Building a diverse workforce in Canada’s alcoholic beverage industry doesn’t stop with hiring people from equity-deserving groups, says new Brock research.

Companies need to provide opportunities and supports for equity-deserving employees to be able to advance in their careers, something the industry as a whole does poorly, says the latest policy brief from the Niagara Community Observatory (NCO) and the Goodman School of Business.

“If companies don’t change their mentality truly from within, not just put on a façade, they are not going to retain their talent,” says Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship Shawna Chen, author of Crafting Inclusion within the Beverage-Alcohol Industry.

The brief, partly funded by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), presents a three-part study examining equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and “psychological safety” in Canadian companies producing, distributing and selling beer, wine, spirits and other alcoholic beverages.

“Psychological safety” describes an environment in which people can share ideas, take risks and express concerns without fear of backlash or reprisals, says the brief.

EDI policies and practices include initiatives to help eliminate biases, integrate underrepresented employees socially and support employees’ needs for belonging and uniqueness, says the brief.

Underrepresented employees include women, members of 2SLGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities and people living with disabilities.

The first part of the study analyzed text — winery descriptions, job postings and testimonials from past and present employees — displayed on the websites of 134 Ontario wineries and three employment agencies.

The computer-assisted method, called sentiment analysis, ascribed a label of positive, neutral or negative on the words themselves and the emotional undertone of the content.

Chen found winery employees expressed positive emotions when discussing their experiences with equity and diversity, such as special accommodations and the mix of people in the workplace.

Regarding inclusion, people are happier when they talk a lot about inclusion at work or when they don’t talk about it at all, says Chen.

“One explanation for this U-shaped emotional response is that before inclusion is on the agenda, it is business as usual,” she says. “Once inclusion gains attention, there’s lots of noise and people have mixed feelings. But if companies take real action to improve accountability toward inclusion, people regain trust, re-engage, and are happier again.”

Curious to probe this trend further, Chen and her team sent online surveys Canada-wide to employees in wineries, breweries, distilleries, distribution, retail and organizations combining two or more of these categories.

The 100 participants, who were mostly from underrepresented groups, were asked about their experiences on the job.

The findings include that:

• While men agreed or strongly agreed leaders demonstrated a visible commitment to diversity, women varied from neutral to strongly disagreeing with the same statement.
• Women strongly agreed the performance review promotion processes at their organizations were unfair.
• BIPOC employees were more concerned with fair compensation, fair treatment, their views being respected and being treated as a valued member at work compared to their white counterparts.
• 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals disagreed or strongly disagreed that the workplace had equitable practices and felt that people at work did not really care about them.
• Individuals with disabilities were particularly concerned about safe ways to voice complaints and grievances, fair promotion process, fair treatment in general and being respected for their views at work.

In the third part of the study, Chen and her team conducted in-depth interviews with 10 diverse women working in the alcoholic beverage industry. They reported instances of sexual harassment, ill treatment from customers, low wages compared to men and a lack of clear hiring, promotion or advancement processes.

The brief makes three recommendations to address these issues: large organizations should provide support for small- and medium-sized enterprises to implement EDI policies and programs; customers should be educated on the need for a respectful workplace; and major industry players should collaborate to establish better equity, diversity and inclusion standards for the industry.

“The industry is facing two major challenges, soft consumer demand from millennials and gen Z, and ongoing staff shortages,” says Chen, adding the industry needs to attract and retain young talent.

“Using EDI as a mere buzzword won’t cut it, as these generations actively seeking out employers with robust EDI practices,” she says.