Diversity and inclusivity have quickly become a top priority for many organizations, with leaders from Metrolinx and Crosslinx Transit Solutions sharing some of the measures they are putting in place during a recent Toronto Buildings Show session.
Denisa Leiba, chief people and administrative officer with Crosslinx, said a shift is occurring and part of the reason for that is that leaders want to avoid that public scrutiny. As an HR professional, she has witnessed inappropriate behaviour in the workplace.
“There has been a lot of change in the industry with tolerance of situations like that. It takes leaders, it takes individuals to say, ‘that’s not acceptable for us right now or into the future,’ ” she said during the session, A Collaborative Approach to Building Diversity in Construction.
It’s important for leaders to have real conversations with the people in their organization.
“Having a real conversation often is about coming out from behind the fear that we all have about saying the wrong thing or offending someone and truly speaking our own truth and saying, ‘this is my experience and this is what I’ve gone through.’ Then holding the space and letting the other person share their truth,” Leiba explained.
Crosslinx, the design and construction consortium delivering and maintaining the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, was one of the Toronto jobsites where nooses were found.
Leiba said what really mattered is how quickly the leadership responded. In addition to a stand down on the site where employees could share their feelings openly and honestly, the leadership met with individuals of colour.
“That shift of being afraid to speak up, which is what we used to experience, the public outcry allows individuals, it allows leaders to say, ‘Can I create a safe place where we can have a conversation,’ ” she noted.
Karla Avis-Birch, chief planning officer, planning and development at Metrolinx, said the imperative is the shift in demographics.
“We know the majority of the population will be BIPOC over the next few years and that set of numbers speaks to the buying power and the buying power is going to dictate the power of what needs to be done and what will be accepted and what will not be accepted,” she noted.
“When we talk about where we need to go, the people are demanding that we treat each other in a humane way and that we deliver services and spend taxpayer dollars in a way that is equitable for all.”
Leiba said it’s necessary to do things differently than they have in the past.
“In HR, we are traditionally taught to have an applicant database that is seen as removing the barrier in demographics and that’s how people apply to jobs,” said Leiba.
“The challenge with that is we’re not getting diversity we were looking for. It just wasn’t there. Based on our community benefits commitments we went to our community leaders. We created a network. This may or may not be popular but we took jobs and we held them for people in the community.”
Metrolinx recently announced a new chief inclusion officer.
“That is a big step in us demonstrating not only to ourselves as an organization but everybody that works with us that inclusivity is a primary factor in how we want to as we say, ‘move in the business,’ ” said Avis-Birch.
They have also created new employee resource groups including one she chairs called Black Employee Experience at Metrolinx (BEEAM).
“We really are creating that person on the shoulder looking at our policies…how we are doing our hiring practices, how are we doing our procurement practices, what are we actually putting in our contracts when we go to market to really support but also compel those that are working with us to really live those values?” Avis-Birch said.
Avis-Birch said individuals want to work at companies where equity, diversity and inclusivity are part of the culture.
“We want to hire right but that talent pool right now is really in control,” she said. “For the first time ever employees and staff are the ones that are making the decisions and hold the power around where they want to be. We have to adapt.”
Also part of the session, hosted by the Toronto Community Benefits Network (TCBN), were Richard Whyte, vice-president and area manager, Toronto Civil at EllisDon, and Chris Campbell, chair of the TCBN and equity and diversity representative for the Carpenters’ District Council of Ontario.
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