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Strategies for the Changing Workforce

New Technologies - Cultural Diversity - Generation Y

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Metro HallOctober 16th, 2009

9:00 Registration

9:30 A.M. Welcome The Honourable Michael Chan, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.

9: 50 A.M. Workplace Diversity and InclusivenessWendy Cukier, FounderThe Diversity Institute at Ryerson University

10:30 A.M.

Expectations in the Labour MarketKaren Lior, Executive Director Toronto Training Board

Panel Presentations• Jane Zhang, Moderator Director of Corporate Social Responsibility for Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) What do we mean by diversity and how do we make cultural shifts in our organizations?

• Inclusiveness Strategies & ROI of DiversityNan OldroydSenior Director, Recruitment & Diversity, Loblaws Companies Limited

• New Technologies and Generational IssuesMarco CampanaOnline Capacity Development Coordinator, Ontario Council of AgenciesServing Immigrants (OCASI)Christopher WulffCommunications Officer, Social Planning Toronto

• Inclusive Strategies for ImmigrantsNikhat RasheedSenior Project Manager, Increasing the Capacities of SMEs to Hire and Retain ITIs (ICHR) CON*NECT Strategic Alliances

12:15-12:45 P.M. Lunch

12:45 P.M. The Honourable David C. Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario

1:15 P.M.

Round Table DialoguesParticipants will have an opportunity to sit at two of the five tables

2:00 P.M. Afternoon Break

3:00 P.M Feedback and Evaluation Karen Lior, Executive Director, Toronto Training BoardHoney Crossley, Executive Director, Working Skills Centre



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Agenda



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Agenda

This one-day forum will explore some of the key strategies for both employersand employees to benefit from existing diversity in the workforce while creating a more flexible and inclusive workplace for the future.

Toronto is the most diverse metropolitan area in Canada and remains a destination choice for newcomers. This has helped the city to become an international centre of trade and capital. By 2011, 80% of Toronto’s labour force growth will be made up of immigrants and visible minorities. Although statistics show that the newcomers arriving in Toronto are typically highly educated and highly skilled professionals, they often encounter multiple barriers to full integration into the labour market (Toronto Training Board, Trends, Opportunities and Priorities Report, 2009).

Demographic shifts in the market are seeing older workers retire and a new generation of youth and immigrants taking their place. With four generations working together, each with their own views, expectations, skills and generational traits, how can employers prepare for the future and create a welcoming and inclusive workplace? What kind of workplace flexibility is needed to attract and retain talent?

If we resist new technologies, new ways of operations and challenges to our organizational culture, do we become less competitive and also less attractive to the up and coming workforce? “It’s about more than removing barriers- it’s about harnessing the energies and talents of all your people” (Bill Robertson, The Conference Board of Canada, 2009).

Afternoon dialogues will consider five major themes:

1) Conditions for Success: Inclusive Strategies for Recruiting, Retaining and Measuring Diversity2) Building Cross-Cultural Competencies & Managing Talent: Strategies for the day to day work-life3) Leveraging the Talents of Multiple Generations: Gen Y, Gen X and Baby Boomers4) Using and Implementing New Technologies in the Workplace5) Accommodating People with Differing Abilities in the Workplace



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Wendy Cukier, B.A. (Brock), M.A., M.B.A. (Toronto), PhD (York), DU (Hon., Laval), LLD (Hon., Concordia University), is recognized as one of Canada’s leading authorities on emerging technologies. She conceived and developed Ryerson’s Telecommunications Management Certificate which currently has over 500 students. Wendy is Associate Dean, Academic of the Ted Rogers School of Management has extensive experience as a consultant specializing in strategy and organizational change.

In 1991 she won the Canadian Business Telecommunications Alliance (CBTA) President’s award for her contribution to the industry. She has led the design and redevelopment of the ITM Curriculum and the Joint Graduate Program (with York) in Communication and Culture.

