The organization approaches its journey toward workplace inclusion in much the same way.

According to Chairman and CEO Mike Hsu:

We are guided by our purpose of delivering Better Care for a Better World. It drives everything we do. We are proud of the work our team does for Global Inclusion Week. It’s important to our employees and enables us to live our values.

In 2023, Kimberly-Clark’s Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity (IE&D) team delivered a company-wide Global Inclusion Week. This large-scale, global endeavor began as a single virtual Town Hall meeting just three years prior, on the heels of the Black Lives Matter movement in the US.

Global Inclusion Week included presentations open to all employees on challenging topics like “Women and Intersectionality,” “Destigmatizing Mental Health,” “Creating a Speak-Up Culture,” and “Covering” in the workplace. To help maintain momentum, participants received “Power Packs,” on-demand learning resources with summaries and links to programming, recommended go-forward plans, conversation starters, and a mental health check-in guide.

A major emphasis of Global Inclusion Week was engaging mill workers, who make up a large portion of Kimberly-Clark’s employee population. To reach them, the IE&D team worked cross-functionally to create touchpoints within the (often 24-hour) manufacturing environment. From a logistics perspective, they asked that planned maintenance in the plant’s operating schedule, when machines are down, fall during Global Inclusion Week where possible, and that events be streamed in mill conference rooms. Mill employees were also asked to tap into their creativity by contributing to colorful banners decorated to celebrate different aspects of employee identities—which were crafted in partnership with La Casa de Carlota, the first design studio in the world to have creatives with intellectual disabilities on its team. Lastly, the IE&D team provided topical thought-starters for mill leaders to share at pre-shift stand-ups, and “caring conversation” guides to help employees discuss their experiences on topics like the importance of psychological safety or trusted relationships with leaders.

These efforts paid off. More than 2,000 of the 6,800 Kimberly-Clark employees who participated in Global Inclusion Week were mill staff, representing a 1,900% year-over-year increase in attendance by manufacturing employees and a 120% increase in engagement overall. Every event was rated 90% or higher, meaning employees considered the content moderately to highly valuable.

Positively impacting frontline employees is an overarching goal for Kimberly-Clark, says Gary Short, Director, IE&D Organizational Effectiveness Leader, whose work focuses exclusively on mill culture. “As we saw in the pandemic, frontline workers really keep the lights on.” So, when engagement survey results indicated there could be improvement for mill employees on the inclusion indices, the IE&D team set out to make changes. Says Short, “We conduct assessments to see where each mill is from a culture perspective—what’s going well and what could be improved—then we help develop programs and strengthen capabilities to move toward a more inclusive culture.”

Like all culture-related work, explains Short, nothing happens instantly:

There’s no light-switch moment, but there has already been improvement. We’re piloting flex work programs for people with family responsibilities. We’ve also developed lots of mentoring programs…but we’re always asking ourselves, ‘How can we do better when it comes to recruiting and maintaining the best talent?’ It’s a journey, and we just have to stay focused.

Whether on the manufacturing floor or in the executive suite, for two employees who took part in the Destigmatizing Mental Health panel, the ability to bring their whole selves to work is reflective of Kimberly-Clark’s culture.

Tammy Aguilar, Beech Island Operational Excellence (OPEX) Change Agent Leader, felt so passionate about the topic of mental health that she started an Employee Resource Group (ERG) called HOPE (which stands for “Happiness. Optimism. Peace. Empowerment.”), just for her mill. She says, “I’ve experienced firsthand how difficult it is to navigate life’s challenges when you’re struggling with your own battles. If my experience can help others when they feel helpless, then it’s worth sharing.” Response has been nothing but positive, says Aguilar: “I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the support and reaction to HOPE, and the growth I have seen from leaders and fellow team members when it comes to understanding the mental health of others.”

Aguilar reports that HOPE supplies resources and support through sharing sessions, “where we provide a safe space for people to share what they’re struggling with, or what they survived.” HOPE also offers focused activities, tips, webinars and more for all employees, in support of Mental Health Awareness Month (May) and Suicide Prevention Month (September).

