In the era of stakeholder capitalism, corporations are increasingly realizing the value and necessity of workplace diversity. Research has long shown that diverse teams are better equipped to innovate as well as attract and retain, essential for market growth in today’s highly competitive landscape.
Recognizing these benefits, a top aerospace company took steps to improve its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, engaging Ichor to strengthen its annual DEI report and identify opportunities to deepen its impact. Building on the success of their first DEI report with Ichor, the client sought to elevate the report’s narrative to better illustrate their commitments and progress.
The company faced several challenges, including managing a global workforce of more than 100,000 employees dispersed across diverse cultural and political landscapes that shaped distinct perspectives regarding DEI. They also needed to balance heightened scrutiny and expectations from external stakeholders, particularly in the U.S. While some stakeholders desired more tangible results, others expressed concern that a focus on DEI might detract from other priorities.
The client sought to drive greater understanding and transparency around companywide DEI goals, their progress and improvement needs, and the impact these efforts have on performance.
Ichor employed a data-informed approach to support these goals, focusing on optimizing report content, enhancing stakeholder engagement with the report, and bolstering impact.
The team conducted comprehensive research on the reception of the client’s first DEI report as well as a peer benchmarking exercise to uncover insights about other multinational firms’ approaches to presenting this information in culturally responsive ways to diverse audiences. These efforts identified critical gaps and illuminated ways to enhance the report. This included highlighting initiatives led by employee resources groups from around the organization as well as other local examples of DEI in action and incorporating more inclusive language into the report.
Ichor also advised on the report’s rollout, with particular attention to internal reception given the complex cultural and geographical differences among the client’s workforce. The team created an internal engagement plan designed to engage employees through team dialogues, surveys, unconscious bias trainings, and union outreach.
Through these efforts, the company successfully improved its DEI reporting and outreach and strengthened alignment surrounding its goals. This served to deepen the leadership team’s long-term commitment to equity and inclusion, resulting in better traction with current and prospective employees and increased growth opportunities for the client.
To date, the company has exceeded several of its goals related to diversity, equity, and inclusion and strives to serve as a model for peers.