While many businesses successfully meet and even surpass gender equity and diversity targets, a considerable number of other businesses, particularly small and mid-sized, encounter challenges when initiating their diversity initiatives, often driven by the apprehension of making mistakes. This is where the Breaking Barriers Program can step in to offer assistance. Funded by the federal government, the program supports businesses with consultations, resources, coaching and training, facilitating the advancement of career growth for women.
The services available under the Breaking Barriers program, encompass a comprehensive range, starting from initial DEI assessments to formulating inclusive recruitment strategies, recommending mental health resources and establishing mentorship programs for underrepresented employees. Breaking Barriers, a business-supporting program at Times Change Women’s Employment Service, is steadfast in our commitment to modernizing workplaces, making them models of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Our goal is not merely to transform workplaces but to create ripples of change that reverberate throughout society, breaking the barriers of bias and prejudice.
According to a McKinsey report, women’s representation in corporate leadership roles is gradually increasing, but there is still a significant gender gap, especially at the C-suite level.
We invite you to join our Gender Diversity Challenge to move the needle in your organization toward supporting women. You will receive a digital badge for your clients, vendors and job applicants to see. We will promote your business on Times’ Change’s social media for making these important steps. We are happy to share what Challenge participating employers have been accomplishing:
- SweptAway, leaning on an employee survey, designed by Breaking Barriers, has been putting extra effort to offer company-wide essential skills training, coaching for newly hired leaders, and succession planning and training for high-potentials.
- Dynamic Health Clinic has been upgrading its maternity leave policy.
- Several chapters of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) in Canada have been working on designing and sharing diversity surveys to attract and engage more diverse coaches in leadership roles and chapter participation.
Dozens of companies have participated in diversity, inclusion and leadership development workshops offered by the Breaking Barriers Program to open doors for more growth, inclusion and a sense of belonging in their teams.
While you grow your company and your staff, we recommend including upskilling, access to promotion opportunities and challenging projects, mentorship and sponsorship initiatives for women, so these practices become an integral part of your company’s DNA.
Breaking Barriers offers complimentary guidance in the following gender equity initiatives for your business:
- Designing and analyzing diversity self-identification surveys.
- Training recruiters in inclusive hiring practices; Integration of DEI concepts into the company’s leadership education and development programs.
- Providing teams with enriched learning opportunities on respectful workplaces, being more inclusive, unconscious bias, allyship, microaggressions, anti-racism.
- Promoting a change in culture and removing systemic barriers.
- Designing and piloting a mentorship or sponsorship program to grow diversity among women in manager and director roles.
- Creating employee-led, executive-sponsored employee resource groups (ERGs) made up of employees who share common interests or life experiences.
- Introducing flexible work arrangements.
- Tracking and disclosing diversity targets and progress.
- Incorporating diverse supplier practices.
- Proactively adjusting compensation throughout the organization to align pay between men and women that perform similar roles.
- Expanding diverse hiring practices – hire more women! At Times Change, our clients are job-ready and supported. Please contact us to begin collaboration
We welcome you to learn more about the Breaking Barriers Program and let us support you on this journey. Together, let’s create a future where diversity is accepted and celebrated as the bedrock of success. Please contact Larysa Grant at [email protected] for more information.
