Focus on Diversity

By Pat Burns, General Manager

In December 2013, the Co-op embarked on an ongoing conversation about supporting diversity; an opportunity brought about by a misstep in how we shared information about language expectations in the Co-op. Since that time, we have sought the advice of local consultants, offered many hours of in-depth training for about a third of our staff, and created a diversity focus group to engage in regular conversations around these issues. For the Co-op this will all be part of an ongoing effort to ensure that our actions and intentions are in alignment and that the Co-op’s culture reflects these expectations.

As I mentioned early on in this process, language and the way we share information with Co-op staff and our community is important; the words we use to explain our policies and actions count. As a Co-op, where most of our staff are also Members, we believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.

Our staff’s diversity focus group has been meeting regularly since our trainings to discuss how to communicate with our over 200 employees and share our work with the community. The group has spent a lot of time talking about cultural competency and diversity.

The more time we spent in discussion, the more we came to realize that these are varied and complex topics to define and work into the ways that we celebrate diversity at the Co-op. How do we include all of our staff in celebrating the value of the diversity that we represent? How do we educate our staff; how do we help them understand the value of diversity and feel comfortable discussing related topics; how do we involve them in programs that will foster even more discussion and understanding that ultimately benefits the Co-op and our community?

The group felt that creating a diversity statement would be a good first step to clarify our Co-op’s beliefs and intentions:

City Market Diversity Statement:

We acknowledge, respect and celebrate the differences and commonalities of our employees at City Market and the community we serve. We value the experiences of everyone and embrace the diversity of ideas and perspectives. We will foster a respect for cultural diversity through our words and actions.

  • We will seek opportunities to learn and celebrate diversity in each other;
  • We will communicate respectfully and openly; and,
  • We will support the co-op model and encourage a sense of pride in City Market.

For starters, we are incorporating a discussion of the diversity statement in our new employee orientation. With this statement, we will share our commitment to diversity with every new City Market employee. We will also be reviewing our diversity statement with all current employees who have not been part of our trainings or focus group meetings.

We have added our diversity statement to our website, so that anyone who visits our Co-op electronically will become familiar with this commitment. And we hope in the near future to share this commitment with our Members and our community, in a variety of ways, and have even more enriching discussions.

As usual, if you have any thoughts or ideas please share them with us. There’s so much more we all can do to become more fluent and cognizant in these important topics. Thank you for taking this journey with us and for your support of the Co-op!