Regarding her company’s culture, Aguilar says:

It’s so important that we can be open and honest with one another because we may not know what people are dealing with in their lives. It makes me proud when I see my colleagues show genuine care for one another, even in small everyday ways. These things matter, and K-C culture created the environment to allow it.

Dan Howell, VP, Managing Director UK & Ireland says, of his motivation to talk about mental health on a global stage, “I wanted to role model a more vulnerable and open leadership approach to mental health, especially as a man talking openly about my journey… hopefully inspiring other men to be more open.”

And on the importance of inclusion, Howell says:

I believe strongly that business should be a force for good and see this in K-C as a strong value and differentiator to our peers. Making sure everyone feels they can be their amazingly unique self at work feels very aligned to what K-C stands for, and it aligns strongly to my own personal values. I also see strong performance benefits of being more inclusive; fully embracing and leveraging our differences can help us innovate better, move faster, and solve bigger, more complex problems.

Better Care for a Better World evokes Kimberly-Clark’s culture, purpose, and values, infusing care into everything they do. It is the underlying principle behind the IE&D team’s work to ensure all employees have the resources and space they need to have caring conversations, and behind the efforts of employees like Tammy Aguilar and Dan Howell, who are sharing their personal stories to help grow what Howell calls “Kimberly-Clark’s heritage of care.” And with care factored into every endeavor, Kimberly-Clark’s journey toward a whole-hearted, inclusive culture is sure to succeed.

The post Kimberly-Clark: Better Care for a Better World appeared first on Catalyst.

By Andrew Grissom

Each year on Equal Pay Day in the United States, Catalyst reflects on how much longer women must work to reach the same earnings made by men the previous year. We know that the gender wage gap persists across the world and that its impact is intensified when considering intersecting identities such as age, race, and ethnicity.¹ What can we do about it?

Pay transparency offers a path forward. In Part 1 of this series, we documented pay transparency‘s role in reducing wage gaps, building employee trust and engagement, and helping employers better evaluate performance. Critically, pay transparency practices lay the groundwork for fairer organizational processes, including pay equity reviews, which are rapidly becoming standard practice at leading organizations like the Catalyst CEO Champions For Change.

So, HR leaders: Are you ready to implement pay transparency at your organization? The journey to pay transparency can be complex, but there are a few simple steps you can take to get started today.

