It's in almost every modern-day company mandate and noted at the bottom of many job listings. The dedication to diversity has been a continuing practice by Canadian businesses, with some are pushing to take it one step further.

In a report conducted by Deloitte called Widening the Circle, it outlines 10 best practices to increase aboriginal opportunities in the workplace, in addition to topics like reviewing hiring practices, preventing isolation, and supporting aboriginal businesses. With the help of corporate associates from some of the largest companies in Canada, Deloitte listed those 10 as: partner, provide, question, review, conduct, hire, promote, assess, develop, and communicate.

Widening the circle

Today, major Canadian companies have collectively covered those 10 areas, tailoring them to their unique strategies.

At TD, the company is committed to being an aboriginal employer of choice in Canada. They accomplish this by working alongside post-secondary institutions and student organizations like AFOA Canada and Indspire to create awareness to the opportunities the financial services for aboriginal people.

We have a dedicated team and resources focused on sourcing and attracting aboriginal talent to the bank and to ensuring we have the right programs, mentorship, and career development opportunities in place to support them in reaching their full potential, says Monique Bateman, senior vice-president of TD Bank Group, and the chair of the TD Aboriginal Employee Subcommittee.  

For Krystal Abotossaway, diversity sourcing specialist at RBC, their aboriginal summer internship program is one of the company's biggest success stories and checks off Deloitte's best practice to provide.

This program provides post-secondary aboriginal students up to three consecutive summer placements within Canadian banking, says Abotossaway, who started her career with RBC as an intern in the program. This national program has been identified as an opportunity to build career foundation for aboriginal youth to grow their careers within the financial industry.

Unique business approaches

In addition to the exceptional practices outlined in the Deloitte report, RBC is committed to bringing more aboriginal voices to their teams when making crucial business decisions. For me, we no longer live in a static world where we can make assumptions that can stay true for years or that we can just generalize the aboriginal population as one entity, says Abotossaway. So at RBC we've done a lot of listening to our current aboriginal employees more than ever, adding that the company looks at all segments from youth to experienced, and rural to urban areas.

Similarly, role models play an important role at TD. Our senior aboriginal leaders engage regularly with our aboriginal employee resource groups and the aboriginal Circle @ TD, explains Bateman, a group of 600-plus aboriginal and non-aboriginal employees to create awareness, celebrate culture, and further our employee, business, and community strategies.  

And with this vast knowledge, Abotossaway says HR can then develop the right practices to attract and retain the valuable, diverse talent.

Photo: Stockbyte/Thinkstock

As an Aboriginal youth herself Krystal is eager to meet new Aboriginal Talent and discuss career opportunities! For more information on RBC's Aboriginal Programs or to speak to her directly please contact Krystal Abotossaway today at krystal.abotossaway@rbc.com