Forest company keys into aboriginal workforce

Workforce leaders nationwide are watching Alberta companies closely as the war for talent heats up.

The sheer number of people moving to Alberta from around the world to take advantage of the strong economy is fuelling more than corporate profits. Companies in the province are at the forefront of diversity initiatives as they find ways to manage an increasingly international workforce.

But diversity isn't just about new workers from abroad. Many natural resources companies in Alberta are evolving their diversity initiatives starting with a valuable, perhaps underutilized source of labour: first nations communities.

"Most of our operations are where there are many aboriginal communities, so it makes sense to create opportunities for people from those communities," says Derek Getty, vice-president of human resources for Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc.

"The difference with [Alberta-Pacific] is that lots of companies just throw money at it," he says. "Our philosophy is to try to help the communities help themselves a lot more, so trying to create employment and business opportunities within their communities."

The company supports numerous aboriginal businesses by serving on their boards, assisting on the administrative side and providing resources. It recently set up an aboriginal apprenticeship program where people from first nations communities learn trades and get trained on site.

Of the company's 450 full-time employees, 50 come from aboriginal communities. "It's been very successful," Getty says.

Alberta government estimates show the province will be short about 300,000 workers over the next decade, so diversity is big business for the long-term sustainability of any company operating in the province.

It's a challenge facing companies across Canada. The face of Canada's workforce is changing rapidly, causing companies and professional associations to address such issues as foreign credential recognition processes.

TD Bank, for example, is partnering with Ryerson University to develop training curriculum that will help internationally educated professionals integrate into the workforce. It also has mentoring and internship programs for new immigrants and has taken a broad business approach to its wide variety of diversity programs.

"I hope that one day these initiatives become so mainstream that having a diverse organization and population becomes as ubiquitous as electricity -- it just is the way things are," says Bill Hatanaka, chairman of TD Bank's Diversity Leadership Council in Toronto.

"We believe that our diversity initiatives and embedding the best aspects of diversity into the fabric of our overall organization is just flat-out good business and gives us a competitive advantage."

Companies such as Enbridge Inc. have become clear leaders in diversity, earning recognition in Mediacorp's ranking and on many other occasions for the inclusive and flexible approach the company takes to dealing with its diverse employees.

It has become particularly known for its Women at Enbridge program and several innovative mentoring initiatives, all of which support women and other employees in achieving their career goals.

Suncor Energy is in the midst of hiring 1,500 workers this year, so diversity can't be ignored as the company casts its recruitment net across the world, including countries such as Venezuela and South Africa.

At Intuit Canada Ltd. in Edmonton, Cheryll Watson says the rush of economic activity and the population surge that followed in Alberta has brought the issue of diversity to the fore for many companies.

"We have a wider range of population that's coming here than we normally would have in the past," Watson says. "We've always had a culture of inclusion and didn't really put it together as a diversity strategy in the beginning."

Intuit now has an extensive range of diversity initiatives, including its Pride Network aimed at the company's gay-lesbian-transgendered community and a strong, supportive women's network.

"As we've learned just how critical this diverse experience is, we've also realized that employees feel a little bit more comfortable when they're in a peer group, so we've encouraged them to set up networks," Watson says.

It's part of the company's overall strategy of finding out what employees want when it comes to diversity programs and then responding appropriately, using mechanisms such as regular employee surveys.

Some employees may hesitate to identify needs that are unique to their particular peer group, Watson says, but it's the diverse range of personal and professional backgrounds that ultimately benefits any business.