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The Business

TELUS is Canada’s fastest-growing national telecommunications company. TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services, including wireless, data, Internet protocol, voice, television, entertainment and video, and is Canada’s largest healthcare IT provider.

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Why do you feel your company qualifies as a WIBN “Best company to do business with”?

The TELUS team recognizes that a diverse and inclusive environment – in terms of gender, sexual orientation, race, culture and diversity of thought – facilitates a broader exchange of ideas and perspectives and better reflects the true makeup of a strong cultural brand. We believe that our commitment to diversity and inclusiveness has contributed to our overall team engagement score of 85 per cent in 2014. According to our third party surveyor, Aon Hewitt, the TELUS team’s engagement is the highest globally for a company of our size and composition.

How is your company woman-friendly and diversified? What programs/initiatives have you put in place for women to succeed in your business and help them along the way? What strides have you made in that direction?

We have launched a variety of innovative programs and initiatives. Examples include:

Establishing a diversity supplier program in 2012, a proactive business process that seeks to provide diverse suppliers (i.e. ethnic minority, aboriginal, and/or women-run businesses) access to supply management opportunities that are reflective of our diverse communities.

Launching a Diversity and Inclusiveness Council in 2009, comprised of team member volunteers who drive thought leadership throughout the organization, including developing and delivery of employee training that promotes a respectful, diverse and inclusive workplace.

Supporting over 4,300 team members participating in six Team member Resource Groups (TRG) that celebrate diversity and inclusiveness, including:

1. Connections: the TELUS Women’s Network
2. Spectrum: for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer
3. Abilities Network: Promotes awareness of the varying abilities of TELUS team members
4. Mosaic: for New Canadians
5. Eagles: for Aboriginal / First Nations / Indigenous team members
6. Canadian Armed Forces: for active and retired Canadian military personnel and the families who support them

Since 2007, TELUS has been an active member and proud sponsor of the Women’s Executive Network (WXN), an organization that shares our dedication to the advancement and recognition of women leaders in Canada.

In 2015, TELUS was named one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers by Mediacorp for the seventh consecutive year.

What other programs and initiatives are you working on for the future that will help women succeed in the workplace?

TELUS is also working to encourage greater diversity on corporate boards in Canada through our leadership as a founding partner with the Canadian Board Diversity Council and the Council’s Diversity 50, the first database in Canada designed to help Canada’s 500 largest organizations appoint board members who represent diversity.

TELUS is further promoting the advancement of women on Canadian boards by participating in the Catalyst Accord, a pledge for Canadian corporations to increase the overall proportion of Financial Post 500 board seats held by women to 25 per cent by 2017.

Do you believe in social responsibility? How does your company participate in social responsibility? What ways do you give back?

The TELUS team is committed to building healthy, strong, and sustainable communities and we believe that to do well in business, we must do ‘good’ in the communities where we live, work and serve. TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed more than $396 million and volunteered more than 6 million hours since 2000.

One of the many ways in which we practice social responsibility is through our TELUS Community Boards through which we put decision-making in the hands of local leaders who know their communities best. This approach helps make our financial support accessible to the grassroots organizations that make such a tremendous difference in building stronger communities.

Since their inception in 2005, our TELUS’ 11 Canadian community boards and four International boards will have contributed more than $54 million in support of more than 4,800 local charitable projects by the end of 2015, enriching the lives of more than 2.1 million children and youth.

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Do you have initiatives in place to reward employees for helping to pay it forward and getting involved with social responsibility?

A cornerstone of TELUS’ community investment strategy is our Team TELUS Charitable Giving program. TELUS matches donations made by participants to eligible Canadian charities to a maximum of $2,500 per year per individual.

TELUS recognizes and rewards the community volunteer work of our team members and retirees through Dollars for Doers. Once an individual has recorded a minimum of 50 hours of volunteer service in a year, they are able to direct a $200 grant to the registered Canadian charity or non-profit sports organization of their choice.

Since its inception in 2006, our TELUS Days of Giving have mobilized more than 94,000 Canadian team members, retirees, family, and friends to volunteer at more than 3,150 activities benefiting the communities where we live, work and serve. Our team members around the globe also participate in international TELUS Days of Giving, in Manila, San Salvador, Guatemala City, Quetzaltenango, Wolverhampton, Sofia, Bucharest, and Nevada.

Our TELUS Community Ambassadors are a dedicated group of retirees, and, one of the largest corporate-based volunteer organizations in Canada. More than 3,600 current, former and retired TELUS team members volunteer as TELUS Community Ambassadors in 23 clubs in communities across Canada.

In 2010, the TELUS team was recognized by the Association of Fundraising Professionals as the world’s most philanthropic company. We are honoured to be the first Canadian company to receive this prestigious international recognition.

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