During her four-plus years at Capital One Canada, Chaitra Giddegowda has seen plenty of examples of the organization’s culture of belonging. And never more so than during the COVID-19 pandemic, when support was available for an associate experiencing mental health issues and, in her case, when her parents were hospitalized with the disease thousands of kilometres away in India.
“The company made health and family benefits available to that associate even though the associate was not full-time,” says Giddegowda, manager, agile delivery lead. “My peers and leaders supported me when my parents were sick. They told me to take time off – no questions asked.”
Capital One is committed to creating a culture in which associates feel safe, valued and accepted, says Kevin Chan, vice-president digital strategy. That includes measures to support employees dealing with personal struggles as well as programs to ensure that diversity and inclusion are cornerstones of the corporate culture.
Over the past year, all associates had the opportunity to participate in bias training programs while senior leaders participated in racial equity training. Chan says executives worked with an external consultant who delivered the racial equity training modules monthly. Smaller working groups would then meet between these sessions to discuss learnings, share experiences and reflect.
“You got a really great diversity of opinions,” says Chan. “There were two takeaways for me. First, the systems in place in our society have implicit biases in them. And where you grow up, where you live, which schools you attend have an impact on your life and career path.”
Chan is also a member of Capital One Canada’s 10-member diversity council. He leads the council’s visible minority working group. “We want more visible minorities at the leadership level so we developed an action plan to grow our visible minority population,” says Chan. “I’m proud of the commitment by our leaders to diversity and inclusion.”
Business resource groups are another facet of Capital One’s efforts to create an inclusive workforce. The company has groups for associates who identify as having a disability or serve as a caregiver for someone with a disability, members of the LGBTQ+ community, women in technology, Black associates and their allies, Asian and Pacific Islanders and a One In Five group to promote mental health.
The One In Five committee recently organized a panel to discuss mental health challenges and to share experiences with their colleagues. “It was a really great event,” says Chan, who sat on the panel. “We got really positive feedback. It helped normalize mental health challenges. Our associates appreciated seeing senior leaders talk about the challenges they’ve had, however big or small.”
Giddegowda belongs to the Women In Tech group. She has participated in and led peer coaching sessions. One session dealt with how to set smart career goals and stick to them. Another covered what is known as the impostor syndrome, in which people doubt their abilities and question their accomplishments, among other things.
“A lot of women have self-doubts,” says Giddegowda. “They ask themselves if they are good enough. It impacts their confidence. We learn techniques to manage those self-doubts and own our confidence.”