1. Do Your Homework
   Build the fairness case for pay transparency. Emphasize pay transparency’s critical role in cultivating organizational fairness, as it addresses longstanding pay inequities and reinforces accountability mechanisms. Pay transparency may also align with your organization’s mission and values. The fairness case especially resonates with employees: Catalyst research found that when companies spotlight the fairness case for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), employees report enhanced experiences of inclusion, view their organization as fair and meritocratic, and increase their intentions to stay.²Build the business case for pay transparency. We’ve established that pay transparency brings tangible advantages to organizations. Be prepared to have difficult conversations with senior leaders who might be resistant to change. The business case should clearly link the benefits of pay transparency to your talent, total rewards, and DEI strategies—in particular, the reduction of the pay gap among women and marginalized communities.Define your organization’s compensation philosophy. How do compensation and rewards relate to roles? Pinpoint specific skills, knowledge, experiences, responsibilities, expectations, and market value for each role to set appropriate and competitive salary ranges. ³Review your pay structures and processes. Go back to the basics with your approach to pay, examining your job architecture, pay strategy, pay equity, existing communications with employees, salary bands, and employee perceptions around pay. ⁴Familiarize yourself and comply with local laws. Ready or not, the number of pay transparency laws is increasing across the world. They often require employers to disclose compensation expectations to job applicants, provide salary bands to existing employees, and/or disclose pay gaps to local regulators. At a minimum, organizations must know about and meet their legal obligations.⁵
2. Set Your Goals
   Evaluate your current approach to pay transparency, and where you would like to be. Consider the following pay transparency maturity continuum created by BambooHR and PayScale.⁶ Set realistic goals based on where you are on the continuum and the stage you aim to achieve.
3. Communicate Your Policies
   Prepare and distribute information on the purpose and design of pay with managers, employees, and job candidates.⁷ This includes information on compensation itself (salary bands, benefits, perks, bonuses, incentives, and more), the organization’s compensation philosophy and strategy, the factors that determine pay, the current level of pay transparency, and any laws or regulations that impact a given position. Recruiters and managers should have the tools they need for productive conversations about pay, including how to communicate pay equity analyses and corrections. ⁸ In job postings, avoid setting extremely wide salary ranges that confuse job seekers and could be perceived as mocking pay transparency laws.⁹
4. Monitor Your Progress
   Leverage feedback loops—such as employee engagement, DEI, or candidate surveys—to monitor the effectiveness of your pay transparency initiative.¹⁰ Assess whether individuals cite pay transparency as a factor in their decisions to join or stay with the organization, and disaggregate the findings by gender, race/ethnicity, and other marginalized groups to understand how these interventions are impacting them.
5. Don’t Stop Here!
   Pay transparency is not a “one-and-done” exercise. This work requires continual evaluation and refinement to ensure a true and sustainable culture of transparency. Recent Catalyst Award winners The Hartford and Boston Scientific offer examples of leading companies that implemented pay transparency and centered inclusion and a commitment to closing pay gaps in their approach.

This Equal Pay Day, we encourage you to take a step forward in making our workplaces fairer, more accountable, and more equitable by modeling a culture of transparency.

Missed Part 1? Read it now: HR, Take Note: Employees Want Pay Transparency. Smart Companies Are Listening

Download the infographic

Use the form to download the PDF.

ENDNOTES

1. Women’s earnings – The pay gap: Quick Take. (July 5, 2023). Catalyst
2. Shaffer, E. & Torrez, B. (2024). How to talk about diversity with employees to achieve your company’s objectives. Catalyst.
3. Monroe, A. (2023, May 31). How companies can respond to new salary transparency laws. SHRM.
4. Navigating the pay transparency journey [Infographic]. (2020). Mercer.
5. To learn more about pay transparency and pay equity laws in the United States, Canada, and the EU, respectively, see: Marfice, C. (2024). Pay transparency laws: A state-by-state guide. Rippling; Monsma, L., VanDerMeulen, J., & Arseneault, S. (2023, March 30). Pay transparency: A growing trend. Fasken; Pay transparency in the EU. (2023). European Council and Council of the European Union.
6. Everything you need to know about communicating pay. (2017). BambooHR and PayScale; The pay up for progress toolkit. (2020). Unbounce.
7. Navigating the pay transparency journey [Infographic]. (2020). Mercer.
8. Matuson, R. (2022, November 28). Managers, are you prepared to answer questions about pay equity? Harvard Business Review; Getting started with pay equity (Practices). (2022). Catalyst.
9. Kelly, J. (2023, June 6). Companies posting wide salary ranges on job advertisements are making a mockery of pay transparency laws. Forbes.
10. Navigating the pay transparency journey [Infographic]. (2020). Mercer.

The post Equal Pay Starts With Pay Transparency: Step-By-Step Guide for HR Leaders (Blog Post) appeared first on Catalyst.

Part 1 of 2

How much do you earn? For some of us, pay is deeply personal and emotional, even too socially taboo to talk about. That money mindset is shifting thanks to pay transparency. It’s now normal for job sites like LinkedIn and Indeed to feature salary ranges for many open positions.¹

Employees expect a high degree of transparency from their employers, particularly when it comes to pay.² In fact, most employees would take a job with a different company if they had greater pay transparency, even if the salary were the same as their current salary.³

Laws are changing, too. Pay transparency laws are evolving across the world; for example, Canada and the United Kingdom already require eligible employers to annually disclose pay information by gender.⁴ Meanwhile, in the US, several states and cities are enacting laws that require employers to disclose salary ranges to job applicants in job postings, during the hiring process, or upon request.⁵

Pay equity is now standard practice among leading organizations.

