Scotiabank is launching a series of initiatives to increase its workforce diversity and eliminate racial discrimination in the workplace.
The bank is using its recently released leader guides to arm employees and managers with practical information on identifying racism, racial harassment and discrimination in the workplace and to help them build up their confidence to address it.
Scotiabank is also launching an updated employee diversity survey to provide the organization with a clearer understanding of its employee population and where it has gaps in diversity representation and extend its reporting to encompass race and ethnicity, rather than just visible minority representation.
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“We are proud of our diverse workforce and believe it helps differentiate us as a top employer, a leading financial services partner and an integral part of the communities we serve,” said Barb Mason, Scotiabank’s group head and chief human resources officer, in a press release. “We know the work to build a more inclusive bank is never done and we are in the process of renewing our targets based on our current employee diversity survey.”
In addition, the bank plans to address its talent pipeline. Currently, more than 50 per cent of its student hires come from Black, Indigenous and people of colour communities and it wants to maintain this level of overall representation, while placing a specific focus on recruiting more Black and Indigenous students.
Scotiabank will also create a BIPOC inclusion task force to work toward eliminating racism and racial discrimination in society through a strategy focusing on its employee programs, business activities and community partnerships. Senior leaders will also have the opportunity to hear from BIPOC-identifying employees across Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. during so-called listening sessions.
Read: Addressing racism as an employer must begin with listening