Construction Inclusion Week: CMiC Remains Committed to DEI With 68% Minority Representation Across Its Ranks
According to a recent article by Forbes, which focused on the future of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace, organizations with higher ethnic representation perform 35% better than those with lower representation. On top of that, firms with greater gender diversity demonstrate a 15% increase in company performance, relative to their counterparts.
What has become increasingly clear is the importance and applicability of adopting business practices to promote DEI, which are essential to the long-term success of organizations—across all industries.
Introducing Construction Inclusion Week.
Making Strides on the Inclusion Front: Construction Inclusion Week Takes Off
With the goal of promoting and strengthening DEI in the construction industry, leaders from DPR, Gilbane, Turner Construction, Mortenson, McCarthy and Clark Construction Group created an organization called “Time for Change” in 2020. One of their first accomplishments was the establishment of Construction Inclusion Week (CIW), which will take place from October 18–22, 2021.
The defined goals of Construction Inclusion Week are:
To “champion inclusion empowering us to reach our full potential, fuel innovation, and enhance connections with our employees, clients, and the communities we serve.”
To “harness and leverage the capabilities and global reach of the construction industry and its affiliates to cultivate and perpetuate a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
To ensure that every key topic is covered extensively, each day of CIW will focus on a different theme:
October 18: Leadership Commitment & Accountability
October 19: Unconscious Bias
October 20: Supplier Diversity
October 21: Jobsite Culture
October 22: Community Engagement & Outreach
This year’s inaugural ‘program’ is intended to ‘build the foundation for inclusion in construction.’ At a higher level, the main purpose for CIW is to spark conversations within firms and industry partners, spearhead CIW-focused initiatives at the organizational level and enhance our collective commitment to inclusion across the industry.
Serving as Ambassadors and Champions: How CMiC Will Be Participating in This Year’s Construction Inclusion Week
Showcase the Awards and Recognition We Have Received in This Area:
Tech in Motion’s Timmy Awards:
The award, which recognizes the top workplaces for tech professionals in the Toronto area, showcases companies with diverse hiring practices and those which celebrate differences to produce innovative products.
In 2019, we were named a ‘Community Favorite’ winner for the category of Best Tech Workplace for Diversity. In 2018, we were recognized as a finalist.
Promote CIW at CONNECT 2021:
We will be hosting a business track panel that will include DEI as one of the discussion topics. In addition, both our CRO and our CEO will include DEI-focused themes in their opening remarks and keynote address, respectively.
Promotions and Campaigns:
We will launch a 5-day social campaign to promote CIW on all our social channels, which include LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
We will publish CIW and DEI focused content on our website, which includes articles and blogs.
This list is only the start. We continue to look for additional ways of participating in this great initiative.
Looking Inward: CMiC’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives
At CMiC, we continue to uphold our strong commitment to strengthening our DEI focus and initiatives. While we forge ahead with our planned initiatives, we want to take a moment to highlight some of our key accomplishments.
Steadily Increasing Female Representation:
Female representation in our employee base has grown steadily in recent years
From 2015 to 2021, we observed the following increases:
11 percentage points in the proportion of female employees (overall)
16 percentage points in the proportion of female programmers
14 percentage points in the proportion of leads/managers who are female
11 percentage points in the proportion of senior leadership members who are female
Two of the members of our Board of Directors are female
Representation of Minority Groups:
69% of our employees fall into the visible minority group
Group Percentage Distribution
49% South Asian / Middle Eastern
31% Caucasian / European
11% East Asian 11%
5% Latin American / Hispanic
4% African Descent / Black
17% of our employee base have been in Canada for less than 4 years
Plans Going Forward
From a planning perspective, here are some key goals that we will be working toward in the next 3 years:
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Programs or Initiatives
To formalize a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee
To increase the percentage of females across the company, in management and in departments where they are underrepresented
Workplace Culture
To increase a network of allies for key groups (e.g., LGBQT+, indigenous people)
To establish formal support groups
To foster and champion a culture focused on DEI, philanthropy and environmental consciousness (e.g., workshops, events, Q&A sessions)
“Workforce diversity at CMiC represents a broad array of dimensions and initiatives, from talent sourcing and development – as well as religious, cultural, and gender inclusion – to active participation in community enhancement programs,” says Gord Rawlins, President & CEO at CMiC. “We envision a business community embracing more social inclusion. A DEI program is the most effective platform for employees to feel fully engaged.”
To learn more about Construction Inclusion week, please click here.