Lessons learned from employing a diverse workforce to foster innovative projects. An overview of a pilot project that has as its main objective to increase the employability for Internationally-Trained Professionals (new Canadians) while fostering corporate innovation.

1.
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Diversity &
Lessons learned from employing a
diversified workforce to foster
innova7ve projects
envisioninglabs.com/csr-i
Innovation

2. Introduction
In the fall of 2015 we ran a research pilot with a non-profit organiza7on to prove a hypothesis that has
been empirically verified repeatedly elsewhere1: diversity strengthens innova7on. We ini7ally proposed
to employ Interna'onally-Trained Professionals or ITPs to become ‘innova7on consultants’ to work on
real-world projects provided by companies in the Metro Vancouver area. While it is well known that
qualified ITPs bring a wealth of skills and knowledge that they can put to use almost immediately aMer
their arrival, they are normally subject to sub-employment for 3-5 years because of lack of the infamous
“Canadian Experience”.
We asked, “what if, instead of having interna7onal talent working survival jobs while accumula7ng years
of “Canadian experience”, they could u7lize their exper7se and skills right away in professional
projects?” The proposal included exploi7ng the exis7ng skills of ITPs “as is” not individually, but as a
group of professionals that would address problems and iden7fy opportuni7es for innova7on u7lizing
one common approach: innova7on and design thinking.
Before we share our lessons, let’s dive in a bit deeper and understand how ‘innova7on’ generally
operates within organiza7ons, and why HR plays a pivotal role in fostering its adop7on and
strengthening.
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“Fostering Innova'on Through a
Diverse Workforce”.
Forbes Insight.
Survey of 321 execu7ves of large
companies (Americas, APAC, EMEA)
h]p://ow.ly/ivOP308Kmrw

3. Innovation & Diversity in the Enterprise
A common buzzword thrown around in presenta7on decks and the obligatory inclusion in annual
reports, “innova7on” is a pervasive yet oMen misunderstood concept. Many execu7ves s7ll use it
interchangeably to connote “technology” and even some others to define “IT ini7a7ves”. The reality is
that innova7ve companies understand that the core concept of being a progressive organiza7on lies on
the inculca7on of “innova7on” as a way of doing things; regardless of whether it is a mul7-million dollar
deployment of an IT infrastructure or how to greet customers in a face-to-face bank teller service.
The Only Way: Innova/on by Collabora/on
An absolute essen7al ingredient to innova7on is collabora7on. The long-held myth that innova7on is the
exclusive domain of lone geniuses and/or large research & development budgets has been proven wrong
7me and 7me again.
Innova7on has been democra7zed and it is now easier than ever to come up with breakthroughs that
seem to challenge the status quo of established industries. However, this seemingly new industrial
revolu7on we are living is happening because now, more than ever, we have the means to collaborate
with others in ways that were rather prohibi7ve just a few decades ago.
Furthermore, this collabora7on is now global, diversified and inclusive. This is the current world order
that seems to be the norm in the startup spheres, churning one innova7on aMer another. The lean
en77es that survive past the startup phase not only embrace collabora7on for the sake of finding the
next big thing, but they see it as the bloodline of their very existence. They have realized that this is not a
trend; collabora7on and a diverse pool of talent are instrumental to clash ideas internally that more
oMen than not render new products and services that genuinely add value to their customers.
“Diversity fosters innovation and creativity through a greater variety of problem-
solving approaches, perspectives, and ideas. Academic research has shown that
diverse groups often outperform experts”
- “Diversity MaAers”, McKinsey & Co. Feb 2015, hAp://ow.ly/aCmn308Kz22
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4. Four Ways HR Can Stimulate Innovation
Now more than ever HR teams have the opportunity to approach hiring as a mul7-pronged strategy that
could fulfill the need to sa7sfy a vacancy, address a diversity quota and contribute to the strengthening
of innova7on ini7a7ves (formal or not) in their organiza7ons.
Below are some insights we learned from our pilot program and recommenda7ons we are proposing to
HR leads to foster corporate innova7on.
Hire for innova/on
It’s been proven that diversity strengthens innova7on wherever there exists proper mechanisms to
exploit mul7-skilled talent. Companies should pay more a]en7on to personal characteris7cs of new
hires that are reflec7ve of an inquisi7ve personality, openness to new ideas and, to a certain extent, a
progressive agtude to challenging the status quo.
Create opportuni/es for collabora/on
Building the right framework that allows for cross-disciplinary, mul7-ethnic, mul7-skilled collabora7on is
really the only way to exploit in-house crea7vity. Hackathons, 10% innova7on commitment, squash-bug
days, innova7on fairs, cross-disciplinary task forces, they are all strategies that companies can engage
their employees with virtually zero budget alloca7on, and yet reap the rewards in the form of new ideas,
proposals and con7nuous improvement projects.
Embrace 'diversity of thought’ and reward innova/on
Organiza7ons that embrace the wide range of thought that derives from a diverse talent pool, are
normally the ones to see trends and gain insights faster than others. A mo7vated workforce whose voice
is heard and opinions encouraged are more likely to engage in innova7on ini7a7ves. Nothing kills
innova7on faster than the lack of support from an organiza7on. Strategies we have observed that
reward innova7on come in different flavours: from the simple (demo days, walls of fame, recogni7on
plaques, etc.), to the more budget-intensive (innova7on bonuses, patent sponsorship). Regardless of the
strategy, leading organiza7ons understand that paying special a]en7on to nurturing an environment that
is recep7ve and encouraging of new ideas is cri7cal to the shaping of an innova7ve corporate culture.
Ins/tu/onalize innova/on, a strategic role for HR
Ul7mately, the responsibility to allow diversity of thought as a way to foster corporate innova7on falls
primarily within HR. While a successful innova7on strategy is undoubtedly a top-down mandate, HR can
and should create a suppor7ve and inclusive environment where the value of diversity is exploited for
innova7on, and materialized as a concrete compe77ve advantage.
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5. www.envisioninglabs.com of5 5
Envisioning Labs is a Vancouver-based innova7on
consultancy that assists organiza7ons in crea7ng new
products and services that add value to their stakeholders.
We do this by applying systema7c innova7on methodologies
and the adop7on of emerging technologies.
We have recently introduced Corporate Social Responsibility
Innova7on (CSR-i), an innova7on training service that
empowers organiza7ons in iden7fying innova7on
opportuni7es while assis7ng new immigrants obtain their
first professional Canadian job experience.
envisioninglabs.com/csr-i
info@envisioninglabs.com
About Envisioning Labs