SPEECH: Mr. Don McCreesh, Executive Vice President, Human Resources Division, CIBC
Thank you Jenny,
Good afternoon, Minister Axworthy, Ms. Shopland and conference delegates.
Through the marvels of modern technology, I would like to congratulate you, the delegates, of the Asia Connects National Youth Conference for the excellent caliber of your report. It proves that it's young adults like yourselves whom employers need and must attract. I hope that when you are ready to enter the job market, you will consider a career at CIBC.
CIBC's commitment to youth is a long-standing
one and includes such initiatives as:
- The Career Edge Internship Program; in which I`m please to be a
founder and Director,
- The Canadian Youth Foundation, which assists young
entrepreneurs,
- And the Corporate Council on Youth and the Economy, which we
helped launch and which is dedicated to developing innovative
solutions to foster youth employment.
As a member of the Council, I intend to share the report of this conference with my fellow Council members.
In your report, I'm encouraged to see your focus on learning about other cultures. Specifically, three of the consensus recommendations caught my attention because they reinforce what my organization is doing today.
We must learn about the world's cultures in order to understand the impact of our decisions made right here in Canada. For example, more and more small and large businesses in Canada are selling to customers throughout the world, and social policies taken here in Canada can have a profound impact on others.
Another recommendation emphasizes hands-on, in -depth understanding of different cultures and I can't stress the importance of this kind of understanding. I'll be expanding on it in a few moments, but I fully agree that one cannot learn about another culture simply by reading a magazine or watching one movie set in an exotic location.
But perhaps most importantly, your recommendation regarding the promotion of diversity is one which CIBC and I personally have a stake in. Diversity is one of the three major themes in all the people strategies within CIBC.
I feel it's important that each of you attending this conference, be it here in Winnipeg or across the country, acknowledge the importance of these recommendations because your generation represent our future and our present as a country, and for CIBC as an organization in a highly competitive and changing world.
Just think about how much the world has changed - just in the past 30 years.
In the 60's, almost one-half of all workers in the industrialized countries were involved in manufacturing. By the 2000 , however, the expectation is that no developed country will have more than 10 to 15 per cent of its workforce in the traditional roles of making things.
Richard Saul Wurman writes in Information Anxiety that "there has been more information produced in the last 30 years than during the previous 5 000".
Information and communication technologies are profoundly changing our world. Just a few years ago, the Internet as we know it did not exist.
It's only been over the last few years that personal computers became a common household item. The fax machine did not appear until a decade ago. The same goes for mobile phones. All these have produced a climate where knowledge can be instantly exchanged virtually anywhere in the world.
Think what this conference would have been like had it been held a decade ago. For one thing, it's unlikely that a conference to understand and appreciate parallels between Canada and Asia would even be held, much less held by young people. The "virtual" conference sites that are in direct contact with the Winnipeg site would have been impossible.
Another factor shaping your world is globalization. Business has certainly gone global as well. With the lowering of trade barriers, the spread of deregulation and the plummeting of transport and communication costs, a firm no longer needs to be a huge multi-national organization in order to trade in the international marketplace.
Culture has gone global as well. Young people, whether they live in Kapuskasing or Kuala Lumpur, are listening to the same rock music, watching the same videos and movies and wearing the same clothes.
A less welcome product of this change is the inevitable uncertainty and insecurity for many people as we move through a period of profound transition. Old industries dies; new ones are born overnight. Old jobs disappear; new ones emerge. The status quo no longer has status.
How can you take control in such an uncertain world? I will offer a few suggestions.
First, continue with your education. We know from research, that one extra month of high school -- even if your don't graduate -- can affect your lifetime earnings. Another year, another degree, another diploma can increase your expected lifetime earnings, and more importantly, your feelings of security and contribution.
The second thing to remember is that once you land a job, it's important to set your mind on continuous learning. To be successful, you must keep on learning, upgrade your skills, acquire new ones.
What really matters is not what you know right now, it's how you learn to learn - and your willingness to learn. That way you can always adapt to changing circumstances.
One of the most valuable global skills you can acquire is a second language. Many of you here have a head start. Some of you speak both English and French, or English and Malay... and some of you may know additional languages.
Nurture that facility. Expand it. Because an aptitude for language - several languages - is increasingly a career and personal advantage in today's global village.
Knowing how to use a language is critical - how to develop complex ideas, how to make those ideas clear to others, how to motivate, inspire and energize individuals.
And don't simply focus on words alone.
Communication takes many forms, and it's not always spoken. You must think, act and communicate on other peoples' terms.
Culture matters. Customs matter. Body language matters. Gestures matter. Tone matters. So the more you can expose yourself to new cultures and attitudes, the better.
At CIBC, for example, we're building a diversity culture throughout the company -- a culture that values the contribution that different nationalities, races, genders, backgrounds and life-styles can make to our organization, our customers and the community...a culture that both acknowledges and promotes differences.
We want employees who can thrive in this environment - employees who are comfortable with complexity, dissimilarity and the unfamiliar...employees who can work well in teams.. employees who can see someone else's point of view as well as their own.
Finally, become comfortable with change. As one bank CEO recently put it: "change is coming at us not like a freight train but like a speeding bullet." The life span of the average North American company is now only 11 years. Just nine of the top 500 companies operating in 1900 exist today. The only way to make sure you survive is to change constantly - constantly re-invent yourselves... constantly ask yourself where you want to be five, ten, twenty years down the road.
Look at change as an opportunity to learn and grow, not as a force to be feared or resisted.
In closing, I urge you to keep alive the friendships and contacts you have made during the week. When you get home, don't wait for the phone to ring. Make it ring. Don't wait for an e-mail. Send and e-mail to others. Above all, keep up the commitment, the excitement, and the resolve to make a difference that brought you here in the first place.
Don't expect Prime Minister ChrÈtien, or Minister Axworthy, or myself or others to do it all. We will take away some commitment BUT... It's your conference. You have to take ownership of the outcomes if you want to have an impact.
I`ve learned over the past few years that for change to be initiated and "stick," it must be driven by all those who are involved. I envy you. There has never been a time of greater and more exciting challenge. Rise to it. Embrace the change you find around you and your future will be bright. I know you will do well.
Thank you.