The rise of pay transparency is laying the foundation for fairer corporate decisions and processes—including pay equity. The Catalyst CEO Champions For Change, a community of global business leaders committed to advancing women across racial and ethnic groups into leadership roles and onto boards of directors, are proving that pay equity is no longer a “nice to have;” it’s table stakes. As of 2022, nearly all (93%) of Champion companies conducted a pay equity review in the past three years, up from 82% in 2021. Taking transparency one step further, over half (57%) of Champion companies are disclosing the results of their pay equity reviews publicly, a dramatic increase from 38% from the previous year. True to their commitment, this community models accountability by holding regular pay equity reviews (78% do so annually), reporting their progress to their boards (68%), and adjusting employees’ pay based on the results of their reviews (71%). Given their investment in fair and equitable organizational processes, it’s no wonder that Champion companies consistently outperform their peers in women’s representation across the leadership pipeline and are retaining women and men at similar rates across job levels.⁹

The Opportunity: Even when not legally required to be transparent about pay, companies should disclose salary information both publicly and internally. While companies are increasingly adopting pay transparency norms, there is an opportunity for more to extend this transparency to existing employees: about 80% of companies communicate pay information to non-managers once per year.¹⁰

Pay transparency is a competitive differentiator.

Pay transparency and pay equity are powerful tools for closing gender wage gaps and reap numerous benefits to employees and workplaces. Research from across the world has linked pay transparency with reducing, or in some cases eliminating entirely, pay inequities across gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other dimensions of diversity.¹¹ As pay transparency laws spread across the United States, HR leaders interested in attracting and retaining women should note that pay transparency is top of mind particularly for women, and especially women of marginalized racial and ethnic groups, who have long felt the economic impacts of unequal pay.¹²

Pay transparency builds trust, boosts employee engagement, and cultivates a positive work environment.¹³ Adopting pay transparency practices can also offer companies a competitive edge and save on recruitment costs.¹⁴

The Opportunity: Organizations committed to closing the pay gap should also eliminate salary history questions and restrict salary negotiations to the pay ranges already communicated to job candidates. Relying on salary history and negotiations disadvantages women and candidates of marginalized racial and ethnic groups.¹⁵

Critically, pay transparency can help companies better understand how to evaluate performance. As pay structures and decisions become clearer, employers can determine when they are overly emphasizing easily observable measures of performance (such as the bottom line and profit and loss) and overlook those that are less easily observable (such as team citizenship behaviors or the impact of mentoring).¹⁶

Don’t let fear determine your pay strategy.

Despite these benefits, many organizations fear potentially negative impacts of pay transparency and pay equity. Some might ask: Will we anger employees if longstanding pay discrepancies or outdated pay practices are revealed?¹⁷ But simply avoiding pay transparency and pay equity does not mean that a company pays all employees fairly; it just means that inequities may be hidden from view. In fact, in the absence of having these tools at their disposal, employees often make incorrect assumptions about their colleagues’ earnings based on other pieces of information, feeding biases and discontent.¹⁸

It’s time to invest in pay transparency.

Pay transparency and pay equity initiatives succeed when organizations clearly define their pay philosophy, objectively assess performance, consistently communicate differences in pay and the decisions behind them and commit to ongoing measurement and accountability. ¹⁹

If your organization chooses to remain opaque when it comes to pay, it risks diminishing employee trust and satisfaction, losing out on the benefits of fairer and more consistent business practices, and tarnishing its brand reputation as out-of-step with leading practices—and it may even be out of compliance with local and national laws.²⁰ Clearly, pay transparency and pay equity are not only critical for closing the gender pay gap; they are also proven strategies for transforming business and talent processes.

Read Part 2 to get practical tips on how your organization can get started with pay transparency.

