Two-year initiative to focus on driving change in employment, training, and community support
Manulife, along with its wholly owned subsidiary John Hancock, have announced plans to promote workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion in the communities it serves by investing more than $3.5 million over the next two years.
“We recognize 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,” Manulife President and CEO Roy Gori said in a statement.
Gori said that Manulife’s plan focuses on “the most critical levers [to] create long-lasting change,” based on perspectives shared in candid discussions with the company’s team.
The firm aims to increase representation of diverse talent at all levels of the organization; foster greater inclusion across the company through enhanced training; and support organizations helping Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) communities.
Manulife said its plan will encompass three pillars of initiatives:
- Building representation of BIPOC professionals through graduate programs, focused leadership recruitment efforts, and accelerated mid-career development;
- Going beyond its mandatory unconscious bias training with programs designed to educate and orient all employees, including regular listening forums to enable greater understanding of inclusion and connection, allyship training, and targeted inclusive leadership training for all managers; and
- Donations and volunteerism efforts to support communities, specifically focusing on financial education and career mentorship.
It promised to focus on practices to support employees at multiple points in their career. It also vowed to adopt not just an objective of developing a diverse workforce, but also fostering a supportive environment to allow all employees to thrive and feel a strong sense of belonging.
