Nearly 200 people attended the event on October 19th at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Centre.
“We want to celebrate businesses that are doing a great job with inclusive hiring and encourage this further,” says Caleb Wee, Employment Services Manager with Bethesda. “We also want to show our appreciation for all they do to support the people we serve.”
The awards event is also an opportunity to create awareness within the business community that inclusive hiring is good for business. Statistics show that businesses who do so improve their employee retention rate by 72%, increase their innovation capacity by as much as 20%, and that customers prefer to give their business to companies that hire inclusively.
Simren Thind is an Employment Specialist with Archway. She was impressed by the number of employers nominated and that each one had a different story to tell.
“Each story was a success story and to me, that showed how much the employer cared about the employee,” she says. “It also showed us the different opportunities that employers were willing to give their employees to help them be part of their team.”
Event Partners
- Emergent Employer of the Year
- Creative Workplace Solutions
- Outstanding Commitment to Inclusive Hiring (small business)
- Outstanding Commitment to Inclusive Hiring (large business)
- Community Champion for Inclusive Hiring
- Inclusive Employer of the Year
Event Sponsors
“This means a lot to me. Working with these people is so amazing,” he said. “They’ve become my friends. If you find the right job for the right person, you’ve got a good employee.”
Robbins’ comments reflected what employment specialists know to be true: that when a business takes the step to hire inclusively, the experience has an impact
“There’s a real business case for inclusive hiring and yet, what we saw at the awards event is that inclusive hiring doesn’t just improve business, it also changes hearts and minds,” said Christian Saint Cyr, the Community Engagement Manager for WorkBC Abbotsford-Mission.
Matt Dirks, Chief Innovation Officer with Communitas, agrees. His advice to any employer who might be hesitant about inclusive hiring is to take a chance.
“It’s not as hard or complicated as you think it is,” Dirks says. “There’s lots of support in the community and from us as service providers. It’s all about making an investment in people and the returns on that investment are excellent.”
The event was organized and co-hosted by Archway Community Services, Bethesda, Communitas Supportive Care Society, and WorkBC.
The event was made possible with the sponsorship support of Vancity, Rotary at Work, and Inclusion BC.
L-R: Paddy Gallagher and Kat Precious (Vancity), Marvin Robbins and Marty Morel (Canucks), Iris Yong (Vancity)
Creative Workplace Solutions
McDonald’s’s – McCallum Junction
