Canadian Tire Corporation

Letecia Rose

Bio:

Letecia Rose is an equity strategist and an award-winning facilitator passionate about creating inclusive spaces and delivering equitable outcomes. Her career has transcended multiple sectors working in sport & entertainment, education, community impact, arts, and social service. As a leader in the area of diversity, social justice, and community engagement for the past seventeen years, Letecia has trained thousands of stakeholders and organizations across Ontario and has created spaces for individuals to have courageous conversations about issues of diversity, inclusion, and inequity.

As the Vice President of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at Canadian Tire Corporation, Letecia works to build equitable and inclusive environments where people can feel seen, heard, and that they belong. Letecia is also a vital member of the Human Resources Leadership team, where she advises on all aspects of the talent function to deliver long-term sustainable growth for the organization. During her short time within the organization, she has increased diverse representation, created career advancement opportunities, and cultivated a sophisticated network of Employee Resource and Business Integration Groups across the enterprise. 

As the Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, what are some of the key roles and responsibilities that you have on a daily basis at Canadian Tire Corporation? 

I am responsible for developing and implementing Canadian Tire's first-ever Diversity Inclusion and Belonging (DIB) strategy. Our goal is aspirational and attainable–to embed diversity, inclusion, and equity into everything we do to cultivate a culture where belonging thrives—from attracting and retaining diverse talent and activating career mobility for our people, creating an equitable work culture where people feel seen and heard, to creating inclusive experiences, services, and products for our customers to feel represented. We are committed to improving life in Canada, and prioritizing DIB enables us to reach this outcome. 

Day to day, my responsibilities include designing and deploying our strategic objectives, managing our DIB team (8 employees), and activating our broader network of champions, Employee Resource Groups, and Business Integration Groups (approximately 200 employees) while engaging our senior leaders, board members, and external stakeholder in our inclusive practices.

1. Despite offering countless benefits, fostering diversity and inclusion in the workplace comes with many challenges. What are some of the common reasons why employers feel hesitant to embrace a multinational environment?

It is not that companies do not want to embrace inclusion; rather, I don't think they know how to. As a community of practice, we must move away from the assumption that people and businesses will engage in equity work because it is the "right thing to do." A better strategy is to look at your organization's values and how to make this work speak to those values.  

“As a community of practice, we must move away from the assumption that people and businesses will engage in equity work because it is the "right thing to do." A better strategy is to look at your organization's values and how to make this work speak to those values”

Unfortunately, there isn't a one-size-fits-all for the change we seek. This depends on your organizational culture and where you are in your maturity level. If you are advanced in your efforts, and EDI has been around in your organization for a long time, enabling an environment for change may not be challenging. However, for others, we are fundamentally shifting how we think, do business, interact, hire, and attract talent and customers. This requires a sophisticated change management approach. One that will move your organization from one that does this work for compliance to one in which equity is integrated into everything you do. 

At Canadian Tire, very consciously, we are trying to move our employees through a heart, head, hand, habit framework where if we create enough opportunities for our employees to connect, become aware, learn from one another, and gain a better understanding, the habits, and willingness to see inclusion and equity as an integrated part of the way we work and do business will become second nature. Inclusive, positive change is inevitable if EDI practitioners within a company can cultivate this shift.

2. In a diverse workplace, each person has unique strengths and skills that others can learn from. Everyone should be given a chance to grow and learn every day when they are exposed to unfamiliar cultures, working styles, and perspectives. Your views on this.

 At Canadian Tire, we firmly value the idea that proximity promotes empathy. We believe in understanding where someone comes from; you must be close to their experience, identity, and circumstance. For this to occur, we leverage the power of our 10 Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to create programming, learning, and experiences that enables our employees to learn more about different lived experiences, celebrate our differences and similarities, and engage in courageous conversations that showcase the challenges and opportunities we have to make an inclusive environment. We have found that through these initiatives, employees and leaders across the organizations have learned more about each other and become better allies, neighbors, friends, and colleagues, from holding space for those experiencing a challenging time to speaking up when bias or microaggressions are voiced. Our employees have used these learning experiences to embody organizational values meaningfully.  

3. What would be your piece of advice for your fellow peers and leaders?

This work is never easy, but trying our best to focus on what we can control remains our key enabler. One main thing we can control is how we show up: for ourselves, others, and our work culture. For ourselves, we need to put the superhero cape to rest. Our job isn't to solve everything; instead, we should make a conscious effort where it matters. Our job is also about seeing the joy in our work, celebrating our wins, and motivating our teams and organizations. For others, think about how you show up for your team. How do you allow them to bring authenticity and their whole selves to work? How do you let them get to know each other and get to know you? All in service of helping them to show up productive, attentive, and ready to take on the complex challenges that each day will bring. And lastly, for your organizational culture, think about how you show up to foster an inclusive culture that is innovative, responsive, and accessible. Get in the habit of asking folks across the organization at every decision point if we can make each process, experience, and project more equitable, more representative, and more inclusive. Lead by example and never waiver on ensuring an equitable lens is applied to everything.