BRAMPTON, ON, Feb. 21, 2012 /CNW/ - (TSX:L) - Once again, Loblaw
Companies Limited (Loblaw) has been named one of Canada's Best Diversity Employers for 2012 by Mediacorp Canada Inc. The award commends Loblaw for its
commitment to creating an inclusive work environment that reflects the
diversity of colleagues, customers and the communities around them. Reflect our Nation's Diversity is one of five principles of Loblaw's Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) commitment.
"Loblaw is honoured to be recognized as one of Canada's Best Diversity
Employers. We are proud of the progress we have made in reflecting
diversity in the products we sell, the people we attract and the
workplace culture we create. We are committed to focusing on improving
our efforts to better reflect our nation's diversity," said Judy
McCrie, executive vice president, Human Resources and Labour Relations,
Loblaw Companies Limited.
Loblaw's diversity efforts are spearheaded by its Inclusion Council,
made up of senior leaders from across the organization. The role of
the Inclusion Council is to identify goals and opportunities, and
monitor progress. On a quarterly basis, the Council prepares an
Inclusion Scorecard that is shared with the Company's Management
Board. Some key highlights of the Council's 2011 action plan included
setting goals for an inclusive workplace that reflects the ethnicities
of communities, hiring persons with disabilities within stores and
store support offices and increasing the percentage of women store
managers.
Following are some of the initiatives that helped Loblaw earn its place
on Canada's Best Diversity Employers list:
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Women: Women@Loblaw is aimed at increasing the number of women in senior and
executive positions across the organization through networking and
professional development. In 2011, Loblaw conducted its first
Women@Loblaw National Event that served as a forum for women from
different levels within the organization to meet and learn from one
another. Loblaw continues to drive for improvements in the proportion
of women holding senior positions as store managers and in executive
officer roles.
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Ethnic Diversity: Loblaw continues to strive to reflect the communities that it serves by
working with external organizations to attract diverse candidates. Once
on-board, Loblaw has implemented diversity initiatives ensuring a
multi-cultural and multi-faith workplace. Some examples of these
include access to Reflection / Quiet rooms, diverse food options in
cafeterias, and special opportunities to educate colleagues about
religious observances and their importance. As of 2010, 74 per cent of
Loblaw corporate and franchised stores have dedicated space for
culturally diverse goods and Loblaw's dedicated ethnic business units
continues to expand its offerings by sourcing authentic products from
first generation manufacturers.
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Recruitment: In order to give recruitment managers more exposure to a broad range of
candidates, Loblaw has broadened its recruitment avenues beyond
traditional channels by partnering with a number of not-for-profit
organization, including the Ability Edge paid internship program,
supported by Career Edge Organization and ACCES Employment. Loblaw
continues to strengthen its relationship with Diversity Careers by
reaching out to Canadians through the Diversity Careers job board that
serve as one of five major job boards that Loblaw job opportunities are
posted. Loblaw has also partnered with Equitek to have its job
postings go out to 850 diverse organizations across the country to
attract and hire candidates from local communities. Loblaw's diversity
recruitment strategy includes newcomers to Canada, visible minorities,
women, Aboriginal Canadians, persons with disabilities, the lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgendered community, and youth and mature
workers.
Launched in 2008, Canada's Best Diversity Employers competition
recognizes employers across Canada with exceptional workplace diversity
and inclusiveness programs. Employers are examined based on a range of
diversity initiatives covering five major employee groups: (a) Women;
(b) Members of visible minorities; (c) Persons with disabilities; (d)
Aboriginal peoples; and (e) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgendered/Transsexual (LGBT) peoples.
About Loblaw Companies Limited
Loblaw Companies Limited, a subsidiary of George Weston Limited, is
Canada's largest food retailer and a leading provider of drugstore,
general merchandise and financial products and services. Loblaw is one
of the largest private sector employers in Canada. With more than 1,000
corporate and franchised stores from coast to coast, Loblaw and its
franchisees employ more than 136,000 full-time and part-time employees.
Through its portfolio of store formats, Loblaw is committed to
providing Canadians with a wide, growing and successful range of
products and services to meet the everyday household demands of
Canadian consumers. Loblaw is known for the quality, innovation and
value of its food offering. It offers Canada's strongest control
(private) label program, including the unique President's Choice®, no
name® and Joe Fresh® brands. In addition, the Company makes available
to consumers President's Choice Financial® services and offers the PC®
points loyalty program.