Innovation

Scotiabank is devoted to the inclusion of the LGTB+ community in society. Since 2016, its Mexican subsidiary, which operates under the same brand, has been an active member of Pride Connection1. In Mexico, the company was included in 2018 as one of the “Best places to work with LGTB+ equality” prepared by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

Scotiabank Pride Mexico organized several LGTB+ events during 2018, i.e. the third annual meeting of Pride Connection, and the Empowerment Conference.

In its Sustainability Report of 2018 the bank states the following within the “Economic inclusion to their employees” section:

“A diverse working force lets us satisfy our customer's and employee’s needs. We respect and appreciate all people and we put effort to create an inclusive culture where our differences and similarities are accepted in all places where we have operations."

“Our strategy of diversity and inclusion is that every employee reaches their highest potential. We have a global strategy for diversity and inclusion, and at the same time, we support local initiatives and activities."

Inspiration

Mexico is one of the countries where discrimination against the gay community has been a continued problem. In accordance with the First Survey of Homophobia and the work environment in Mexico”, 20% of the people of this community have been asked about their sexual orientation before being hired, and 14% of the gay people have not been accepted for a job due to their sexual preferences. This survey also identified that one of every three gay persons have been discriminated in their jobs.

Considering the above information, we chose what we thought was the financial company with the best practices in this respect: Scotiabank.

Overall impact

The bank’s strategy of inclusion has an impact on three of the 17 Sustainable Goals established by the United Nations:

· Third Goal. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. This goal is reflected with the inclusion of this community, sometimes still discriminated, in the workplaces.

· Fifth Goal. Gender equality. For this community, it is important to be treated as humans being; whatever their sexual orientation and/or preferences.

· Tenth Goal. Reduce inequality.

This kind of initiatives affect their employees, community and the clients that feel identification with the company's values.

Business benefit

An employee that is recognized only for their work that is performed tends to be more productive, as they do not have to spend their time and energy worrying about what teammates think about their life. Moreover, due to the lack of organizations and companies with these strategies/activities, the employee develops loyalty to their job and receive benefits in other ways that do not involve money.

Social and environmental benefit

As it was mentioned before, Scotiabank is looking to benefit not only workers but society overall. With the changes inside the company, the people that are looking for jobs can find at Scotiabank a positive environment with respect and equality, offering another option to support the LGTB+ community with a positive place to work.

Another impact is that Scotiabank is looking to make a real change in the company environment, so other companies can replicate these practices and campaigns, and with this try to have a better world, with equality of conditions for everyone, no matter what the sexual orientation and gender preference is, but just to care about the dignity and human rights of all.

In the end, Scotiabank is trying to change the culture and mentality of society with small and practical changes to make a real difference. With their employees convinced of the benefits of this kind of campaigns and strategies, every Scotiabank employee can be a change agent in their specific environments and be committed to the financial results of the company.

Interview

Beatriz Hernandez Vollrath, Commercial Banking Director

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