Introduction

In 2013, Qantas, Australia’s national airline, posted a record loss of AUD$2.8 billion. This low point in the airline’s 98-year history followed record-high fuel costs, the grounding of its A380s in 2010 for engine trouble, and the suspension of its entire fleet for three days in 2011 after a series of bitter union disputes. Across the country, predictions surrounding the fate of Australia’s national carrier were extremely serious. 

Fast-forward to 2017, and the situation couldn’t be more different. Qantas delivered a record profit of AUD$850 million, increased its operating margin to 12 percent, won the “World’s Safest Airline” award, ranked as Australia’s most trusted big business  and its most attractive employer, and delivered shareholder returns in the top quartile of its global airline peers.

Transformation is an overused word, but for Qantas it’s a perfect description. How did it happen? The company’s 2017 Investor Roadshow briefing sounded like a textbook in disciplined operational and financial management, as well as employee, customer, and shareholder focus. Yet for CEO Alan Joyce, the spectacular turnaround reflects an underlying condition: “We have a very diverse environment and a very inclusive culture.” Those characteristics, according to Joyce, “got us through the tough times . . . diversity generated better strategy, better risk management, better debates, and better outcomes.”

When you’re building a team, you don’t want twenty people who all think, act and believe the same. You want a thriving workplace where everyone has different perspectives and can bring new and exciting ideas to the table.

When diversity, equity and inclusion are brought up, they tend to be banded together. Though this is common, it’s important to note that they mean completely different things.

Whilst it’s true that you can’t have one without the other, there are key differences that separate the three.

But what exactly is the difference ?We’ll take a closer look at the differences and how making sure that workplaces have plenty of each, is important.

First, a video based introduction.

To sumamrise:

Diversity can be defined as the practice of including people from a range of different aspects of life. These could be personal, physical and social characteristics. This includes but is not limited to gender, ethnicity, age, income and education. It can also be various physical or mental disabilities and sexual orientation. It fundamentaly relates to social differences among employees.

Equity aims to ensure the fair treatment, (we will earn about the Equity Theory in Chapter 5) access, equality of opportunity and advancement for everyone while also attempting to identify and remove the barriers that have prevented some groups from fully participating. As such, companies that adopt equity practices don’t establish one-size-fits-all policies. Rather they take individual needs into consideration, while also readjusting organizational structures to account for the disadvantages minority groups face.

Inclusion builds a culture where everyone feels welcome by actively inviting every person or every group to contribute and participate. This inclusive and welcoming environment supports and embraces differences and offers respect to everyone in words and actions. A work environment that’s inclusive is supportive, respectful and collaborative and aims to get all employees to participate and contribute. It consists of belonging, fair treatment, integrating differences, trust, collaborative decision-making and psychological safety.An inclusive work environment endeavors to remove all barriers, discrimination and intolerance.

In business, this is the ability to integrate everyone within the workplace and create a safe and inclusive atmosphere. It’s allowing people’s differences to coexist in a mutually beneficial way.

This chapter will focus on the management of diversity.

Doing Good as a Core Business Strategy: The Case of Goodwill Industries

Goodwill Industries International has been an advocate of diversity for over 100 years. In 1902, in Boston, Massachusetts, a young missionary set up a small operation enlisting struggling immigrants in his parish to clean and repair clothing and goods to later sell. This provided workers with the opportunity for basic education and language training. His philosophy was to provide a “hand up,” not a “hand out.” Although today you can find retail stores in over 2,300 locations worldwide, and in 2009 more than 64 million people in the United States and Canada donated to Goodwill, the organization has maintained its core mission to respect the dignity of individuals by eliminating barriers to opportunity through the power of work. Goodwill accomplishes this goal, in part, by putting 84% of its revenue back into programs to provide employment, which in 2008 amounted to $3.23 billion. As a result of these programs, every 42 seconds of every business day, someone gets a job and is one step closer to achieving economic stability.

Goodwill is a pioneer of social enterprise and has managed to build a culture of respect through its diversity programs. If you walk into a local Goodwill retail store, you are likely to see employees from all walks of life, including differences in gender and race, physical ability, sexual orientation, and age. Goodwill provides employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities, lack of education, or lack of job experience. The company has created programs for individuals with criminal backgrounds who might otherwise be unable to find employment, including basic work skill development, job placement assistance, and life skills. In 2008, more than 172,000 people obtained employment, earning $2.3 billion in wages and gained tools to be productive members of their community. Goodwill has established diversity as an organizational norm, and as a result, employees are comfortable addressing issues of stereotyping and discrimination. In an organization of individuals with such wide-ranging backgrounds, it is not surprising that there are a wide range of values and beliefs.

Management and operations are decentralized within the organization with 166 independent community- based Goodwill stores. These regional businesses are independent, not-for-profit human services organizations. Despite its decentralization, the company has managed to maintain its core values. Seattle’s Goodwill is focused on helping the city’s large immigrant population and individuals without basic education and English language skills. At Goodwill Industries of Kentucky, the organization recently invested in custom software to balance daily sales at stores to streamline operations so managers can spend less time on paperwork and more time managing employees.

Part of Goodwill’s success over the years can be attributed to its ability to innovate. As technology evolves and such skills became necessary for most jobs, Goodwill has developed training programs to ensure that individuals are fully equipped to be productive members of the workforce, and in 2008 Goodwill was able to provide 1.5 million people with career services. As an organization, Goodwill itself has entered into the digital age. You can now find Goodwill on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Goodwill’s business practices encompass the values of the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit. The organization is taking advantage of new green initiatives and pursuing opportunities for sustainability. For example, at the beginning of 2010, Goodwill received a $7.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, which will provide funds to prepare individuals to enter the rapidly growing green industry of their choice. Oregon’s Goodwill Industries has partnered with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Oregon E-Cycles program to prevent the improper disposal of electronics. Goodwill discovered long ago that diversity is an advantage rather than a hindrance (Goodwill Industries of North Central Wisconsin, 2009; Slack, 2009; Tabafunda, 2008; Walker, 2008).

Demographic Diversity

The word demography comes from two ancient Greek words, demos, meaning “the people,” and graphy, meaning “writing about or recording something” — so literally demography means “writing about the people.” A demographer is someone who studies a human population’s size, structure, distribution and its characteristics – like age, gender, income, race, religion, ethnicity and culture.

Canada is a multicultural country. Canadians come from a vast range of nations, races, religions and heritage. This multicultural diversity comes from centuries of immigration. As a result, a demographically diverse population is now one of the distinctive features of Canadian society.
The pie chart alongside, from Statistics Canada, shows Canada’s visible minority presence. A visible minority is defined by the Government of Canada as “persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour”. The term is used primarily as a demographic category by Statistics Canada, in connection with that country’s Employment Equity policies. ( source: Wikipedia)

Almost a quarter of Canada’s people were or are immigrants or permanent residents — who now account for their largest share of the population in the country’s history, according to new census data from Statistics Canada released in October 2022.

Statistics Canada reports that 8.3 million people, or 23 per cent of the population, fit into this category, topping the previous record of 22.3 per cent in 1921.

Immigrants and permanent residents now make up a larger share of Canada’s population than they do in any other G7 country.

“If these trends continue, based on Statistics Canada’s recent population projections, immigrants could represent from 29.1 per cent to 34 per cent of the population of Canada by 2041,” the report said.

Between 2016 and 2021, 1.3 million new immigrants settled permanently in Canada. Almost 16 per cent of all immigrants in Canada came to the country recently.