Professor Cukier’s research spans telecommunications and competitive advantage, electronic commerce, technology-enabled learning, social marketing and public policy. She has written more than 200 papers on technology, innovation and management and co-authored various papers, articles, book chapters and presentations on issues of Diversity and Inclusiveness in the workplace. Wendy is also coauthor of the bestseller, “Innovation Nation: from Java to Jurassic Park”. She founded the Diversity Institute in 1999 with a focus on women and technology and has led several large studies of diversity in the Information Communications Technology and Financial sectors.

Wendy has received honorary doctorates from Laval University and Concordia University; a YWCA Woman of Distinction Award; the Canadian Public Health Association Award of Merit; and the Governor General’s Meritorious Service Cross. In 2000, she was named one of the “100 Alumni who shaped the Century” by the University of Toronto.

Workplace Diversity and Inclusiveness



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ModeratorJane Zhang, Program Director at TechSoup Canada, has extensive experience in the IT field as well as in the non-profit sector. She has both founded and acted in a leadership role in nonprofit organizations aimed at helping to bridge the digital divide. In her current role at TechSoup Canada, Jane is helping to build relationships between the voluntary, public, and private sectors to make technology more accessible for charities and nonprofits. TechSoup Canada’s product donations program now provides over 300 products from over 25 donor partners to the sector. Jane is also the Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at the Information Association of Canada, where she is working to promote the integrations of CSR into core business practices for the ICT sector in Canada. Jane sits on the board of the Regeneration House as well as the Endeavor Volunteer Consulting Network.

PanelistsNan Oldroyd is the Senior Director, Recruitment & Diversity with Loblaw Companies Limited. At Loblaw, Nan’s team runs: • The grad@Loblaw program which will hire 1,000 grads over the next 5 years, • Careers@Loblaw which supports recruitment and employment branding across the business, • The national applicant tracking system that makes it possible for the 500,000 candidates who apply each year for jobs at Loblaw to do so online, and • Retention programs that have helped reduce turn over through working with the teams at Loblaw.

Nan is accountable for Loblaw’s Inclusion Council which oversees diversity strategy and results. As well, she sits on the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee with responsibility for reflecting our nation’s diversity and building a great place to work. Nan played a key role in Loblaw’s recent application to Mediacorp’s Top Employer competition which has resulted in the company being selected as a Top 100 Employer 2010.

She is currently completing her thesis for a Master’s degree in Work, Organization and Leadership and will finish in February 2010. As well, Nan was recently awarded her Senior HR Professional certification. She volunteers as a mentor with the HR Professional Association’s Mentorship Program.



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Marco Campana, Started his career as an Employment Counsellor. Marco Campana’s work has spanned numerous non-profit sectors, including newcomer settlement, employment, information & referral and community-based internet projects. Marco believes that technology is valuable when it is connected to our daily work and serves to enhance that work.

At the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI), his current focus is helping settlement agencies harness and implement social media and technology in their community service work. In his current context, Marco believes that social media is a means to an end and most people care about the end. This is reasonable.

Christopher Wulff is the Communications Officer at Social Planning Toronto. Previously he worked at the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants where he worked with the settlement sector on the effective use of new media and technology in communications and service delivery. He brings to the Council a strong background in collaborative social media and social networking technologies, as well as writing, design and communications.

Nikhat Rasheed is an independent consultant with several years of experience, of leading immigrant integration projects and research in the non-profit and academic arenas. She is currently Senior Project Manager for the CON*NECT “Increasing the Capacities of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to Hire and Retain Internationally Trained Immigrants (ITIs)”.

The ICHR Project coordinates the provision of cultural competence workshops developed by the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) to SMEs across the province through the Ontario college system. Prior to this role, Nikhat lead the Employment Support project with the CON*NECT “Colleges Integration Immigrants to Employment (CIITE)” Project, conducted research with York University and managed several multi-stakeholder projects funded by Canadian Heritage and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.



