Contributors producer Jade Towle and host Russell Evans reflect on season one’s top takeaways shared from Canada’s changemakers. These lessons are tangible and relevant for employers across Canada, regardless of size, industry or sector.

See below for an excerpt from the conversation. Full episode is available here.

Jade: Let’s talk about some of the lessons we've learned on the show, Russell. I think for me, the show has been so impactful because we're hearing from employers who are either participating in the CAAT plan or are interested in participating. And they're telling us that the episodes really do provide tangible takeaways for the C-suite. And further to that, we've also been able to focus on critical and timely topics for Canadian employees as well. What would you identify as three recurring themes we've heard about during the first season of contributors?

Russell: For me, the three are as follows. When I listened back through the first 12 episodes again, there was this idea of putting people ahead of product. What I mean by that is for so many of the business leaders and businesses that we have had the opportunity to spotlight, the product or service that they sell may change over time. For example, Danby Appliances might start with refrigerators and move into ventilators. And what's really important for Danby are their employees and their products. And that's the commonality that I that I heard. I think that's one of the strongest things that's come through, is that idea of really prioritizing the people over the product and service details.

The second thing that has really come up again and again, is leaning into what's best about Canada, leading into Canada's secret sauce. What I heard when I when I listened back to the episodes, was the idea of leaning into Canada's diversity, that Canada has this amazing base of global talent who have decided to come here and bring their skills and bring their passion. And the companies that are going to win are the companies that find a way to fully leverage that.

The final theme for me, was this idea of taking the road less travelled. You could call that innovation, but I don't think innovation is really the word for it. In my mind, innovation is kind of this buzzword, and I want to move past that because when you think of innovation, you think of technology, and it's not necessarily about technology. I think when I hear the road less traveled, I think about organizations that decided to zig while everyone else is zagging. And I think that was one of the things that for me really came through loud and clear in season one. And it's something that I found myself thinking about all the time at CAAT and our roles within the communications team.

Theme #1: Putting People Ahead of the Product

Jade: In today's highly competitive environment for talent, we know and we continue to learn on the episodes that it's more important than ever for organizations to go above and beyond to recruit, attract and retain valuable employees. Can you unpack that a little bit for us?

Russell: I think what Susan did at the Conference Board of Canada, for example, in terms of closing their physical offices and opening their organization up to talent across Canada is such a courageous move. She is so, so inspiring and so impressive. I think what I really took away from Susan was the importance of creating that supportive environment. Susan is clearly a believer in culture. Culture eats strategy for breakfast. She didn't quote that, but she's clearly living it. I thought that was really inspiring and that's a lot of what we heard from our CEO, Derek Dobson, when we interviewed him as well.

Theme #2: The Power of Diversity

Jade: Russell, you also mentioned the power of diversity. Let’s move onto this second theme. From an employer's perspective, it's fair to say that organizations understand the importance of diversity. It's certainly one of our key pillars. But what lessons did we learn about diversity, specifically in your eyes, during our Contributors episodes? What takeaways are there for me if I'm an employer in Canada.

Russell: Not looking at any one particular episode, but looking across the episodes, I really came away with the feeling that, as I said earlier, this is Canada's secret sauce. What I mean by that is I think when you when you look at the way Canada has historically approached immigration, we really approach it from the tossed salad, instead of the melting pot. For Americans, the traditional way in which Americans viewed immigration is, “we're going to open the floodgates to countries and people around the world and we're going to help you assimilate, help you become an American”. Our approach has been come to Canada, bring your customs, bring your skills, bring your ideas and inspire us, make us better. I really think that when you think about innovation, that's what that's our secret, right? That is so, so powerful because it says, don't come here and become like us. Inspire us to become like you. I really, really see that as one of the things that makes Canada so special. And that's come up a couple of times.

Theme #3: The Road Less Travelled

To hear Russell’s thoughts on the third recurring theme, the road less travelled, listen to the episode here.