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Diversity in the Workplace
September 24, 25 & 26, 2008 Toronto |
Conference Agenda
Session 1:
9:00-9:45 -Attracting, Motivating and Retaining the Best Talent at McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada
Len Jillard, Chief People Officer, McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Limited
McDonald’s Canada’s unique employment value proposition has withstood the test of time and continues to evolve to attract and retain the best talent. Contributing to its success has been the philosophy that opportunity exists for everyone under the Golden Arches. Flexible scheduling, world-class training and skills development serve to attract, retain and meet the needs of a highly diverse workforce. This discussion will highlight how McDonald’s provides value to each individual employee and in turn, motivates and retains its best people. Discussion points will include:
- Understanding the link between successful employees and a successful bottom-line
- Offering a diverse workforce the best opportunities and striving to meet individual needs across the company
- Investing in people to create successful ambassadors for your brand
9:45-10:30 -Developing and Encouraging a Culture of Inclusion
Dennis Fong, Senior Director, Human Resources & Organizational Development, Toronto Central Community Care Access Centre
Diversity is not just having an organization where many different races and cultures are represented. In order to perform well and truly meet client needs, there must be a corporate culture in place that welcomes these differences, embraces diversity and engages the entire workplace. This session will demonstrate how fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion throughout all levels of an organization can provide a company with a significant competitive advantage.
- Building bridges by relating to each other across differences, starting at the senior leadership level
- Creating the values, knowledge and skills to work with diversity via communication and training programs
- Sustaining diversity and inclusion by identifying internal champions and ensuring ongoing commitment and opportunities for resolving conflicts and discussion of diversity issues
10:30-10:45 NETWORKING BREAK
10:45-11:30 -Optimizing Diversity Through Strategic Workforce Planning
Daniela Perciasepe, HR Business Partner, Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc.
As labour markets tighten and demographics change, organizations are realizing the importance of workforce planning and human capital management. This enormous and once complex strategy is now being implemented by organizations that are better equipped than ever to take up the challenge. This presentation details how to use workforce planning as a strategic approach to identifying and addressing workforce gaps and developing diversity and inclusion strategies.
- Exposing workforce gaps to produce an actionable strategic blueprint
- Integrating diversity objectives into the workforce planning process
- Expansion of our labour pool through the utilization of new immigrants to Canada
- Understanding and translating foreign education and work experience to Canadian equivalency
11:30-12:15 -Gaining Buy-In for Your Diversity Plan
Jackie Parker, Vice-President, Inclusion & Diversity, Newell Rubbermaid Inc.
As the economy and workforce keep evolving, diversity initiatives are emerging as a key component of any organization’s ability to remain competitive. Understanding the link between diversity programs and profitability - and convincing top-level executives of the critical nature of that link - can heavily affect a company’s overall success. How do you go about building your business case? This discussion will detail how to successfully attain management support for diversity.
-Starting at the top: keys to executive involvement
-The middle few: establishing business relevance
-Bottom-up management: “followership”
12:15-1:15 Lunch