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Round Table DialoguesTHEME 1Conditions for Success: Inclusive Strategies for Recruiting, Retaining and Measuring Diversity Representative from CIITE (Colleges Integration Immigrants to Employment) Valerie Alphonso, Community Outreach, Diversity without Borders

Description:With baby boomers retiring and falling birth rates, there will simply not be enough skilled people in Canada to meet all the future labour needs. To fill this gap, Canada is taking in skilled immigrants with education, work experience and talent. By 2011 all net labour force growth will be newcomers. How is your organization preparing to avoid this foreseeable crunch for talent? Do you have the right conditions in place to accommodate and recruit newcomers, immigrants and other minority groups? Do your Human Resource practices tap into the widest amount of talent available? How do you measure whether your diversity strategies are working?

Questions1. How do expectations in the labour market play a role in employee recruitment and retention and how is your organization preparing for this? Do you have the right conditions in place?2. What does your organization do to create a more “welcoming” workplace for newcomers? 3. How do you know your diversity strategies are working? How do you measure success? What are some ways to do this?

THEME 2Building Cross-Cultural Competencies and Managing Talent Racquel Sevilla (TRIEC- Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council & hireimmigrants.ca) Laura Burke (hireimmigrants.ca)

Description:Let’s say your organization/business has a diversity strategy and policy in place; you have achieved the basic “conditions for success” and you have a robust and diverse staff. What are the everyday problems that come up? How do you build cross-cultural competencies for all staff members? For skilled immigrants, persons with disabilities and other minority groups, these conditions may be different. This is especially important if skilled immigrants and other minority groups who are not working to their capacity and have been employed in more junior positions than their education and work experience deserve. Fostering the right conditions- for support, communication, and measurement- can maximize your successes and accelerate your organization’s immigrant readiness. This session will explore different strategies for building cross-cultural competencies with staff and providing immigrants and other minority groups the opportunity to enhance their skills.

Questions 1.What is your organization doing to build “cross-cultural competencies” across management and staff? What does having “cross-cultural competencies” mean? 2.What opportunities do you provide to optimize the skills and talents of immigrants, people with disabilities and other minority groups?



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THEME 3Theme: Leveraging the Talents of Multiple Generations: Generation Y, Generation X, Baby Boomers Janice Rudkowski, Director, Marketing & Communications, Career Edge Organization Karina Rotenstein, Representative from HotDoc’s Film Festival

Description:Generational challenges can manifest themselves in many ways. For example, you may experience low levels of engagement among your staff, particularly younger hires, or your leaders may complain that younger employees are “not respectful of authority” or do not “work hard.” When recruiting new talent, your leaders may have difficulty finding candidates who will fit into roles as they are currently defined. Resolving challenges such as these starts by looking at the root cause: the very unique perspectives and attributes each generation brings to your workplace. This session will investigate the strengths, challenges and talents of multiple generations and explore different ways to accommodate the new generation of workers coming in: Gen Y. Questions1. In today’s workforce, there are so many different generations at work with different ideas, skills and world views; What are the major differences between the “older generations” and “younger generations” work ethic? How do you manage these different attitudes?2. Gen Ys are estimated to access social networking sites for 9 hours a day (CBC report). Does your organization set boundaries regarding accessing these websites at work? (facebook, twitter, my space...). Is it possible to leverage Gen Y’s knowledge and familiarity with these new technologies to your workplace benefit?

THEME 4Using and Implementing New Technologies in the Workplace Marco Campana, Online Capacity Development Coordinator, Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) Christopher Wulff, Communications Officer, Social Planning Toronto

Description:“Half of the jobs people will have in 15 years time will require skills to operate technology that is not yet invented…. More than half of the people that will make up Ontario’s workforce in 2015 are already working”(Labour Force Readiness Plan, 2008).



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Open Source, social media, web 2.0, new technologies- how do you keep up? How do you know what technologies to use or discard? Technology alone is never a solution: it’s about how staff can leverage technology for efficiency and mission effectiveness. This session will review some of the new technologies available and explore the challenges of implementation. Finally, can Gen Y- the “digital natives” potentially help your organization leverage the use of new technology?

Questions1. What types of new technologies should organizations and staff be aware of? (collaboration tools, project management tools, CRM’s) What types of technology make organizations more competitive?2. What are the benefits of using collaborative technology tools- like wikis, basecamp, blogs, google docs, open source? Why bother with them? 3. How do you create “technology” champions in the organization and how do you get resistors to try out new technology? 4. Are organizations and businesses less competitive if they do not implement new technological changes?

