Original Publish Date 08/16/2019 By //  by Teresa Stolarskyj

It is a momentous day at BlueSilverShift.

We have received our first-ever girl-cut t-shirts, complimenting the boy-cut shirts our gentlemen frequently sport. Equal opportunity swag quickly became a personal priority when I joined the company as its first office manager nearly two months ago. Today, I get to wear the company’s heart on my own sleeve.

It’s a t-shirt

“So what?,” you may be asking. It’s a t-shirt.

Don’t be a Dinosaur. Diversify.

Yes, it is a t-shirt, an item most of us don’t give a second thought about. We like the colour or the cut or the design. All that is fine, of course.

On a deeper level, though, this specific shirt represents BlueSilverShift’s commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion. Internally, as our company grows, we continue to incorporate varied backgrounds, talents, and points of view. We believe this makes us richer as a team, and better able to understand and develop solutions to clients’ myriad business needs.

Diversity works

It’s old news that diversity benefits a workplace, and the quality of the work it produces.

“Deloitte said a 2016 survey of 1,300 business leaders linked superior financial performance with retaining employees of different backgrounds, skillsets and mindsets.”

For us, diversity is an asset. We are not an IT solutions company, but rather, a business solutions company who use IT as a means to achieve an end. Certainly the latter requires technical expertise. But strategy starts with the high-level question, “what do you want to achieve?” No two clients will answer this the same way, because they come with their own culture, legacy, ambitions, and personalities.

Similarly, we each come with different backgrounds, experiences, and paradigms. Collaboration, dialogue, brainstorming and mutual respect mean that we can approach problems from different points of view, and negotiate solutions we may not have thought of in isolation.

Keeping it real

The culture at BlueSilverShift is a balanced if ambitious one. Relaxed but hardworking, collaborative and driven, we support each other to achieve more. We remember to have fun while delivering results.

Inclusion: Merlin turns in a hard day’s work. He, too, deserves branded swag.

Diversification doesn’t always need a modified clothing run to reflect that it’s working. To be sure, this addition to my wardrobe is delightful. It is comfortable, functional, dispenses good advice, and reminds me that my team values me for what I bring. I also think it’s unabashedly clever.

Of course, our Chief Barketing Officer and his junior assistant put in their own hard days of work. Perhaps we’ll need to consider doggie swag for our next production run?

Teresa Stolarskyj | Office Manager & Digital Transformation Blogger at BlueSilverShift