Employee Belonging
The City of Calgary is committed to building and sustaining an inclusive work environment — one that welcomes, supports, respects and values individuals for their unique experiences, perspectives, talents and contributions.
Inclusion and belonging enable diverse forces and talent in an environment where the richness of ideas, background and perspectives are cultivated to create business value and achieve outstanding results.
The City must continually create and maintain a culture of inclusion by ensuring our policies, practices and processes are inclusive, unbiased and create fair opportunities for everyone. This is an important part of our organizational culture, strategy and business operations and it supports our commitment to make life better every day for all Calgarians.
Demonstrating our commitment
The journey to inclusion is constantly evolving. Below are some of the ways we advance the conversation and demonstrate our commitment to inclusion and belonging:
Education and awareness
The City’s inclusion and belonging guiding principles is based on various educational and development approaches that provide practical and experiential learning opportunities for City employees and leaders in a respectful environment.
Inclusion and Human Rights
The principles of inclusion and human rights are discussed throughout the year, often tied to designated dates such as Holocaust Remembrance Day, Black History Month, International Day of the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, International Women’s Day, Orange Shirt Day and many others. These dates are shared with employees, along with resources that may include speakers, educational resources and specific information. Inclusion and belonging are more than just the recognition of a day; however, these allow us to encourage self-reflection and courageous conversations in a respectful way.
Reducing barriers to participation
The City practices ongoing review of policies, systems and programs to:
- Ensure fair, accessible and unbiased policies, programs and practices.
- Identify and address barriers to be able to ensure we are providing accessible and inclusive services and can proactively respond to identified challenges.
Examples of work include reviewing recruitment and selection systems, practices and processes to determine if real or perceived systemic barriers exist. The City also reviews and refreshes its programs and training using an employee belonging lens. Our Respectful Workplace, Code of Conduct and Recognition Program have benefited from these reviews in the past few years.
Partnership and programs
Principles of inclusion and belonging are very complex and there are a variety of collaborative partnerships with internal and external partners. This engagement advances our inclusion journey and helps to ensure equitable and accessible services to all Calgarians.
In the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation, the Employee Belonging team has partnered with internal and community partners to develop Indigenous Awareness to all employees as the foundation for meaningful long-term relationships and ways of knowing, contributing to providing inclusive and equitable services guided by The City of Calgary's Indigenous Policy and Indigenous Policy Framework.
A great city needs a collaborative vision, and a great public service needs a collective commitment. We are strategically aligned to execute as one and deliver successful outcomes for residents, businesses and employees. We make life better every day by designing, delivering, updating and sustaining practices that foster inclusion, accessibility and belonging across The City.