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Global Change: Understanding Diversity and Strengths Gained

to Expand Local/Global Networks

Presentation to:

The 3rd BANKSETA International Conference

11th and 12th October, 2006

Johannesburg, South Africa

Peter M.J ThurtonHead of Enterprise-Wide ComplianceCIBC Legal & ComplianceOctober 11th, 2006

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Disclaimer

The views expressed in this (presentation and/or paper) are my own and for discussion purposes. I am not providing advice of any kind.

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What is Diversity:

• Diversity is about recognizing and accepting differences.

• Openly accepting and embracing differences, and allowing individuals to participate to their full potential.

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8 Employee Affinity Groups CIBC Aboriginal Employee Circle

CIBC Asian Employee Network

CIBC Black Employee Network

CIBC Hispanic Employee Network

CIBC LGBT Pride Network

CIBC South Asian Employee Network

CIBC Women’s Network

CIBC WorkAbility Advisory Council

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An inclusive workplace allows individuals to express themselves and participate fully in the work environment, positively impacting our business bottom line.

Accommodation IntegrationSameness of Difference of Difference

Tolerance Celebration of Difference of Difference

Framework for Diversity

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The historical truth:• That individuals from certain groups based on

their (gender, race, ethnicity, disability, etc.) have been excluded from employment because of their differences.

• In Canada the groups are:– Women

– Persons with disabilities

– Aboriginals

– Visible minorities

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Exclusion:

• Exclusion at both an entry and senior management level.

• Exclusion can be by design or by custom.

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Understanding the consequences of exclusion:

• A Painful Experience: – To the individuals, their families, friends and to the

community.

• Sense of Hopelessness: – If the end result is rejection, why try?

• Suspicion of the Other: – Invariably we have a lack of trust between the groups

that are disenfranchised and the group(s) representing the status quo.

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The Business Case for Diversity: • What is the business case, the bottom line benefit to diversity? • Given a choice: why would consumers who have been pained,

hopeless and suspicious purchase your product and services? • Why should government entertain entering into contracts, extend

preferable tax treatment if the workforce is not representative of the constituents who elect them?

• Would it not be preferable to voluntarily embrace diversity as opposed to having Local/National Governments impose a costly compliance regime for diversity?

• Why would foreign companies partner with an organization/industry sector if they are not inclusive of others?

• Why do we not conclude: There is a ready made market of existing and future customers, and we must find ways and means to embrace that market.

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• Senior management unequivocal support/Buy in.• Employee satisfaction.• Increase in productivity and morale.• Performance measurements.• Decrease in human rights complaints.• Retention of top talent.• Increase in Shareholder confidence.• Competitive advantages/marketability.

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Business Case for DiversityEmployee Engagement/Customer Satisfaction Chain

DIVERSITYDIVERSITY Employee Satisfaction

Employee Commitment

1. Retention

2. ProductivitySuperior Customer Value

Customer Satisfaction

Customer Loyalty

1. Retention

2. Repeat Sales

3. Referrals

Increased Revenue & Profits $$$

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Embracing the Diversity Market:

• Before diversity in employment we first see diversity in products and services that the customer can identify with. The diverse groups are first and foremost customers, not employees.

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Acknowledgement:

• We need to bring the community into the workforce to better understand their market. (For example, the Asian Banking Division)

• If there is success in products and services and in market segment, we may then see a growth (albeit slow) in limited acceptance of a diverse workforce.

• This is not a solution because it does not permeate the organization, it permeates one maybe two levels of senior management.

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The real business case lies in safeguarding an organization/industry sector reputation:

• How is the organization/industry sector perceived by its clients and the public at large (locally, nationally, and internationally).

• Era of common markets, (EEU/NAFTA), of mobility of people. To do business we need to understand each other's culture, language, and customs.

• The business case is in the potential loss of existing and future opportunities.

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The Power of the Emotions:

• People who have been disenfranchised appreciate an opportunity and will give an employer twice as much as she/he otherwise would.

• Products and services will be purchased at a higher but reasonable price than competitors.

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The Other Case – The Moral/Ethical Case:

• What type of organization/business sector do we want, i.e. what reputation do we want to convey: – one that is equitable, and representative and

reflective of its communities.

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Investment back into the communities:

• Is the organization/business sector internally and publicly engaging and saying things that are reflective of a diverse market place and of a tolerant society that is respectful of differences?

• Is the organization supportive of disadvantaged groups - schools for the disadvantaged, meaningful scholarships and bursary funds to business schools with guaranteed positions of employment?

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• Is the organization truly committed to hiring the brightest and the best, and knowing that when that person is from one of the "disadvantaged groups" they do not ask: will she/he fit in but rather that they will fit in.

• Do organizations recognize, that just a few prominent hires, could lay the seed of a whole generation to aspire too, a whole generation of future clients?

Investment (Cont’d):

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The Business Case Goes Both Ways:

• Do the rightful beneficiaries of a diverse workplace understand their obligations to those that have come before them and to those that are still to come?

• Do these beneficiaries understand that all the stakeholders are looking at them some with an eye to failure, many to see if they can withstand the "test"?

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• Do these beneficiaries understand that they have an obligation to their organization, that an investment have been placed in them, that they too have an obligation to the greater community and that they are ambassadors to their organizations, their cities, their province, and country?

• Do these beneficiaries understand that the larger their organization, the more prone they and their organization are to public scrutiny, that the world is watching to see the benefits of its initiatives?

Business Case (Cont’d):

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Does diversity need a business case? Everyone has said yes!

• Why should diversity need a business case?

• Why can you be in the same dance club, playing field, school or university as me but not the same boardroom?

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Confronting Diversity:• The failure to embrace diversity, is a reflection of being afraid of change,

of challenge, of risk, of strong decision making, of not being forward looking. Interestingly, these are the very same things that managers reward high achievers for.

• An organization that embraces diversity for the sake of diversity, of doing the right thing, will in time, (possibly one generation remove) be rewarded for doing what from an employment perspective is right, that is having a workforce that is reflective of its general population.

• The next generation of lawyers, doctors, nurses, business women and men, bankers will remember who took those initial steps and what it meant to them. Remembering past “wrongs” may not be true of many things but it is of race, religion, ethnicity and gender bias. For whatever reason these are things we as people choose not to forget. We remember them for generations onto generations.