Bimbo Canada

Teresa Schoonings

Diversity, equity and belonging (DEB) has been an important and evolving discipline in corporate Canada for the past several years. Companies that have seen the most success with these programs and initiatives know they are not the responsibility of one department or individual. They are everyone's responsibility and should be integrated across the organization—from workplace culture to operational design and supplier engagement—impacting not only who you are but how you operate.

In my role as the leader of Bimbo Canada’s diversity, equity and belonging team, I help our company build a diverse workplace that promotes equity and belonging, where all our people can develop and contribute to the transformation of our company, the baking industry and our communities. We have been on a journey to evolve our people-first culture, policies and workplaces to create an impactful and sustained culture of DEB. Our purpose is to nourish a better world and we start right here at home.

Listen and understand, build a plan, shift the culture, always-on—this is Bimbo Canada’s four-step process for a successful DEB evolution, anchored on best practices and the desire to continuously grow and adapt to the needs of our people.

Step 1: Listen and Understand

To make changes and shifts in your culture and business, you must first understand what DEB culture currently exists and where there is opportunity for evolution. First, we need to be willing to listen to our people and to assess our work environments.

There is no one-size-fits-all tactic when it comes to listening to your people. Considering who your teams are and what their work processes allow for will help determine the proper listening mechanism.

We deploy associate surveys that are administered with different work processes considered—including corporate office associates and our dedicated frontline team members. Our surveys are our most successful avenue of garnering feedback to better understand gaps and opportunities related to belonging, with some facilities achieving a 100 per cent response rate.

The physical spaces where we work can also impact the culture of DEB. Bimbo Canada is assessing all our bakeries through a lens of universal design, as well as through a cultural sense of belonging. The assessment results in a report and action plan, which will also be used anytime a bakery is undergoing physical construction.

Step 2: Build a Plan

Once you understand where your organization is at, you can develop a DEB strategy that reflects the needs of your people and your work environment—using the feedback received and engaging your people along the way to meet them where they are at.

In 2023, we developed and established a strategy based on the feedback provided by our associate survey. During its creation, we knew it needed to be stronger and more intentional than a list of tactics or boxes to be checked—it needed to be embedded in our behaviors, our decisions and how we make people feel. In short, our strategy needed to support positive shifts in our culture.

Step 3: Shift the Culture

Shifting your culture doesn't happen overnight. It is an evolution that takes time, investment, and nurturing to achieve.

In response to feedback, we're implementing a two-year, third-party-led DEB training program for all associates. This sustained effort builds on earlier awareness-raising activities, like Lunch with Leaders, initiated in 2020. These engagement opportunities not only lay the groundwork for larger programs but also foster trust and allow for ongoing assessment of our effectiveness.

The other advantage to offering engagement activities for our associates is it helps to build trust and measuring participation can help us to continually revisit whether we are hitting the mark for our associates. Our focus on engagement is yielding positive results. Internal event attendance is strong, and participation in community impact programs has more than doubled our targets, showcasing our associates' commitment to our evolving culture.

Step 4: Always-On

Diversity, equity and belonging efforts should be integrated into how we work and how we approach all internal activities, every day. This takes time, effort and a structure that supports the implementation.

We have implemented a volunteer DEB committee of four working groups, each with their own set of objectives including education and awareness, resource group development, governance and tools and community support and always-on approach to engagement providing DEB opportunities for our associates.

Our DEB activities range from working groups and smaller meaningful activities, such as celebrating and acknowledging cultural holidays, to more substantial efforts, such as partnering with ready, willing, and able to help us be intentional about hiring people with disabilities.

Always-on DEB thinking should expand to all of your stakeholders, not just your immediate employees. Bimbo Canada has expanded its supplier diversity program for this reason and is actively looking to partner with vendors of diverse experience, viewpoints, and backgrounds to be supportive and to help us make progress in the communities where we live and work. We have also created legacy spaces in each region of our operations, in partnership with the Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund, to raise awareness about the true history of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. These spaces are visible on the exterior of our buildings in two locations and will make an impact in the local community, not just with our associates.

And, Repeat

We listen, we build, we shift, we evolve and then, we repeat. Diversity, equity and belonging work is never finished. We have set up our approach to implementation and learning to ensure we are constantly taking feedback, regularly evaluating and making changes as needed. I am encouraged by the evolution Bimbo Canada has made during the past four years and the roadmap that we have created to support our journey for years to come.