Farhan Ul Haque, Business Analyst in Information Technology, and former Co-Chair of Inclusion@HAC Employee Resource Group
“Our diversity initiatives have helped me build a stronger bond with many colleagues I wouldn’t typically encounter in my day-to-day. HAC’s culture has given me the confidence and pride to bring my original self to work. The fact that I didn’t have to change who I am to feel accepted or welcomed was immense, and I wanted to carry that culture and mindset to newcomers to the organization. I was thrilled to learn about the formation of an Inclusion Employee Resource Group at Hyundai Canada, and I immediately signed up to be the Chair for it. I’ve always had the ethos of serving humanity with purpose, and having the platform where I was able to bring colleagues together to celebrate each other’s cultures and valuing their differences, for me, was ground-breaking in the Canadian workplace. Being in an organization that leads with DEI values gives the opportunity to deliberately have difficult conversations that are educational and fruitful, but also in a safe environment that is met with curiosity and tolerance.”
Jessica Todd, National Manager of Sales Operations, National Sales, and Co-Founder and Co-Chair of Women@HAC Employee Resource Group.
“Often times, during my earlier career days I was the only woman at the table, while the industry was predominantly male-oriented. It was challenging to be heard and taken into consideration, and I accepted this to avoid confrontation. As my career progressed, I found myself having recurring conversations with other women at HAC about our shared experiences, and knew that this should no longer be accepted. In 2019, a couple of like-minded women and I founded Hyundai’s first Employee Resource Group (ERG), Women@HAC, with the goal of supporting each other to no longer settle for the status quo by promoting open dialogue and navigating biases. Having the support from not only HR, but also senior leadership including our President & CEO, we were able to successfully launch this ERG and drive change in Hyundai Canada. I’m proud to say that we celebrated our fifth anniversary of Women@HAC in March 2024. Since our inception, we’ve partnered with various charities; visited multiple universities to speak to their students about opportunities in automotive; organized speaker sessions for internal team members; sponsored a conference focused on empowerment; and most importantly, we’ve created a space for employees to develop stronger relationships across the company as we share in our struggles, and our wins! Knowing that HAC encourages all of us to encompass and embrace our differences is one of the many reasons that it’s such a wonderful company to work for.”
Ashley Benjamin, Advanced Technology Planner, and member of Inclusion@HAC
“Prior to joining HAC, when I was a Co-Op, I noticed my former employers lacked inclusion initiatives and did not actively incorporate diversity within the corporate culture. I was encouraged to join an Employee Resource Group of my choice from the first day of joining HAC. It was refreshing to see an organization that is not afraid to tackle difficult conversations and proactively improve on equity and inclusion. For example, the Inclusion@HAC group goes beyond racial identities. They make the effort to be inclusive of personality types, people with disabilities or religious traditions, to name a few, as these are other parts of people that add to the pie. I have benefitted so much from our ERGs by learning more about different countries, cultures and the interesting lives that people in my company live. With this strong culture of inclusion, it makes me feel valued and proud to be part of Hyundai Auto Canada. When I personally examine the true meaning of diversity, it is seeing various perspectives to be brought to the table, which is very important for underrepresented groups as people’s lived experiences shape their perspectives and this reinforces that their opinion is valued. Honouring Black History Month through storytelling from our members and their inclusion ERG has been a wonderful experience, and shows how invested our leadership team in true DEI measures.”
