Building a foundation of respect - Part 22 | BuildForce Canada

Building a foundation of respect - Part 22

Welcome to the BuildForce blog on Respectful Workplaces! Here we explore issues and provide advice, research, tools, and checklists – everything our industry needs to create respectful and inclusive workplaces where everyone can succeed. Who will benefit? Leaders, managers, HR staff, on-site workers and anyone who wants to understand how to create and support a Respectful and Inclusive Workplace.

Question of the month

(Each month our feature question is taken from the BuildForce Canada Respectful Workplace Online Self-Assessment Tool. This Tool allows organization leadership to assess their progress toward a Respectful and Inclusive Workplace and benchmark their progress confidentially against other construction organizations. This Tool is one of three in the BuildForce Canada online Respectful and Inclusive Workplace Toolkit.)

Does your organization regularly share its respectful and inclusive workplace objectives with its subcontractors, consultants and suppliers?

There are many benefits to sharing and encouraging business partners to adopt respectful and inclusive objectives:

  • Demonstrates your organization’s commitment to its stated core values of respect and inclusion
  • Establishes your organization’s expectations for respectful and inclusive behaviour in business interactions
  • Encourages your business partners to invest in their human resources practices and improve their competitiveness
  • Helps to support businesses that are already diverse such as those owned and operated by people of different genders, backgrounds and circumstances

For more info:

  • Applications Management Consulting Ltd. Recruiting and Employing Persons with Disabilities: Results of the 2014 Calgary & Area Employer Survey. Alberta Works. 2014.
  • BuildForce Canada. Respectful and Inclusive Workplace Toolkit.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Does your organization share its respectful and inclusive workplace objectives with its subcontractors, consultants and suppliers?

“Breaking Down the Barriers” International Day of Persons with Disabilities December 3, 2018 International Day of Persons with Disabilities was proclaimed in 1992 to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development. The estimated one billion people living with disabilities worldwide face many barriers to inclusion in many key aspects of society. Statistics Canada reports that the Canadian construction industry employed 95,470 persons with disabilities in 2012. Some of the benefits of hiring persons with disabilities identified by employers are: Improves the culture and reputation of a business through community goodwill Improves the ability to attract talented, innovative people Focuses a company on long-term strategic thinking Reduces turnover and absenteeism Increases employee engagement

OUR NEXT INSTALLMENT: Has your organization developed a communications plan to build awareness of and support for your respectful and inclusive workplace plan or set of objectives?

PREVIOUS INSTALLMENT: Does your organization demonstrate support for respectful and inclusive principles that goes beyond meeting the minimum legal requirements?

Read from the beginning. Click here to start at Part 1.

To meet the challenges of the 21st century, the Canadian construction and maintenance industry must be able to recruit and retain workers with a diversity of backgrounds such as Indigenous people, women, immigrants, and young workers. This means building respectful, safe and inclusive workplaces where all workers can succeed. Some of these challenges are: A quarter of a million skilled workers retiring over the next decade. Increased globalization demands more awareness of different cultures. The changing needs of a changing workforce. Increased demands for corporate social responsibility such as fairness and equity.

The BuildForce Canada Online Respectful and Inclusive Workplace Toolkit includes: The Respectful Workplace Online Self-Assessment Tool: to assist organization leadership in assessing their current situation and identifying where they may need to make changes; The Respectful and Inclusive Workplace Online Training Course: to train workers on how to create and support a respectful and inclusive workplace; and The Respectful Workplace Policy Framework and Implementation Guide: to assist organizations in creating and implementing a policy that supports a respectful and inclusive workplace. --- All the resources you need to create and support a respectful and inclusive workplace!

Status of Women Canada logo
This project has been funded by Status of Women Canada.