THEME 5Accommodating people with Differing Abilities Trevor Snow, Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work (CCRW) Job Developer/ Employment Specialist for the WESP (Workplace Essential Skills Partnership) program.

Description:There are many solid and expansive studies to show that workers with disabilities perform just as well, if not better, than their peers without disabilities. A Harris Poll of 920 U.S. employers reported 88% of disabled workers had performance ratings of good or excellent. Many professionals assume that accommodating people with disabilities in their programs will be prohibitively expensive. In fact, many accommodations are cost- free or quite inexpensive. The key to finding low-cost solutions is to foster open communication with the person with a disability and to think broadly about the possibilities and resources available to them and to your organization. Join this discussion to identify basic accommodation issues for persons with disabilities and explore innovative ways to provide “reasonable” accommodations that will maximize the talents of your employees and benefit the employer.

Questions1. What is the “duty to accommodate”? 2. What are “reasonable” accommodations and the limitations of “undue hardships”?3. How can employers have a more inclusive hiring process to include people with differing abilities?



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Resource People

Valerie Alphonso has a background as an HR Consultant. With her knowledge in job development and community outreach, she has been the front runner in e-learning via VOIP technology thus creating work from home opportunities for persons with disabilities. Has been extensively involved in community outreach and support initiatives promoting diversity in the workplace and conducts job coaching/goal setting and self employment workshops for potential candidates. Pioneer in promoting Virtual Job Fairs both national and international.-Board Member Toronto District School Board Diversity Committee, Toronto -Board Member Community Outreach Canada-Community Outreach Services Ontario WEEE program, Toronto-Facilitator Drug Free World and Anti Bullying Campaign, Toronto

Racquel Sevilla joined TRIEC in 2007 as Manager, Corporate & Stakeholder Relations for the Toronto region. In her role, Racquel manages relationships with TRIEC stakeholders, primarily employers, to enhance their capacity to recruit and integrate skilled immigrants into their workplaces. She brings with her experience in operations, project management, writing, research and evaluation. Before joining TRIEC, Racquel worked at the Yonge Street Mission as a Project Coordinator and Volunteer Resources Administrator. She also volunteered at a number of non-profit organizations in Toronto and abroad, working on community projects, environmental protection and tutoring street children. Prior to immigrating to Toronto in 2004, Racquel and her husband founded and managed a multimedia and web development company. Racquel holds a B.S. Industrial Management Engineering degree.

Janice Rudkowski is Director of Marketing and Communications at Career Edge Organization, a national not-for-profit that provides meaningful work experiences through paid internships to recent graduates, graduates with disabilities and internationally qualified professionals. Janice has a broad private sector background and has held progressive roles in Brand Management, Licensing and Sales functions in diverse industry sectors including Fashion, Consumer Packaged Goods, Healthcare and Toys. Janice’s passion to give back to her community led her to re-direct her career in 2007 and apply her solid private sector strategic business experience to the not-for-profit sector. In her role at Career Edge Organization, she recently partnered with Angus Reid Strategies to conduct a national study of workplace and employment attitudes among Canada’s Generation Y cohort. Janice holds a BAA from Ryerson University and an MBA from York University.

Laura Burke is currently the Learning Coordinator for ALLIES where she is responsible for managing and expanding the national scope of hireimmigrants.ca. She joined Maytree upon completion of a MA in Immigration and Settlement Studies focusing on immigrant labour market integration. Previously Laura worked in the financial sector and coordinated employee feedback groups to solicit direct communication with the aim of improving employee engagement. Laura is fluently bilingual in French and she holds an honours degree in French and International Studies from the University of Toronto. Her studies have taken her to France for a year and to India for two years, where she attended the Mahindra United World College.

