In my last blog post, I explored how the variety of opinions on diversity is itself, diversity at work. Maplewave strongly believes in diversity and is actively working to diversify and promote many cultures to ensure our company’s continued growth and success.
In this post, I will talk about the concrete steps that Maplewave is taking in support of this cause.
Encouraging Voices
The employees at Maplewave come from many different cultures, and together they weave a brilliant and innovative tapestry. We strive to give everyone a voice as we move our business forward. This starts at the top – our CEOs and management team encourage people and actively solicit feedback from all employees. We do this face to face, in company-wide emails, and through other engagement opportunities like small groups across the organization. It happens daily!
The Push for Equality
Maplewave strongly believes in equality, but achieving it is a process that we continue to work through. Four years ago, we reviewed the salaries in our company and discovered a pay equity problem. We ended up making some major salary adjustments. Both men and women at our workplace saw changes. We can now confidently say our compensation is based solely on role and experience, regardless of gender. This topic is a priority, and we have committed to ongoing vigilance to ensure continued equity because it is the right thing to do.
We also have taken an active approach to hiring more women in leadership roles. For a small company, our executive team is 38% female. This is higher than the Canadian standard of 25% of women holding Vice President positions, according to the Canadian Women’s Foundation Fact Sheet. That said, we recognize this isn’t enough and we will continue to work toward a more diverse and balanced executive team that reflects the world at large.
Right People, Right Role, Right Time
With respect to hiring, our goal is equal opportunity.
We are actively working on utilizing the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program as a talent source. This will let us play a key role in diversifying our province’s makeup, as well as continue to find people that bring new cultural perspectives, worldly ideas, thoughts, and experiences to Maplewave. Finding the right people, for the right role, at the right time will bring us an incredible return on our investment – because again – it’s the right thing to do.
Conclusion
As a company, these are just a few highlights we are doing to embrace, support and encourage diversity.
On a personal note, I feel very fortunate to be part of a company that has this mindset. I am excited everyday because I get to play a significant role in driving this agenda forward. It is both exhilarating – and terrifying; while there is so much opportunity in embracing diversity and getting it right, not being engaged or part of the conversation can leave your company behind.
I’ll leave you with a few words from my Dad that have guided me: “It is well known that a primary driver of innovation is the diversity of perspectives…different points of view make good business sense.”
They do indeed.
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Maplewave is a proud stage sponsor for the 2018 “Innovate Spring Finale”, presented by the Centre for Women in Business and Digital Nova Scotia. Join us on June 5th for an evening that celebrates innovation, women leaders and diversity champions.
Tickets: https://register.esourceevent.com/event/group.aspx?EventName=CWBSpring18
