BMO outlines ambitious 5-year D&I goals to address diversity gaps

BMO Financial Group has announced its five-year diversity and inclusion (D&I) goals to address diversity gaps affecting Black, Indigenous, people of colour, Latino and LGBTQ+ employees, customers and communities. The group’s Zero Barriers to Inclusion 2025 goals reflect an ambitious expansion of the multi-year diversity strategy set in 2017. New benchmarks and plans include doubling enterprise-wide representation of Black senior leaders, accelerating Indigenous talent strategies, introducing an LGBTQ+ representation goal and sustaining a strong gender equity position.

“Our commitment to create a more inclusive society is unwavering and our renewed diversity strategy is one of the ways we’re driving meaningful change for our employees, customers and local communities,” stated Darryl White, Chief Executive Officer of BMO Financial Group. “These ambitious goals will help us achieve our vision of eliminating barriers to inclusion in society, by directly addressing gaps in representation across our organisation and the financial services industry to create opportunities for all.”

ELIMINATING INCLUSION BARRIERS

BMO’s renewed diversity strategy focuses on underrepresented employees, with yearly milestones set in order to reach its new goals. The Zero Barriers to Inclusion 2025 goals aim to:

• Increase representation of Black employees in senior leadership roles to 3.5% and 7% in Canada and the US, respectively. 
• Increase representation of people of colour employees in senior leadership roles to 30% or greater in Canada and the US. 
• Increase representation of Latino employees in senior leadership roles to 7% in the US. 
• Sustaining its current gender equity position with a range of 40-60% representation in senior leadership roles across the organisation.
• Increase representation of Black and Latino interns and entry-level employees to 30% in the US, and ensure 40% of student opportunities in Canada are directed to BIPOC youth. 
• Increase representation of Indigenous peoples across the workforce in Canada to 1.6%.
• Increase representation of persons with disabilities within a range of 5 to 7% of the workforce. 
• Introducing an LGBTQ+ representation goal of 3% of the workforce.

Having achieved four out of five goals from its previous workforce diversity strategy, the new benchmarks were developed with a combination of inputs including data-driven trends, labour market availability, and internal and external environmental factors. These goals will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, confirmed the group.

INVESTING IN DIVERSITY

BMO’s Zero Barriers to Inclusion 2025 strategy is also focused on “providing access to opportunities and enabling growth for its colleagues, customers and the communities it serves,” it added. “Internally, we are committed to continuing the diversification of the composition of our workforce and ensuring an equitable employee experience.”

Ongoing strategies to accelerate these key initiatives include:

• The creation of the Black and Latino Advisory Council, focusing on employee experience, advancement, and engagement of Black and Latino talent through dedicated taskforces and partnerships with BMO’s Enterprise Resource Groups (ERGs), including the Black Professionals Network ERG and the Leadership Committee for Inclusion and Diversity (LCID). 
• Focus on a culture of inclusion through learning with development programmes that build the leadership pipeline for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) talent; Indigenous history and culture education available across the organisation; access to relevant and timely racial injustice education materials, dedicated resources website; and e-learning programme as well as 40% of student opportunities directed to BIPOC youth. 
• Continuous action from the Indigenous Advisory Council (IAC), comprising Chiefs and Indigenous leaders from across Canada, informing BMO policies and practices with a focus on education, employment and economic empowerment. 
• Creation of a dedicated Indigenous Talent Strategies team that is identifying and resolving barriers to recruitment, development and retention.

ACHIEVING MEANINGFUL CHANGE

As the company continues to eliminate barriers in its community alliances and partnerships, especially in areas such as workforce development, healthcare, small business, affordable housing, arts and culture, BMO said it “will remain focused on supporting minority-owned businesses as part of its overall diversity strategy”. Efforts to create meaningful change for customers and communities include:

• Partnering with Canadian business leaders to launch the Black Opportunity Fund, offering Black businesses and organisations long-term capital by attracting investment from the business community, philanthropists, and government. 
• Creating inclusive banking products and services to meet the diverse needs of Black and Latino business owners and customers. 
• Providing improved access to financial products and services in Indigenous communities across Canada through 13 full-service branches, one business office on-reserve and 20 ABMs. 
• Expanding Supplier Diversity Council enterprise-wide to ensure spending with diverse suppliers and partners that positively affect local communities. 
• Supporting disadvantaged communities through previously announced donations. 
• Ongoing action connected to the Canadian Council of Business Leaders Against Anti-Black Systemic Racism’s CEO Pledge, which was endorsed by White and aligns with its plans related to representation and advancement, education, collaboration with the Black community and setting conditions for success. 
• Continued support of efforts by the Chicago City Treasurer’s Office and the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office to address the need for greater equity and opportunity for Black communities in the financial service industry.