DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT GOLDEN TRUST MERCHANT BANK, CANADA CASE

INTRODUCTION

Oliver Wilde was appointed the HR Director at Golden Trust Merchant Bank in Quebec, Canada, on August $5,2018.$ Being the first female HR Director and originating from the Caribbean, workplace diversity was one of her priorities, and she was determined to make it happen. Banks must deal with an increasingly diverse clientele and, therefore, must manage diversity at two levels: in their workforce, as they are legally bound to do$,$ and in the market, by fulfilling their clients needs. Golden Trust Merchant Bank has $10,000$ unionized employees, with visible minority groups accounting for less than $15\%$ of the workforce; the Banks employees were almost entirely French$-$speaking Quebecois. Women constituted a significant proportion of the workforce but were under$-$represented in management jobs. Indeed, while over $80\%$ of administrative and office employees were women, they represented only $18\%$ of senior managers. Since the introduction of the first Employment Equity Act in $1986,$ several employment equity plans have been devised, but none have led to concrete changes. Paula understands that there are competent and talented people the Bank would benefit from having in its ranks who are among the underrepresented groups. She was also convinced that, with a more diversified workforce, the Bank would be better able to respond to the needs of its increasingly diverse clientele. Olivia said it was a matter of performing better rather than simply complying with legal requirements. In addition to managing the issue of diversity at Golden Trust Merchant Bank, Canada, the bank wants to expand into Latin America and the Caribbean within the next three $(3)$ years.

Olivia has commissioned your team to provide consultancy services to create a Diversity and Inclusion Strategy to assist her with the Canadian operations and the eventual expansion into the Latin American and Caribbean region. This strategy should address the following:

$1.$ Elaborate on three $(3)$ initiatives that can be implemented to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion:

a$.$ Diverse Recruitment and Promotional Strategies:

b$.$ Employee Resource Groups $($ERGs$)$:

c$.$ Leadership Development Programs:

$2.$ Provide justifications that can be used to gain Executive Management buy$-$in for the initiatives. Ensure to include a sound argument with concrete pieces of evidence:

Justification $1$:

Justification $2$:

Justification $3$: