Canadian multinational insurance company and financial services provider Manulife and John Hancock is investing more than $3.5 million over the next two years to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in the workplace and the communities it serves.
The goals of these focused investments are three-fold: to increase the representation of diverse talent at all levels in the organisation; create greater inclusion across the company through enhanced training; and to support organisations helping Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) communities.
“We recognise that driving change means taking action, which is why we are making these important investments in building greater diversity on our team, and a deeper awareness of the role we can all play in being an ally and supporter of inclusion,” said Manulife’s President and CEO Roy Gori. “Through candid discussions with our team, we’ve developed this plan based on their feedback, focusing on areas they see as the most critical levers to helping us create long-lasting change.”
Manulife’s DE&I strategy focuses on practices to support employees at many points throughout their careers, such as recruitment, development, career progression, and leadership effectiveness and accountability. In addition to the company’s objective of developing a diverse workforce, the firm “is equally focused on fostering an environment where all employees can truly thrive and feel a strong sense of belonging”.
DE&I INITIATIVES
The programme covers three pillars of initiatives. They include:
1. Building representation of BIPOC professionals through graduate programmes, focused leadership recruitment efforts and accelerated mid-career development.
- Focused recruitment efforts from diverse post-secondary schools across North America.
- Partnerships with Career Edge in Canada and the MLK Scholars Program in the US to hire youth.
- Accelerated development programme for high potential mid-career BIPOC leaders.
- Diverse leadership hiring goals through focused recruitment.
2. Programmes designed to educate and train all employees that go beyond our mandatory unconscious bias training. This will encompass regular listening forums to foster conversations that will enable building a greater understanding of inclusion and connection across its global team, allyship training and targeted training for all managers on leading inclusively.
3. Supporting communities through donations and volunteerism focused on financial education and career mentorship. Organisations that will be initially supported include: NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Equal Justice Initiative, ICON Talent Partners, Canadian Association of Urban Financial Professionals and the Canadian Race Relations Foundation.
Manulife has also been recognised as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers, one of Canada’s Top Employers for Young People, scored 100% on Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, and named an Outstanding Equal Opportunity Employers Award at the Hong Kong Insurance Awards.
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