The Shell team in our Toronto office demonstrated the rich diversity of Bantrel's corporate culture by creating an "I Was Born map."
Each of the team members put a flag on a map of the world, indicating where they were born. And the results were not so much surprising as they were fascinating!
Here are some of the key findings:
- Only one person from the whole team was born in the U.S. (and he’s on loan from Bechtel, so technically he doesn’t count as a Bantrel employee)
- Four people were born south of the equator
- Of the 90 team members, only nine were born in Toronto and surrounding area
- Our most southern-born person is Hermien, who comes to us from Windhoek, Namibia in Africa
- Our most northern-born hails from Saint Petersburg, Russia – Roza
- In between, we have people from all over: Egypt, Venezuela, Iran, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, Syria, India, Italy, Spain, England, Poland, Jamaica, Nairobi, and many other countries. There’s even one fellow from the tiny island of Mahé, part of the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean.
The I Was Born project was a tremendous team building experience and geography lesson combined for the Shell team. More than that, it showed true multiculturalism is a reality at Bantrel. The team hails from all over the world. They have different backgrounds, grew up with different traditions in different cultures and speak different languages. Yet they are able to work together extremely well towards the common goals on their project.
The map is an inspiring indication that geography isn’t a differentiator among us at Bantrel. Our world is getting smaller as we speak, and Bantrel is a perfect example of that reality!