Download the infographic

Use the form below to download the PDF.

ENDNOTES

1. Brown, H.C. (2023, June 20). A job with a fair salary? What pay transparency laws are revealing. The New York Times.
2. Alpaio, K. (2023, January 23). How salary transparency can help you (and your workplace). Harvard Business Review.
3. Bergeron, P. (2022, October 20). Companies embracing pay transparency gain a market advantage. SHRM.
4. Monsma, L., VanDerMeulen, J., & Arseneault, S. (2023, March 30). Pay transparency: A growing trend. Fasken; Benedi Lahuerta, S., Rejchrt, P., & Patrick, A. (2023). The UK pay transparency regulations: Apparent transparency without accountability? Legal Studies, 1.24.
5. Marfice, C. (2024). Pay transparency laws: A state-by-state guide. Rippling.
6. The case for pay transparency: Why sharing more is critical to an elevated employee experience. (2020) Mercer.
7. Bamberger, P. (2021). Pay transparency: Conceptualization and implications for employees, employers, and society as a whole. In Bergh, D. (Ed.), The Oxford Research Encyclopedia (ORE) of Business and Management. Oxford University Press; Lam, L., Hayden Cheng, B., Bamberger, P., & Wong, M. (2022, August 12). Research: The unintended consequences of pay transparency. Harvard Business Review.
8. Getting started with pay equity (Practices). (2022). Catalyst.
9. This CEO community is keeping and advancing their best talent. Are you?. (2024). Catalyst.
10. Pay transparency study. (2020). WorldAtWork and Mercer.
11. Obloj, T. & Zenger, T. (2023, February 8). Research: The complicated effects of pay transparency. Harvard Business Review.
12. Kim, D.H. (2023). Pay range transparency helps reduce gender wage gaps. National Women’s Law Center.
13. Lam, L., Hayden Cheng, B., Bamberger, P., & Wong, M. (2022, August 12). Research: The unintended consequences of pay transparency. Harvard Business Review.
14. Maurer, R. (2022, December 12). Study: Pay transparency reduces recruiting costs. SHRM.
15. Gallo, A. (2020, August 4). Don’t ask job candidates for a salary history. Harvard Business Review; Superville, D. (2024, January 29). Biden is marking the 15th anniversary of landmark pay equity law with steps to help federal workers. Associated Press; Exley, C., Nierderle, M., & Vesterlund, L. (2016, April 12). New research: Women who don’t negotiate might have a good reason. Harvard Business Review; Christie, B. (2023, April 21). Salary negotiations could become moot point with pay transparency. WorldAtWork.
16. Obloj, T. & Zenger, T. (2023, February 8). Research: The complicated effects of pay transparency. Harvard Business Review.
17. Researchers have found that employee responses to pay transparency vary depending on what it uncovers about an organization’s pay practices. For example, employee productivity may increase if pay transparency shows that an employer has been consistent and fair in assigning pay based on performance. When pay transparency reveals discriminatory pay practices, employee productivity is more likely to decrease. Additionally, some studies suggest that pay transparency lowers overall wages of employees, since employers are less likely to negotiate salaries with candidates or current employees. Reduced employee bargaining power may cause star performers to leave for organizations that pay more – which organizations then try to offset by offering additional perks and bonuses, which undermines both pay transparency and pay equity. Obloj, T. & Zenger, T. (2023, February 8). Research: The complicated effects of pay transparency. Harvard Business Review; Kessler, S. (2023, January 14). Who benefits when salary info is public? The New York Times; Bamberger, P. (2021).Pay transparency: Conceptualization and implications for employees, employers, and society as a whole. In Bergh, D. (Ed.), The Oxford Research Encyclopedia (ORE) of Business and Management. Oxford University Press.
18. Alpaio, K. (2023, January 23). How salary transparency can help you (and your workplace). Harvard Business Review.
19. Kessler, S. (2023, January 14). Who benefits when salary info is public? The New York Times.
20. To learn more about pay transparency and pay equity laws in the United States, Canada, and the EU, respectively, see: Marfice, C. (2024). Pay transparency laws: A state-by-state guide. Rippling; Monsma, L., VanDerMeulen, J., & Arseneault, S. (2023, March 30). Pay transparency: A growing trend. Fasken; Pay transparency in the EU. (2023). European Council and Council of the European Union.

