LCBO completes frequent DEI maturity assessments as part of its ongoing commitment to fostering a supportive environment for all employees.Supplied
Several years ago, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) gave customer-facing employees the option of adding their pronouns to the nametags that they wore at work. Shane Hollon, a store operations manager in Toronto, was quick to add his “he/they” pronouns to his badge. Not long after, a junior employee pulled him aside in private.
“I’m so happy you’re putting your pronouns out there for the world to see. It makes me feel safer,” Hollon remembers the person saying. From that point on, the employee saw Hollon as someone they could confide in. In time, they came out fully at work.
“It was just a small act of me putting my pronouns onto my name badge that helped another person experience their life fully while at work,” Hollon says. “That sense of belonging — that means everything to me.”
Hollon has observed the LCBO make significant strides in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) since joining the provincial Crown corporation as a seasonal retail worker 15 years ago.
“Not just at the LCBO but in the world at large, I did not see queer, brown, mixed-race people in leadership roles,” Hollon recalls. But over time, the organization has become intentional about hiring and promoting to better represent the diverse population it serves. It now has four employee resource groups (ERGs) representing and offering support to employees who identify as women, 2SLGBTQ+, disabled or racialized. It also has a team of 800 “Good Culture Ambassadors” that help put co-workers in touch with the many resources offered by the organization.
“I’ve really seen the LCBO embrace diversity, equity and inclusion into its culture,” Hollon says.
“DEI is not only a program. It’s really an organizational mindset. It’s something broader that shapes people’s experience at work every day,” says Nupur Khandelwal, senior director of talent management and DEI. Becoming a truly inclusive workplace is an ongoing journey, she allows, but the LCBO has reached a point where it strives to be inclusive by design, instead of trying to “retrofit” a sense of belonging.
“We encourage all applicants and employees to self-identify and share with us more about their background because that helps us better understand our workforce, identify representation gaps and take actions that are meaningful because they are going to be grounded in data,” Khandelwal says.
The LCBO has a Respectful Workplace Policy, for example, that it reviews every year in consultation with the ERGs. All training — including leadership development — is examined through a diversity lens. The recently launched Bloom Women Leading Retail aims to elevate the development and representation of retail managers that identify as women.
Last year, the company launched the Cheers to You! Values Awards that honour employees who embody the corporate values of putting the customer first, creating a safe space for all, working for the good of Ontario, celebrating authenticity, and winning as one team.
Hollon serves as volunteer co-lead of the Pride ERG, which has more than 400 members and holds employee seminars on topics such as trans visibility, consults on the use of pronouns in communications, and puts on fun events such as Drag Bingo during Pride season at head office.
Khandelwal, who co-sponsors the PEARLS ERG for racialized employees, is gratified to see how employee volunteers have taken on committee roles — and in many cases, upgraded their own leadership skills in the process.
“Our DEI movement has absolutely shifted,” she says. “It’s not a top-down model. It feels like a cultural movement.”
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Advertising feature produced by Canada’s Top 100 Employers, a division of Mediacorp Canada Inc. The Globe and Mail’s editorial department was not involved.