"Diversity is a critical business imperative to grow our business. At Diageo we know we cannot succeed without the skills, talents, and capabilities of our people. Simply put, our people are the main ingredient for our success."
Ivan Menezes, CEO Diageo North America
In order for Diageo to succeed globally and become one of the most admired companies in the world, we must demonstrate our commitment to diversity and inclusion in everything we do, every day, everywhere. We look at Diversity and Inclusion in multiple ways and believe they offer multiple benefits. The clearest benefits at Diageo are: our increased ability to access insights on our multicultural consumer base; our increased ability to access a wider talent pool when hiring externally; our increased ability to tap into multiple perspectives, which in turn improves our ideas and decision making. Finally, by having a truly inclusive environment, we will be closer to achieving our objective of 'releasing the potential of every employee'.
A comprehensive Diversity and Inclusion strategy serves to attract and retain the best talent, penetrate marketing and procurement, and improve employee engagement and community relations. The three elements of our Diversity and Inclusion strategy are:
Leadership Sponsorship & Accountability:
Our Senior Leaders are passionate about - and accountable for - Diversity and Inclusion. They make sure our People Managers understand our expectations for creating and developing a diverse work force in their areas.
Talent Acquisition, Development & Retention:
We are integrating Diversity and Inclusion strategies throughout our Human Resource systems. These measures include continuously listening to our employees, measuring diversity and communicating back to the organization.
Active engagement in the community:
Diageo is committed to active participation in multicultural activities, developing a diverse supplier program, celebrating the diversity of our employees and maintaining strategic sponsorships.
Diageo's Diversity Council is the living embodiment of our dedication to Diversity and Inclusion. Its leadership team is comprised of diverse senior personnel from throughout the North American business and it has developed four focus areas:
- Recruitment and retention;
- Reward and accountability;
- Direct employee engagement;
- Marketplace and community partnership.
At Diageo, our corporate mission is to help consumers celebrate life every day, everywhere, responsibly. A key component of our Diversity strategy is also to celebrate the uniqueness of our employees. That's why we have planned activities in our offices to celebrate Black History, Women's History, Hispanic History, Asian History and Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Pride months.
Employee Resource Groups
The best way to embed Diversity at Diageo is through our people. Our Employee Resource Groups were developed to empower a critical mass of employees who share the same mission to move towards their goal. They are also a "resource" to the organization for the purpose of recruitment, marketing and sales. Each group is open to all employees.
A.H.E.A.D. - African Heritage Employees at Diageo
This resource group was formed to promote the recruitment and retention of African American professionals within every function of our business. It aims to positively influence our culture regarding people and diversity – both within Diageo and in the external community.
Spirited Women's Network
The Diageo Spirited Women's Network aims to challenge the prevailing culture and drive alignment between women's career issues and Diageo's success by connecting women to management, women to women and women to key stakeholders.
This resource group works to encourage a variety of new management styles and behaviours. It offers solutions to help remedy conditions in - and related to - the work environment that hamper or prevent women from reaching their full career potential. It also develops and supports solutions to women's issues in order for Diageo to be the employer of choice for women. At the same time, it serves as a catalyst for change among our stakeholders in order to develop Diageo's business.
Rainbow Network (Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, Transgender)
The Rainbow Network is active in ensuring Diageo achieves 100% in the HRC Equality Index as a demonstration of a great place for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) community to work. The Network develops sponsorship for national and local GBLT events as well as acting as a sounding board for brand marketing investments and initiatives.
The Latin Connection
This resource group is helping Diageo to offer an environment where Hispanics can thrive and be recognized and represented at all levels. It also promotes the recruitment of Hispanic talent and helps its members to acquire the skills they need to be successful within Diageo.
Awards:
- Top 100 Companies for Diversity in 2008 by Savoy Magazine
- Top 100 Places to Work Corporate Equality Index – Human Rights Campaign Foundation
- Corporate Partner of the Year – National Black MBA Greater Westchester CT Chapter
- Ranked #73 on the 2008 Universum Top Employer List