If you’ve been selected as a Federal Contractor and must comply with Employment Equity, you have two choices:

1. Do it yourself, or
2. Hire an Employment Equity Consultant to help you

While the Federal Government stipulates all compliance guidelines and provides tools and templates to undertake the Compliance Review Framework yourself, most companies find themselves perplexed by government requirements and recognize the risk of failing the compliance audit is far too great. Companies also recognize that mismanagement of the process can:

1. create unwanted tensions between employees and management, and
2. expose weaknesses in employment practices to the outside.

To significantly improve their chances of compliance, most new Federal Contractors engage the services of an Employment Equity Consultant.  However, choosing the right consultant for the job is critical to mitigate the same risks mentioned above. There are four important criteria on which to base your decision:

1. Does the consultant have subject matter expertise?  Is he or she recognized and respected as an authority on the topic of Employment Equity / Diversity?
2. Does the consultant have a track record of successful compliance audits with companies like yours?
3. Has the consultant personally managed an equity program? Does he or she understand the responsibilities and liabilities of management?
4. Does the consultant have public sector / regulatory environment expertise? Will the consultant be credible in the eyes of the Workplace Equity Officers assigned to your company?