Karina Rotenstein is the Programming Manager at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival (Toronto). In addition to Festival programming and the monthly Doc Soup series, she also manages the Canwest-Hot Docs Documentary Funds, a new fund created to support Canadian producers in documentary production and development. Prior to Hot Docs, Ms. Rotenstein programmed for the Miami International Film Festival for five years, and consulted with the Dominican Republic Global Film Festival, and Jakmèl Film Festival (Haiti). She has served on numerous film festival juries, most recently at Silverdocs.

Trevor Snow is a member of the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work (CCRW) team as a Job Developer/Employment Specialist for the WESP (Workplace Essential Skills Partnership) program. Trevor brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience in the following areas: Corporate Hiring, Corporate Training, Sales Management, People Management, Consultative Sales, Marketing, Advertising, Customer Service Excellence, Account Executive Management, Self Employment Training for Youth and Aboriginal Youth, Conference and Event Planning / Organizing / Designing / Management and Public Relations Work. As a person with non-visible disabilities, he understands first-hand the barriers people with disabilities face when seeking employment. As a result, one of his on-going passions is assisting people with disabilities to gain the necessary knowledge and skills to secure solid, meaningful employment.



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Marcie Ponte has been the Executive Director of Working Women Community Centre since 1999 and during this time has rapidly expanded the Centre’s programs to meet increased community need for employment and settlement services right across the City of Toronto. Marcie’s experience with WWCC extends back to its early beginnings and over the past 30 years she has been an active Board member of the Centre.

Marcie has been working in the immigrant non-profit sector since 1976. She is a member of the Maytree & York Non-profit Management Alumni. Marcie’s diverse program and management experience provide her with a wealth of skills and expertise that poise her well for any new opportunity. Marcie is a graduate of the Community and Social Services Program at Centennial College.

Awards and Recognition:Constance E.Hamilton Award, On the Status of Women, City of TorontoProfessional Excellence Award, Federation of Portuguese Canadian Business and ProfessionalsMaking a Difference of Women Award, SOROPTIMIST Club Toronto

Honey Crossley has over 30 years of administrative experience in both the public and private sectors including: hiring, performance review, negotiating contracts, interaction with senior staff, elected officials, and members of Boards of Directors, and leadership positions on Boards and government committees. Her varied background includes work with the Corporate Sponsorship and Special Event Department at Bank of Montreal, the Ontario Ladies Golf Association, the Community Outreach Foundation for the North York Board of Education, and Youth Clinical Services, an agency working in a priority neighbourhood in Toronto.

Honey accepted the challenging position as Executive Director at Working Skills Centre in January 2007. Since that time she has been deeply involved in the process of assisting immigrants, primarily women, to gain the knowledge and skills needed to participate fully in Canadian society, especially in the workplace. The agency, established in 1978, has provided settlement and skills training to over 50,000 individuals in its first 30 years. In 2008, Honey took the lead to license WSC’s Academy of Computer & Employment Skills, one of three charitable career colleges with diploma programs approved by the Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities. Honey holds a B.S. in Psychology from St. Lawrence University, a M.A. in Applied Psychology from University of Guelph and is a doctoral candidate at York University in CLinical Psychology.

Karen Lior, Executive Director of the Toronto Training Board, where she works to identify the prominent training and employment issues in the City of Toronto and develop partnership initiatives to address those issues. Karen has worked on labour force development policy and programs since 1992, where she was the Executive Director of ACTEW for ten years. From 2002-2004 she was National Representative, Training for the Canadian Labour Congress. With a Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies (York University), Karen is a community activist and popular educator. She is the author and/or co-author of many articles on labour force development policy.

Lori Smith, is a Partnerships Manager for the Toronto Training Board where she has been working since November 2008. Lori helps to research, initiate and co-ordinate a number of community and employer partnerships in the city of Toronto. She is a community activist and has been involved in a number of community initiatives, such as the better jobs coalition. As a technology advocate she has worked in Toronto, Montreal and abroad to help non-profit organizations develop web and technology strategies. Previous to the Toronto Training Board Lori worked for ACTEW- A Commitment to Training and Employment for Women- where she managed an award-winning project called the Content- Sharing Constellation.



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WORKING SKILLS CENTRE

Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration

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