INFOGRAPHIC ENDNOTES

1. Bergeron, P. (2022, October 20). Companies embracing pay transparency gain a market advantage. SHRM; Getting started with pay equity (Practices). (2022). Catalyst.
2. Stahle, C. (2023, March 14). Pay transparency in job postings has more than doubled since 2020. Hiring Lab, Economic Research by Indeed.
3. The case for pay transparency: Why sharing more is critical to an elevated employee experience. (2020). Mercer.
4. This CEO community is keeping and advancing their best talent. Are you?  (2024). Catalyst.
5. Miller, S. (2021, 25 October). Pay equity audits and transparency foster trust, SHRM research shows. Society for Human Resource Management.
6. Obloj, T. & Zenger, T. (2023, February 8). Research: The complicated effects of pay transparency. Harvard Business Review; Lam, L., Hayden Cheng, B., Bamberger, P., & Wong, M. (2022, August 12). Research: The unintended consequences of pay transparency. Harvard Business Review.

The post HR, Take Note: Employees Want Pay Transparency. Smart Companies Are Listening. (Blog Post) appeared first on Catalyst.

As we introduce our guiding theme for the new year, the Catalyst Effect, I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes, attributed to Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that has.” We make systemic change through individual and small group actions and everyday moments. These actions—your actions—have the power to create waves of systemic transformation. That is the Catalyst Effect.

In the over five years I’ve served as president and CEO of Catalyst, we’ve seen that together we have been able to achieve meaningful impact and accelerate progress toward creating workplaces that work for women around the world.

In the Catalyst CEO Champions For Change community, we reached critical mass for women’s representation. With women holding 37 percent of seats on corporate boards and 30 percent of executive positions—as our forthcoming findings show–it is now normative to have women in the board room and C-suite. More than 90 percent of the companies in our Champions For Change community have recently conducted a pay equity audit, with over 70 percent adjusting compensation accordingly and more than 50 percent making the results public. It is now expected that progressive companies conduct salary audits and share the data. Catalyst CEO Champions For Change companies are setting a higher bar for accountability and transparency.

We’re seeing greater focus on gender partnership, with men advocating as allies for gender equity because they know that to have a truly inclusive workplace, everyone has a role to play. Over 25 percent of Catalyst Supporters have participated in our Men Advocating Real Change (MARC) gender partnership initiative, as a tool to more deeply engage men as partners in creating change. Companies like Chevron, P&G, Dow, and many others have used MARC’s research-based experiential learning as the catalyst for cultural change in their organizations, one ally and advocate at a time.

This past year, we also asked ourselves: what would it look like if women at all levels in the workplace could thrive on their own terms and by their own definitions of success? The answer was to broaden Catalyst’s impact beyond the office and the C-suite to include women in frontline roles.

With our Frontline Employees Initiative, including groundbreaking research, solutions and tools, Catalyst offers actionable insights that can change the way frontline managers and corporate leaders create respectful and rewarding workplaces. We have worked closely with Supporter organizations like Dow, Marriott, Northrop Grumman, P&G, Sodexo, Target, and more.

Other Catalyst research made headlines and expanded the way we understand and address racism in the workplace, spotlighted the experiences of women from marginalized groups, and tackled childcare needs.

And all of this happened amidst a cultural backdrop that reinforced the importance and relevance of gender equity. We’re coming off the 2023 “year of the woman” in pop culture, fueled by Beyoncé and Taylor Swift’s record-breaking concert tours and Barbie at the box office. And in a historic moment for the movement to advance gender equity, research on women’s workforce participation and economic power earned a Nobel Prize for the visionary economist Claudia Goldin.

