Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Vedia is devoted to enabling an inclusive workplace that welcomes and celebrates equality and diversity. We recognize that unconscious biases and their reinforcement are vital roots in systemic discrimination. In order to acknowledge existing biases, address them and employ mitigating strategies to neutralize the injustices that result from these biases, Vedia is committed, but not limited to the following practices:
Managing Bias:
Through recognizing stereotypes associated with National origin, gender, sexuality, cultural background, age, ability status, religious beliefs, etc., we can begin to discuss and acknowledge the fundamental fallacies that are associated with these biases.
Team Diversity:
Vedia is committed to building diverse teams and is an equal opportunity employer. This means actively engaging a cross-section of talent that embodies varying perspectives, academic training, and experiences that enable creativity, innovation, and growth. We believe that novel approaches breed revolutionary outcomes.
Pay Equity & Merit Promotions:
Vedia ensures equal pay for doing work of equal value and fair opportunities for career advancement for each and every employee.
Promoting Diversity Training:
Vedia recognizes that cultural differences impact workplace experiences and interactions. For example differing viewpoints related to communication styles, conflict resolution, time management, etc. Through open dialogue, mitigating strategies, and diversity training that emphasize humility (being curious, compassionate, and humble about differences) and fostering a desire to continually learn about other people’s experiences and realities, we aim to facilitate a welcoming and inclusive corporate culture.
Acknowledging Holidays of All Cultures:
An important part of diversity is respecting various religious and cultural holidays. Vedia makes it a priority to be flexible and understanding of the differing needs that employees may have and makes every attempt at accommodating those needs.
Ongoing Feedback:
Vedia welcomes and encourages anonymous employee feedback on a continuous basis. In addition to open lines of communication between employees and management, it is our goal to address, moderate and preferably eliminate, any patterns of discrimination or biases that exist within any area of our organization through periodic pulse surveys.
Balance, Equality & Sustainability
At Vedia, we enable our employees to work remotely. Not only does this facilitate Vedia finding the best talent without geographical constraint, but more importantly, by focusing on productivity rather than the number of hours worked, allows for us to support and foster the following social values that are intrinsically embedded in our corporate culture:
Work-Life Balance:
The ability to work remotely also promotes savings in time, money, mental well-being and increased safety. The mental stress, time, expense, and risk that were previously associated with commuting to work and taking away from an individuals’ overall work-life balance, can now be allocated to personal well-being through having more quality time with family/pets, exercising, more sleep, and pursuing personal endeavours.
Gender Equality and Shared Responsibility:
With the increased flexibility that working remotely affords, traditional roles can be redefined. The balancing of household and caring responsibilities along with career progression can be customized to work for individual families. Consequently, an increase in gender representation in leadership roles can be fostered and the pay-equity gap can be narrowed.
Sustainability:
In 2020, the viability of working remotely was put to the test. From an environmental standpoint, the reduced reliance on transportation (including vehicles and air travel) for commuting is significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the use of fossil fuels, air pollution, and our collective carbon footprint. In order to support this vital initiative, Vedia supports and encourages remote work, video conferencing, and reduced paper usage.
Volunteering & Charity
The founders of Vedia have a core value system that is entrenched in the principle of Seva.
Seva is a Sanskrit word that is defined by performing selfless service with humility, without the expectation of a reward. Keeping in mind, that being of humble service to others is a very personal journey that should not be used as a means of gaining favour, we have linked a few of the charities (this list is continually expanding) that we support below.
We also encourage and provide opportunities for our employees to participate in volunteering their time and resources to charities or causes of their choice. Not only does this contribute further to one’s work-life balance, but to their emotional and mental health as well.
– Lifewater Canada
– Indspire
– International Conservation Fund of Canada (ICFC)
– Second Harvest