Automotive News Canada - January 2020 - 11

11

* J A N U A R Y 2 020

The message from
female executives?
Aggressively
recruit women
TORONTO - COMPANIES
FROM TORONTO
must be deliberate in hiring
more women and elevating
JOHN IRWIN
them to executive positions
if the auto industry is ever
to become more diverse.
That was one of the big
COMMENT
takeaways from the 15
executives and officials on
Automotive News Canada's
race and background -
inaugural Leading Women
companies not only will
Panel here in November.
inevitably become more
The two-hour conversation
diverse but their chances of
focused on women in the
hiring the right person for
Canadian automotive
the job also will increase.
industry and how the indus- Having a diversity of backtry can become less
grounds is always a good
male-dominated and more
thing for a company or any
representative of
organization.
the population at
I was remindlarge.
ed of an interview
Many of the
comedian Jon
panelists noted
Stewart had with
that getting more
Howard Stern in
women into the
2017. (Bear with
industry means
me here.)
parents teaching
Stewart talked
girls from a young Cox Automotive about reacting
age that STEMnegatively to a
Canada CEO
based careers
Maria Soklis has story by the femiand Canada
nontradition- January
nistto
website
insisted on an
2020
al career paths
equal number of Jezebel that critiare available
to the
male one
and female
Daily
replace
sentcized
on"The
Dec.
applicants for
them. It also
Show"
writers' 20
JANUARY
job openings.
means making
room for being a
27th, 2019
FILE PHOTO
mentorship
"boys' club." A
between young
self-described
women and company exec- "O.G. feminist," Stewart
utives a top priority, as well
thought his show was doing
as hiring people from outenough by only taking blind
side traditional automotive
submissions for resumes,
backgrounds.
meaning producers did not
But it also means recog- know the names or backnizing that hiring more
grounds of whomever
women means being delibapplied to be a writer and
erate about doing so. It's
were thus judged only by
not enough the quality of their comedy
to simply
writing.
The industry
say gender
Taken aback, Stewart
must reach out doesn't
went back to the writers'
matter
room to complain about
and connect
when hiring the article, only to realize
with women
people.
that there was truth to the
Companies criticism. The room was
if it wants a
should
dominated by white men of
real shot at
always hire
similar backgrounds, typidiversification. the best
cally Ivy League-educated,
person for
because the agents who
the job,
submitted those applicaregardless of gender, but
tions were biased toward
they need to make sure
them.
that their pool of applicants
It was only when the
includes women and that
show deliberately made a
becoming more diverse is
point of making sure more
an explicit goal.
women and minorities were
As you'll read in this
among the candidates
month's package of stories
being considered that the
about the panel on Pages
show's staff became more
14 and 15, Cox Automotive diverse.
Canada CEO Maria Soklis
"To change that system
told a story that illustrates
takes actual effort," Stewart
this perfectly. Soklis made
said.
sure she received an equal
The same is true of the
number of female appliautomotive industry. If you
cants for an open position
only look to hire people
after initially receiving a
with traditional automotive
stack of resumes that were
backgrounds, the industry's
only from men. And she
slow climb toward diversity
ended up hiring a woman
will never pick up speed.
for the role because she
Make a point to diversify
was the best person for it.
your applicant pool. The
By making sure that the
industry - and your compool of applicants for a job
pany - will be better off
is diverse - in gender,
for it. - ANC

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Automotive News Canada - January 2020

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