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Views from the Experts
Interview excerpt: Prem Benimadhu
Conference Board of Canada
Q Why is it so important to rate companies on how to treat visible minorities and aboriginal people in terms of recruitment, retention and advancement?
A It is very critical to measure what companies are doing in this area. In 1986 we had our employment equity legislation, we did study at that time at the Conference Board and we went around and spoke to a lot of executives and what they told us was "Not in my backyard. Systemic discrimination does exist but not in our organization." When you look at representation of visible minorities and aboriginals you saw very few people at the top. Measurement is critical. It sends a message to companies that performance in this area does matter. We need to improve representation of visible minorities and the other 3 target groups. This is good for companies themselves. For the first time in history, it is the human mind that is the primary creator of value; it is great for organizations to tap the human mind and the talent that exists without looking at colour.
Q Is diversity linked to the bottom line?
A It is totally linked to the bottom line. I don't think that companies are doing that because it's a nice thing to do. I think that they are doing that not only because it's a nice thing to do, but its' clearly linked to the bottom line or organizations. We are operating in a globalized world today and there are two things that they're constantly talking about: their internationalization of the customer market and the internationalization of business. The customers have changed; we don't have the homogenous customer base that was here when I came to Canada in 1967. It is very important to have people to serve that customer base. I think you do that better if you have employees in organizations that understand the cultures.
Secondly, directly linked to business, who do you send to China or India tomorrow to get business contracts? Would you send someone who has never left Kingston and send him there to sign contracts with Indian counterparts? Or perhaps you would send someone who is from India who is very competent, of course, but also who knows the culture of the country and will make things happen.
Q What will it take for companies to realize that globalization of the market place requires diversity in the workplace?
A Intellectually it makes a lot of sense. Who is going to speak against diversity today? Who will speak about visible minorities being in organizations Nobody, because everybody understands now the problem is: how do you make it happen? We need to move diversity from an intellectual concept to a concept that is thriving and alive in the culture of organizations.
Q Can you quantify a loss in not using diversity?
A Visible minorities today are working at jobs below their skills ad experience. Stats Canada has done a lot of studies in this area In September they released data that showed that 68% of new immigrants that come from Australia get a job within the first 6 months of arrival. This rate plummets to 33 % for people that come from Asia and the Middle East. Obviously there is an issue. We did a study that the average wage gap for visible minorities and average Canadian is about 15 % and is sustained for about 10 -15 years. We did (another) study a few years ago that estimated that the actual cost of unrecognized learning is about 3.4 billion dollars. There is a lot of brain waste, brain waste that cost the Canadian economy up to 15 billion dollars a year according to research from the University of Toronto. We need to raise the issue in Canada of visible minorities coming to Canada and their talents being fully recognized and utilized.
Q How can we sustain this when 100% of our labour force growth is immigration?
A When we look forward 10 years there will be a massive shortage of labour. Where are the immigrants going to come from? Italy from France, these are aging countries. Canada must draw immigrants from non- traditional countries and sources like China, African and India. That's were the young people are. Another interesting thing is off-shoring. Canadian and US companies will get an engineer in Bangalore to work in Bangalore. That's perfect, but interestingly, when those engineers come to Canada they can't get a job. There is an irony that western countries go to those places and use the talent that is there, but when they come here sometimes credentials are not recognized and talents go to waste.
For more information, pick up the March 29th issue of Canadian Business or visit the Minority Report section on OMNITV.ca.
