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“WE CANNOT UNDERESTIMATE LEGITIMACY. IT PROVIDES A STRONG
SIGNAL TO THE ORGANIZATIONS HIRING THESE PEOPLE THAT THEY
ARE QUALIFIED AND PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS PROFESSION.”
– DR. MILA LAZAROVA, BEEDIE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
D&I AND HR
In many organizations, D&I professionals
are HR professionals who have been
tasked with D&I responsibilities and
agendas, and therefore have had to expand
their knowledge and competencies. In fact,
they might have had to acquire very specific
expertise on topics such as equity legislation,
cultural competence or workforce
demographic analysis. A D&I certification
would provide an avenue for that expertise
to get formally acknowledged.
HR professionals know better than
anyone else that their organizations are
becoming more diverse, and diversity
management is a critical part of organizational
effectiveness strategies. HR is
extremely well positioned to take the lead
on D&I and enact organizational change,
and often does so even when there is not
an official D&I role.
Finally, a professional D&I designation
will help recruiters and people managers to
find the best resources for D&I positions, as
they will know exactly which kind of competencies
and knowledge a certified D&I
professional brings to the table. In a world
where diversity of thought and culture is
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sometimes painfully associated with harassment,
discrimination, violence and
destruction, having the right D&I people
working to build inclusion in our organizations
has never been more important. n
Wanda Santini is the Canadian Centre for
Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI)’s manager
of learning. Cathy Gallagher-Louisy
is CCDI’s director of knowledge services.
CCDI has become the trusted advisor for
all issues related to diversity, inclusion, equity
and human rights management within
Canada’s workplaces.
28 ❚ JANUARY 2016 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
