Endress+Hauser Canada sets higher targets to attract more women, minorities into STEM careers

Endress+Hauser Canada is setting higher targets for its employee-led initiative to increase participation of women in the company.

The company noted in a release that COVID-19 stymied its outreach efforts, but will begin in earnest very soon. Endress+Hauser Canada will reach young people through high school career fairs or college visits or invite them to its facilities in Canada, encouraging young women and minorities to consider STEM careers. The company notes that this showcases the company as a launchpad for STEM careers.

With pandemic restrictions easing, student groups will be able to visit the process training units (PTU) in Edmonton and Burlington, ON. PTU’s are full-scale pilot plants featuring some of the company’s advanced technologies. The Burlington PTU is in Endress+Hauser Canada’s brand new $28 million Customer Experience Centre.

“Outreach is both an opportunity and a challenge,” says Hailey Barton, chairperson of Endress+Hauser’s Women’s Integrated Network (W.I.N.) committee. “It requires a multi-stage approach. We want to reach young women at an early enough age to encourage them to focus their higher education choices on STEM fields. As they progress further, we want to introduce them to technical roles they might not have imagined themselves performing, And, of course, we want the best and brightest to think of Endress+Hauser when job hunting.”

Endress+Hauser Canada is also in the process of recruiting for a new role in Burlington focused on training strategy and developing relationships with schools to launch their rotational engineering program, giving recent graduates and co-op students the opportunity to gain insight and experience by rotating through a variety of areas within a company over a four to 12-month period.

The Canadian W.I.N. program is part of a global W.I.N. initiative by the Endress+Hauser Group to double the percentage of female employees worldwide by 2030 to 40 percent. At Endress+Hauser Canada, women currently comprise 37 percent of employees and 41 percent of managers.

The Canadian W.I.N. committee had more ambitious 2030 employment targets and recently adjusted them even higher: to 47 percent female employees, 50 percent female managers and a doubling of women in technical roles to 25 percent.

The Canadian program is also approaching the targets in a broader context of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within the company. That encompasses hiring and career quality issues like eliminating systemic biases. It has taken internal initiatives to facilitate this.

A mentorship program is helping employees gain professional development skills and embrace opportunities to advance themselves in the workplace. The company’s Human Resources department has participated in training sessions for managers to eliminate unconscious biases and created hiring and recruitment materials with inclusive language and images.

Educational initiatives involving the entire 140-member Canadian workforce have largely been digital throughout the pandemic. They include a daily email blast with resource material in support of Black History Month in February, a LinkedIn Learning Challenge with short informational pieces to encourage thought and discussion about bias and empowerment, and a one-minute “break-the-bias” video by employees prepared for International Women’s Day.