Seventy percent of food industry executives are training employees on diversity and inclusion to prepare for future workplace challenges, according to a new study from Deloitte and FMI. In addition, 86 percent of executives said that making significant progress on DEI goals was a top priority for the senior leadership team.
Two-thirds of executives believe that their companies are effective at promoting the ideas behind DEI and 70 percent believe that their DEI efforts were successful at creating a better workplace for their employees.
To help bridge the gap between promises and progress, food executives said that training, in addition to formal and informal mentorship and sponsorship programs for employees, are the most effective tools in recruiting and retaining a more diverse workforce. However, half of the respondents indicated that the best approach involved identifying and increasing the visibility of key women and other historically marginalized leaders.
“Based on the experiences of the executives surveyed, companies should prioritize increasing the diversity of their leadership team and, through mentoring and visibility initiatives highlighting those same leaders, work to expand diversity throughout the ranks,” said Deloitte in response to the findings. “On the other side of the coin, building and cultivating a strong pipeline of diverse leaders that are two and three tiers below the most senior ranks can help ensure the right talent is available when senior positions do open. This creates more equitable outcomes and career mobility for historically marginalized groups which otherwise can be trapped in the lower ranks of the organization.” Full Story.
Related: Kroger Releases 2021 Environmental, Social, and Governance Report; Specialty Food Companies Share Morale-Boosting Strategies.