This is encouraging progress and worth celebrating. This is the Catalyst Effect.

Staying the Course

We must also acknowledge the headwinds. We can’t ignore the fact that 90 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are still men and mostly White. And the gender pay gap remains a stark reality, with women’s average earnings in the US hovering around 82 cents for every dollar earned by men. For women of color, the numbers are even worse.

The US Supreme Court decision to effectively eliminate race-conscious affirmative action in college admissions opened the door to challenges to corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

The acronym “DEI” is being weaponized and politicized by critics. We know that what they assert is simply not true. Research consistently shows that diverse teams outperform those that are not. Inclusion of diverse perspectives drives creativity, problem-solving, and adaptability. Inclusion not only attracts top talent but also retains it. We heard from you, our Catalyst community, that your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion remains unchanged. The Catalyst community must continue to lead the way.

DEI is not a zero-sum game; it benefits everyone by fostering creativity, enhancing performance, and creating workplaces that are not only fair but flourishing—and where everyone can thrive. It is the pathway to creating workplaces that work for women—and for everyone.

Today’s polarized environment challenges us all to have difficult conversations and bring people together around our common humanity. The very practices of inclusive leadership are what will help us bridge divides in these conversations. There is an opportunity to not only talk about the benefits of inclusive leadership but to put it into practice in this polarizing moment towards common cause. Catalyst has tools to help. Respectful and rewarding workplaces that reflect the full humanity of society are good for business and good for everyone. That’s why we must stay the course. Not only because it’s the smart thing to do, but because it’s the right thing to do.

Thank you for being at the center of that work with us. We hope you’ll stay the course alongside us and join us—in person or remotely—at the Catalyst Awards on 12 March. Let’s forge ahead. Let’s make this the year of the Catalyst Effect.

With gratitude and resolve,

Lorraine

The post Let’s Make 2024 the Year of the Catalyst Effect (CEO Letter) appeared first on Catalyst.

Given its heritage—and current standing—BMO is proud to serve and fuel progress for more than twelve million personal, commercial, corporate, and institutional customers in North America and internationally.

BMO champions a thriving economy, a sustainable future, and an inclusive society, as evidenced by its Purpose: to “Boldly Grow the Good in business and life.” Internally, the bank has been focused on enabling an inclusive culture. It launched its first “Task Force on the Advancement of Women” in 1991, which led to diversification initiatives that earned BMO its first Catalyst Award in 1994.

Today, their Zero Barriers to Inclusion strategy focuses on creating a more just society for groups facing systemic barriers—both inside and outside the bank’s walls.

BMO’s CEO Darryl White has said:

Our commitment to inclusion is unwavering. It extends beyond our doors to the customers and communities we serve. As we execute on our Zero Barriers to Inclusion 2025 strategy, we’re driving meaningful change for our employees, customers, and communities. We all have a role to play in building an inclusive society with zero barriers, and it begins where we work.

For customers, BMO is expanding financial inclusion for diverse clients through more inclusive banking products, services, and resources. They’re also focusing on meeting customers’ needs by addressing their unique expectations and experiences. One example is BMO becoming the first Canadian bank to launch Mastercard’s True Name™— empowering transgender and non-binary customers to use their preferred first name on their Mastercard.

In the community, BMO builds strong relationships that foster social and racial justice, Truth and Reconciliation, and promote inclusive local economic opportunities.

For its employees, the bank ensures an equitable employee experience, supporting inclusion and wellness as well as improving access to development and career advancement for colleagues facing systemic barriers.

Across its workforce, BMO has also set specific representation goals. A few standout 2025 representation goals include women in 40-60% of global senior leadership roles (as of 2021, women comprise 41.2% of senior leaders), people of color in 31% of senior leadership roles in Canada and 30% in the US (currently at 24.2% and 24.5%, respectively). Additional workforce-wide benchmarks include greater representation of Canadian Indigenous employees (1.6%), as well as employees with disabilities (5-7%) and 2SLGBTQ+ employees in the US and Canada (3%).

