Status of Women committee  I think it's through being willing to take a chance. That's what I've been willing to do within my career. I had enough confidence in myself that I could move on to the next role and succeed in and learn something in that role. Even if I wasn't fully qualified when I went into th

Status of Women committee  Working from home, or working remotely is one thing, but it's allowing flexibility in the hours they work, provided the role allows for that flexibility and provided the manager and the employee can agree on those terms. We look at each employee as a person and look at what the

Status of Women committee  It's very much a manager-employee conversation, with the support of HR and the tools we've developed.

Status of Women committee  The primary driver was that it was the right thing to do. We were hearing what was happening in the community and in society generally. We heard what was happening within our organization, and we thought this was a great opportunity to tackle the issue. Overt discrimination is ra

Status of Women committee  Do you mean to CIBC as a whole?

Status of Women committee  It was important to ensure that we could encourage advancement of strong employees, going forward, and that they weren't being held back by any unconscious biases. We wanted to give people the full opportunity to succeed in their careers.

Status of Women committee  The client-centric focus is one of our main values and main focuses. Yes, we did hear from clients that this is important, but we heard it from our employees as well. We take our employee survey process very seriously. We do pulse checks and an annual survey. We've noticed that t

Status of Women committee  Definitely there's a broad range of candidates, whether they're external or internal candidates. We try to fill as many positions as possible with internal candidates. I'm currently hiring a few people to join my team, and the diverse range of candidates and the very fair represe

Status of Women committee  We sometimes tap people on the shoulder as well. I think that's important also. It's part of the sponsorship aspect. Sometimes there is a right person for the role, but they haven't self-identified that they may be the right person or don't think they have the exact skill set to

Status of Women committee  In my own personal experience, yes.

Status of Women committee  But once you tap them, it's amazing what you get from providing that extra support and extra effort—and that extra encouragement. Sometimes you just need reassurance that you can do the role.

Status of Women committee  Yes, they do stay longer. I would have to get back to you and consult with my team as to what the exact figures are, but our retention rates are very strong and our “return from maternity leave” rates are very strong. We have many people with careers at CIBC who then retire from

Status of Women committee  The biggest distinction is that your sponsor has put skin in the game in helping you advance your career. A mentor is somebody who can, frankly, sometimes put skin in the game, but primarily guides you from the sidelines and provides advice, versus somebody who is willing to stic

Status of Women committee  Frankly, I wish I had gotten a sponsor earlier in my career. That's what I encourage everybody to do—women or men—if they're starting in the organization or starting their careers now. It's very valuable.

Status of Women committee  It initially started as a word-of-mouth exercise, but we have developed various networks across the organization in which we strongly encourage people to get involved, either as a mentor, a sponsor, or somebody who is being mentored or sponsored, and we try to show the value of t