April 27, 2021
By John Dujay, Canadian HR Reporter
Many things have changed over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic but one bright light that has emerged is a growing awareness of the importance of diversity and inclusion in many organizations.
“The conversation has really moved from reacting to being more thoughtful and intentional and proactive,” says Anne-Marie Pham, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) in Calgary.
“We have seen, in the last 12 to 14 months, quite a significant uptake in social discourse in the workplace with regard to anti-black racism and now anti-Asian racism and… how do we address that in the workplace? How do we look at our corporate value systems, our policies, our practices, through a diversity and equity lens to ensure that we address microaggressions and racism and discrimination, and how do we educate our workplace to be proactive around these issues?”
Because the virus seems to have originated from China, this has also brought out racist behaviours in offices too, according to Pham.