversity and inclusion
communications
Take into account workplace cultures
Use positive language and focus on diversity
opportunities
Involving outsiders helps to spot meaningless
organizational jargon
Note that impersonal communications don’t
engage people
Using interactive communication is more
successful, especially for dealing with sensitive
issues
Page 74

75. Business rationales for
initiatives
Page 75

76. Business rationales for initiatives
Tap broader range of backgrounds and skill sets
A matter of fairness and morality
Need talent to understand clients better and
increase sales
Increased diversity of customer/suppliers
Legal compliance
Enhance public image
CEO has made diversity a priority
Page 76

77. Measures to promote and
monitor
Page 77

78. Measures to promote and monitor
1 of 2
Employee policies aimed at improving work/life
balance
Systematically widening recruitment pools to tap
new sources of talent
Training to enhance respect for cultural and other
differences among colleagues
Providing channels for confidential handling of
complaints related to equal opportunity
Training to improve the advancement
potential of minority or disadvantaged people
Page 78

79. Measures to promote and monitor
2 of 2
Surveying employees periodically to measure
perceptions of equality of opportunity in the
organization
Monitoring corporate advertising to ensure
sensitivity to cultural differences
Offering language courses to increase awareness
of other cultures and promote communication
Periodic audits to ensure that an organization’s
policies, benefits, etc., are in line with competitors
and/or other organizations
Page 79

80. Questions to ask interviewers
Page 80

81. Questions to ask interviewers
1 of 2
Are interviewers aware of common areas of
cultural difference such as eye contact, greeting
etiquette, use of silence, communication style,
etc.?
Do you ask all applicants whether they have needs
that require special support or accommodation
during the interview process?
Do managers avoid using terms and jargon in
interviews that are specific and meaningful only to
members of that specific organization?
Page 81

82. Questions to ask interviewers
2 of 2
Are your interviewers able to flex their
communication style in interviews?
Do you ask all interviewees the same questions?
Do interviewers rate candidates based on objective
information and not jump to conclusions about
someone’s ability to do the job based on race,
culture, gender, age or disability?
Do interviewers recognize and compensate for
their own biases and personal hiring
preferences?
Page 82

83. Observations about
management and evaluation
Page 83

84. Observations about management
and evaluation 1 of 2
View progress as distance covered-from the
starting point to the goal rather than the goals
achieved-this recognizes effort, time and success
Increase the number of measures you use and
don’t rely on one set of criteria
Use the eyes and ears of those involved in
diversity training or other initiatives to assess how
the messages are transforming into new
behaviours
Page 84

85. Observations about management
and evaluation 2 of 2
Adopt hard measures to support the business case
for diversity
Carry out well-designed, properly targeted attitude
surveys
Don’t depend on out of date and inappropriate HR
systems
Use indicators that are specific to an initiative
Page 85

86. Training
Page 86

87. Training 1 of 2
Build diversity concepts and practices into
management and other training and teambuilding
programs to increase awareness of the need to
handle different views, perceptions and ideas in
positive ways
Consider awareness-raising programs about
diversity and skills training to help people work
together better in a diverse environment
Page 87

88. Training 2 of 2
Include diversity issues in onboarding programs so
that all new employees know about the
organization’s values and policies
Train line managers about diversity, aiming to help
them understand the issues and drive them into
organizational and operational policies and
practices
Page 88

89. Design of a diversity and
inclusion initiative
Page 89

90. Design of a diversity and
inclusion initiative 1 of 2
Engage the CEO, senior leadership and other key
stakeholders throughout the process
Focus on achieving business results
Start from and stay aligned with business purpose
Be grounded in ownership and accountability
Plan ongoing internal and external communication
to inform, engage and manage expectations
Page 90

91. Design of a diversity and
inclusion initiative 2 of 2
AFTER ADDRESSING THESE QUESTIONS…
The key business priorities the initiative will help
meet
The changes in the workforce that are needed to
help meet business priorities
The changes in the work environment that are
needed to help meet business priorities
The elements of a diversity initiative that will be
put in place to achieve the needed changes
Page 91

92. Must-haves of an effective
program
Page 92

93. Must haves of an effective
program 1 of 2
Treat diversity as a business issue, not a HR tick
box
Seek specialist advice on its design
Pay attention to regulatory and legal changes
Inspire and engage employees
Embed diversity in your training
Set aspirational but achievable goals and measures
Page 93

94. Must haves of an effective
program 2 of 2
Lead from the top
Celebrate successes and learn from failures
Page 94

95. Case study A
Page 95

96. Case study A
Page 96

97. Case study B
Page 97

98. Case study B
Page 98

99. Case study C
Page 99

100. Case study C
Page 100

101. Conclusion & Questions
Page 101

102. Conclusion
Summary
Videos
Questions
Page 102