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Illuminate Opportunity: Equity in the Workplace - Reading Materials Chapter 11: Engaging and Retaining – Diversity

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Introduction

Many employers are experiencing heavy competition for talent, particularly for jobs that are portable out of our sector, such as engineers, construction managers and ICT professionals.

To prospective employees, the electricity sector is seen as generally stable and well-paid… but not always as dynamic or innovative as other industries.

Incoming talent wants to work for organizations that don’t pay lip service to diversity and inclusion, but embrace it by providing a supportive environment where everyone can express their views and opinions, and where different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives are valued.28

Asian female engineer wear yellow safety hard hat standing and holding blueprint while checking infrastructure

When inclusion is high, recruiting high quality talent is easier: referrals from employees from all backgrounds increase, those involved in recruitment can more easily showcase your organization’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and they make more bias-aware hiring decisions, thereby hiring the best candidate.

It also builds the reputation of your organization with external stakeholders. Investors, customers, business partners, regulatory agencies, the public, managers, and employees are increasingly looking at a company’s record of creating a workplace that is diverse and inclusive.

Are you able to tell a compelling organization “story” about DEI?

Supporting resources

Illuminate Opportunity: Everyday Inclusion

Achieving diversity of thought and perspective in Alberta’s electricity and renewables sector is a tremendous opportunity.

Inclusive workplaces are critical for keeping talent

Positive Culture of Collaboration: When employees feel welcome and included in their team, they feel free to express their views and opinions, leading to better team performance and organizational decision-making.

Retain Skilled Talent as an Employer of Choice: Create a culture where each employee feels valued for the unique skills they bring and that they are supported to reach their potential.

Strengthen Ties with Communities, Customers and Stakeholders: Support building long-term partnerships with Indigenous and other under-represented communities, and enhance the organization’s reputation with stakeholders and external stakeholders.

Woman engineer, power engineer in helmet checks power line using computer tablet online.

Priority DEI Practices for Employees

DEI practices prioritized by diverse talent groups (based on research in 14 countries with 16,000+ women, racial and ethnic minorities, and LGBTQ2+ employees) include:29

  • Women: Visible role models in leadership, parental leave, childcare assistance.
  • Women, men and people with disabilities: Flexibility programs, typically including teleworking, reduced hours, or condensed work weeks.
  • Visible minorities: Eliminating bias from the day-to-day, such as in how teams are staffed, or how meeting attendance is decided.
  • LGBTQ2+ employees: Efforts to create an inclusive day-to-day experience, accommodating a broader gender orientation (e.g. through gender-neutral washrooms, or non-binary gender choices in surveys and HR data).