Allison Mitchell, right, is a corporate recruiting specialist with Dalsa, a Canadian imaging specialty company that has employees worldwide.Peter Power/The Globe and Mail
Limitations on hiring due to a perceived lack of Canadian education or experience can hurt business, according to talent management expert Iren Koltermann.
"By 2030, 60 per cent of our population will be a visible minority," says the senior associate at Graybridge Malkam, a workplace-diversity consulting company. "If we want to provide goods and services to communities that are diverse, businesses don't need to just look like them, but they need to think like them, too."
DALSA Corp., based in Waterloo, Ont., which designs and manufactures digital imaging products, has put measures in place to prevent bias from creeping into the hiring process.
At DALSA, it's simply a matter of keeping jobs filled. "Some of the skills we look for are unique and difficult to find," corporate recruitment specialist Allison Mitchell says. "We can't afford to be picky, so to speak."
Inclusive hiring is ingrained in the company's culture, Ms. Mitchell says, and it goes back a lot further than her 10 years with the company. "We do business all over the world. It's important for us to reflect that," she adds.
Ms. Koltermann and Ms. Mitchell joined us to talk about inclusive hiring and why it's good for business. View an archive in the box below.