Trimel Fidely felt like he had a secret advantage at work – a senior executive who was deeply vested in Mr. Fidely’s success at their company, the Business Development Bank of Canada.
Some companies have lost Black employees as they became frustrated by a lack of mentorship or sponsorship, compensation gaps, racial prejudice and office microaggressions, experts say. In Britain, Black professionals were 35 per cent more likely than their white peers to say they planned to stay for just two years or fewer, Coqual found in a 2022 study. Also, 76 per cent of Black employees felt they had to work harder than others to advance in their careers.
Despite ramped-up recruitment, Black employees continue to face challenges in the workplace that disproportionately lead to them leave, said Lekan Olawoye, the founder of Black Professionals in Tech Network. Christianna Scott, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Air Canada at the company's head office in Dorval, Montreal, on Aug. 11.Ms. Scott said that in recent years, the group has run a number of targeted events ranging from dedicated flights with all-Black crews to community outreach to create a sense of belonging.
This is an approach being undertaken by Norton Rose Fulbright, which is a signatory of the BlackNorth Law Firm Pledge. Natasha Hyppolite, a senior associate and a member of the law firm’s racial equity council, said she and other council members have had “frank discussions” with leaders about the barriers that exist among racialized groups.
The final step companies should take, said Mr. Olawoye of the Black Professionals in Tech Network, is to promote Black executives as thought leaders, and empower them to lift others in their stead. It’s a trend that BDC’s vice-president of talent, diversity, equity and inclusion has noticed, too. Julie St-Pierre said she has been hearing in some organizations that “unfortunately, the topics surrounding diversity and inclusion are losing interest. They’re losing momentum.”
But the full picture of demonstrable change is yet unclear: 82 per cent of companies that signed the pledge either did not respond to The Globe and Mail’s recent diversity survey or said they did not track the racial composition of their work force.