Doing Their Homework

Did we intentionally create a diverse workplace at The Marketing Store to be more effective in delivering results for our clients? Honestly, no. But we've been fortunate to observe the richness, value — and indeed, business results — that our diversity has created. And it all started with a school project.

A few years ago, my son had to do a school project on immigration. We had the idea that he could come to my workplace and interview the many staff members who'd immigrated to Canada. The results he gathered were surprising and some of the stories truly heroic.

We shared these results with senior management and they quickly realized that our work force's diversity was a competitive advantage. Out of our 160 employees, we have 18 countries represented. And 12 different languages are identified as the mother tongue.

Taking our mantra, “Good ideas can come from anywhere,” we realized that the more diversity in our workplace, the more creative our solutions. And for clients, our brainstorming sessions feature cross-functional teams that are a mix of genders and cultural backgrounds.

This focus on diversity has evolved to become a truly important aspect of our corporate culture. Annual employee reviews include a performance rating for the acceptance of diversity.