OTTAWA, ON – Trucking HR Canada, an organization that promotes the industry’s best practices in human resources, has unveiled a report that makes the business case for diverse workplaces.

Changing Workforce combines labor market data and practices already established by fleets including Bison Transport, Canada Cartage, Kriska Transportation, Northern Resource Trucking, Trimac Transportation, and Westcan Bulk Transport.

“The trucking industry needs to ensure it attracts, recruits, and retains the skilled workforce needed to support effective and efficient operations. Recruitment and retention strategies that adapt to the ever-changing and increasingly diverse pool of available talent are needed,” says Angela Splinter, CEO of Trucking HR Canada. “Our business case, and related case studies highlights best practices in this area, and show how businesses that embrace diversity profit in many ways.”

There are clearly more opportunities to attract workers from diverse backgrounds including visible minorities, Aboriginal peoples, women, and people with disabilities. Women, for example, account for just 3% of the nation’s truck drivers even though they represent 48% of Canada’s workforce.

“There are opportunities to reach out to these underutilized sources of talent,” Changing Workforce concludes. The benefits for fleets are not limited to meeting labor needs. Increased diversity is shown to reduce turnover, improve productivity, lower wage and training costs, enhance health and wellness, and more.

Additional resources currently being piloted with industry employers include mentorship materials for women, ways to assess the physical demands associated with specific trucking occupations, and a guide to connect employers with organizations serving people with disabilities.

For more information, download a free copy of Changing Workforce from www.truckinghr.com/en/content/changing-workforce.