We know that the best performing businesses prioritise inclusion and diversity and we believe it is crucial to create a culture with inclusion and diversity at its heart. Our commitment starts with our people and our aim is to ensure that all our people around the world thrive, by shaping market-leading policies and practices.
For our business to thrive and for Diageo to realise its ambition, we depend on recruiting, retaining and developing diverse talent with a range of backgrounds, skills and capabilities in each of the 180 countries in which we operate. Diversity of thought and experience fuels growth and innovation in our organisation and brings us closer to our consumer base. We view diversity in the broadest possible sense, including gender, ethnicity, age, sexuality, social class, education, experience, ways of thinking and more.
We celebrate diversity everywhere and support a variety of employee groups throughout the world. These range from our women's network Spirited Women, to our Asian and African heritage groups, our Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage group REACH, our LGBT+ Rainbow networks and our INC group which runs a yearly inclusivity week. We believe everyone has a vital contribution to make to our story and we want all our people to feel part of it.
Our work is benchmarked against our peers and the wider business community
We are proud to be recognised for our ongoing commitment to championing inclusion and diversity within our business and beyond:
- Number one globally for gender equality in the Equileap 2019 Global Gender Equality Report and Ranking.
- We have scored a perfect 100 score on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index for 13 years running.
- Recognised in the 2019 and 2020 EMpower Ethnic Minority Role Model Lists
Narrowing the gender gap
We are proud to be amongst the leading FTSE 100 companies for the number of women at the most senior levels. 50% of our Board and 40% of our Executive Committee are women.
We offer all female employees a minimum of 26 weeks of fully paid maternity leave. In a majority of our markets, including across Europe, North America, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Colombia, Venezuela, and Australia, amongst others, we also offer 26 weeks fully paid paternity leave. Globally we have a minimum standard of four weeks paternity leave on full rate of pay.
- Our target is to have 50% women in our leadership levels (top 4 leadership tiers) by 2030.
- We were the first alcohol beverage company to sign the UN’s Women’s Empowerment Principles in March 2013.
- We are committed to a target of 50% of our graduate intake to be women.
Working with our peers to build more inclusive and diverse businesses and societies
We are members of several cross-industry groups around the world working to accelerate inclusion and diversity in business and broader society. We are proud members of Open for Business a global coalition of leading businesses championing LGBT+ inclusion. We are members of the 30% Club, championing gender balance on boards and in senior management. In the UK, we are signatories of the BITC Race at Work Charter and the CBI Change the Race Ratio.
Beyond industry standards
Diversity and inclusion is enshrined in our Global Human Rights Policy (PDF 592KB). Every employee and person we work with is entitled to human rights without discrimination.
In all aspects of employment, we treat employees justly according to their abilities to meet the requirements of the role. We will not discriminate based on factors such as race, religion, colour, ethnicity, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression or marital status.
However, our commitment goes beyond industry standards and policies. We are one of the few FTSE 100 companies to have made diversity and inclusion a business priority while all our markets have built-in diversity and inclusion plans within their talent and organisation strategies. These plans are supported by robust governance, with direct oversight and responsibility from the HR Director and Managing Director in each market.
Resource Groups at Diageo
Diageo celebrates and champions inclusion and diversity. Around the world we have a number of inclusive Business and Employee Resource Groups known as BRGs and ERGs. These influential groups, made up of our people, represent various viewpoints, experiences and communities who generate thought-provoking work to enhance our business and workplace, creating a sense of belonging and opportunities for all.
These groups support both leaders and future leaders to develop skills in communications, leadership effectiveness, team building and project management, all while building resilience and forming cross functional relationships. In addition to focusing on the needs of their communities, these groups have allies throughout the company, who support and champion their work.
Every year our people come together to celebrate inclusion with a dedicated week. Known amongst the Diageo community as INC week, the ambition of this week is to unite and showcase the intersectionality of our employees with a range of topics, covering mindfulness, mental wellbeing, Black History Month, trans-inclusion and much more.