Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
You Be You. We insist!
Our EDI Statement:
At About Staffing Authenticity is in our DNA.
Equity is to be upheld, and we are all accountable.
We are inclusive. We listen and treat others with respect and sincerity – always with the intent to learn and grow.
And it is diversity that drives our outrageous creativity, tenacity, and joyful approach to persevering and succeeding in a highly competitive industry.
Female Founded
About Staffing is female-founded and led by CEO Sharlene Massie
Cultural Experience
One-quarter of our staff members have lived in countries other than Canada and have experienced living as a minority
Language
One-third of our staff members are bilingual or multilingual
Gender
More than three-quarters of our staff are professional women
Diverse Leadership
Our executive leadership team is comprised of women with a combined 100+ years of work experience, including almost 65 years in the recruitment industry.
Voice for Others
Our Director of EDI is a Métis woman and mature worker who advocates for professional women of all ages in business
We Have Staff Members Who:
Worked with Newcomers
Worked and volunteered with newcomers to Canada including helping resettle the first wave of Syrian refugees to Canada in 2016. They also helped to establish programming for immigrant women at risk of poverty
Who:
Helped at Risk Women
Provided guidance and support for at-risk women around the world to secure micro-financing for small businesses and develop banking cooperatives
Staff Members Who:
Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 22/23 About Staffing
This strategy will not only address our goals as a female-led, small business in Canada committed to advancing equitable diversity and inclusion in our industry, but also as purposeful leaders in the field of EDI recruitment and retention promoting best practices for our clients, as well as support and knowledge for our candidates.
Our Priorities are:
- Becoming leaders in promoting EDI best practices to our clients (employers).
- Furthering diversity and inclusion in Canadian workplaces by equipping candidates through our sister company JOBSHIFT.
- Advocating for EDI initiatives within and outside of our four walls, including nurturing current partnerships with organizations and businesses that serve underrepresented groups in the workforce, as well as reaching out to new partners.
Objectives and Actions
Status Quo
We are recruiting experts and will continue to position ourselves as EDI recruitment experts, thanks in large part to our partnerships with community agencies and organizations that serve newcomers, Indigenous youth, LGBT2SI+ community members, mature workers and others who are at risk for underrepresentation in the workplace.
HR-Hiring, Recruitment, Retention
Diverse candidates are and will continue to be sourced through our partnerships and strategies.
We commit to monitoring the inclusivity of our job postings through the use of job descriptions that provide opportunities for a wider pool of qualified candidates. We currently use tools to evaluate our inclusivity. Based on the findings, we will often review and re-examine job descriptions, postings and profiles with the goal of reducing or eliminating implied biases.
We encourage staff to understand their own unconscious biases by participating in Harvard University’s Project implicit https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/
We leverage our sister company Jobshift to help equip diverse candidates with the tools and confidence to advocate for themselves in both the job search process and the workplace.
As the Masters at Matching Culture®, our recruiters aim to understand the employers’ culture to align with the ideal candidates. We also encourage enhancing corporate culture through diversity and inclusion. This is proven to support retention in existing and new staff members.
Staff Training and Development
Currently, our Director of Growth Strategies and EDI has completed an EDI certification program through the ESSEC Business School in France and a certification with a University of North Texas course on EDI access. Three more staff members are enrolled in the ESSEC Business School program to receive a Diversity and Inclusion in the Workforce certificate, and those not enrolled in the certification, have been given time to audit the course. Our Director of EDI also participates in monthly webinars and conferences to advance EDI iniatives in the recruitment industry.
We will continue to discuss EDI skills training and leadership opportunities with staff and encourage them to bring ideas for continuing education forward.
Indicators
Although we monitor diversity indicators internally, we are currently developing standardized criteria to measure diversity and inclusivity progress among our external client and candidate base.
We will review internal performance indicators for each department within our organization including industrial and corporate divisions.
The Business Case for EDI
Research shows:
“In a survey, 57% of employees wished their company was more diverse.” Learn more here
“Racially diverse teams report a 35% increase in performance compared to their competitors.” Learn more here
“Cognitive diversity drives innovation by up to 20%.” Learn more here
“According to a 2020 Glassdoor survey, 76 percent of job seekers and employees polled said a diverse workforce was an important factor for them when evaluating job opportunities and companies.” Learn more here
“According to a Deloitte survey, 80 percent of over 1,300 respondents said inclusion efforts were an important factor when choosing a company.” Learn more here
Diverse companies:
- are better at making decisions. Learn more here
- are more likely to capture new markets. Learn more here
- perform better financially. Learn more here
- have higher engagement. Learn more here
Partners in EDI
Some of Our Partners and Resources
About Staffing is continuing to build relationships with organizations that promote Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
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