{"id":142,"date":"2009-04-27T23:43:31","date_gmt":"2009-04-27T23:43:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hr-pros.ca\/?p=142"},"modified":"2010-07-26T09:02:50","modified_gmt":"2010-07-26T12:02:50","slug":"managing-diversity-a-competitive-advantage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hr-pros.ca\/fr\/managing-diversity-a-competitive-advantage\/","title":{"rendered":"Managing Diversity – A competitive advantage"},"content":{"rendered":"

The aging of the Canadian population is creating numerous challenges for governments and for employers.\u00a0 The lower birth rate of Canadian couples and the retirement of the baby boomers will combine to create a labour shortage that is not easily fixed.\u00a0 In fact, a recent study (December 2008) by Dr. McNiven of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies<\/a>(AIMS) projected a labour shortage for Nova Scotia by 2015 and an overall labour shortage greater than 300,000 in Ontario alone by 2025. \u00a0Arguably, the current recession makes it difficult to imagine a situation where the demand for labour exceeds the supply of workers.\u00a0 It \u00a0will eventually happen, perhaps a few years later, because the overall dynamics of low birth rate and baby boomer retirements will persist.\u00a0 Baby boomers may be enticed to remain in the workforce a little longer due to the current economic conditions, but the birth rate is not likely to change.\u00a0\u00a0 Consequently, employers could face a situation where one in eight jobs may be vacant for lack of staff.\u00a0 AIMS has proposed three broad solutions to solve the labour gap: find more people; increase labour productivity; and increase the labour force participation rate.\u00a0 AIMS argues quite correctly that a combination of these three recommendations will offer the best chances to fill our labour gaps.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The three solutions proposed by the AIMS\u2019 report will require a rethinking of the Human Resource management practices of employers, especially where immigrants are concerned.\u00a0 Finding more people means that Canada has to become a country of choice for immigrants. \u00a0\u00a0This is especially important if we are to reach our immigration targets.\u00a0 Incidentally, the Conference Board of Canada estimates that Canada will require to increase its immigration levels by at least 60,000 annually after 2011 to over 300,000 immigrants per year to fill our labour shortages.\u00a0 When these immigrants arrive in Canada, they must be able to find a job and become active participants in the economy. \u00a0The jobs will be there….but will their credentials, education, and training be recognised?\u00a0 Having highly skilled people performing tasks or jobs where they are overqualified is a misallocation of labour.\u00a0 From the perspective of the economy, these people are underemployed.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What kind of signals does this situation send to other highly skilled immigrants?\u00a0 Finally, how many skilled immigrants are already here but not participating in the labour force because they were underemployed, not welcomed, unappreciated, or can\u2019t face another rejection?\u00a0 If we quickly learn to capitalise on the skills, talents, and education of new immigrants, we can all benefit.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Successful companies have long recognised the value and the contribution of a diverse workforce.\u00a0 They have moved beyond employment equity, quotas, or affirmative action programs to embrace diversity.\u00a0 They have adopted diversity management practices and have recognised that it provided them with a competitive advantage.\u00a0 As the population of Canada continues to change and become more diverse, those companies that have made diversity management a cornerstone of their Human Resources management practices will thrive.\u00a0 Meanwhile, their traditional competitors will be understaffed and wonder why they can\u2019t attract good employees.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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HR pros\u00a0can help clients with diversity training and the development of diversity management practices.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The aging of the Canadian population is creating numerous challenges for governments and for employers.\u00a0 The lower birth rate of Canadian couples and the retirement of the baby boomers will combine to create a labour shortage that is not easily fixed.\u00a0 In fact, a recent study (December 2008) by Dr. McNiven of the Atlantic Institute […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,137,140],"tags":[26,15,5,33],"class_list":["post-142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advice","category-diversity","category-human-resources","tag-diversity","tag-halifax","tag-human-resources","tag-management"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hr-pros.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hr-pros.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hr-pros.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hr-pros.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hr-pros.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/hr-pros.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":872,"href":"https:\/\/hr-pros.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions\/872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hr-pros.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hr-pros.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hr-pros.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}