How does BMO plan to tackle these goals in just a few years? By leaning on what works. BMO has built a solid diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) operating model that’s led, prioritized, and championed from the top of the organization.

BMO’s efforts are spearheaded by its Chief Inclusion Officer, Vanessa Lewerentz, and her team of dedicated professionals, and guided by its Leadership Committee for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, a consortium of 25+ senior executives who consult on enterprise strategic priorities and oversee progress toward DEI goals. These groups are augmented by Line of Business DEI Councils and supported by the 11 Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) that lead grassroots communities in building awareness and allyship, supporting recruitment and sponsorship efforts, and advising on strategic initiatives and best practices.

BMO’s impressive advancement in DEI is largely owed to its intentional approach and committed leadership team, along with the bank’s support of building a robust employee resource program.

At BMO, ERGs are regularly consulted as sounding boards and idea generators for the bank’s DEI initiatives. In return, BMO invests heavily in the growth and success of the ERG program and its members. Says CEO Darryl White:

BMO’s outstanding Employee Resource Groups support inclusivity by creating safe spaces for team members to expand their networks, discuss critical issues, and participate in meaningful programs that help eliminate barriers to inclusion. Mentorship, sponsorship, and championship are all driven from connections made in ERGs across our bank. Grounded in our Purpose–to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life–our ERGs are driving innovation and creating development opportunities for our people. They play a key role in fostering our award-winning, globally recognized culture.

It’s a synergistic relationship that leaders like Janie Cervera, Managing Director & Head of Client Field Services, US Wealth Management, and Global Co-Chair of the Latino Alliance ERG, hopes the next generation will use to their advantage from the start. She says, “One of the very first things I did (literally) upon returning to BMO after almost 20 years away was join an ERG, because I knew it would connect me to the organization on a personal level.” Cervera continues:

I credit part of the success in my career to the opportunities and exposure that resulted from my involvement in an ERG. Leading ERG initiatives gave me exposure to senior leaders outside my line of business, and allowed them to see my skills, passion, and leadership in action. That’s why it’s important to me that new employees understand the value they can receive, the value they can give, and the opportunities hard work can create through their participation in an ERG.

What began as an effort to maximize participation during the Covid-19 pandemic became a mission to digitize nearly every aspect of BMO’s ERG model, from learning and professional development presentations to mentorship programming to supporting employees with timely resources and information. To maintain engagement in a largely virtual setting, BMO experimented with new content formats, such as 15-minute micro-sessions and user-friendly apps like 10,000 Coffees, which uses an algorithm to pair mentors and mentees (the app is currently generating hundreds of matches each month).

Critically, the bank revitalized both the awareness and understanding of its ERGs by integrating the program directly into the new-hire onboarding process. The Welcome to BMO ERG Pathway is an onboarding module that allows new hires to learn about—and choose to join—an ERG during their first week on the job at the organization.

The results have been dramatic. Over the course of 18 months BMO nearly tripled its ERG membership numbers, from 6,000 in May of 2021 to almost 20,000 in November of 2022, which translates to a 43% participation rate among employees in North America. Through digital enablement and with a strong focus on providing equitable access, BMO’s ERG program provided virtual event delivery resulting in a 90% average increase in participation.

BMO also gave its ERG members more of what they asked for: professional development training in hard and soft skills, and more opportunities for advancement. Active involvement provides the opportunity to learn new skills and move up the ranks faster than the typical career track might allow. For BMO, it’s also a way to build a diverse talent pipeline ready for advancement.

What’s more, says Cervera, because of BMO’s federated model of governance—where ERG leaders like her have autonomy regarding how they act on strategic initiatives at the local level—ERGs can offer their members a variety of educational and professional development opportunities. She continues, “The Latino Alliance partnered with DePaul University in Chicago to sponsor a BMO MBA (Master of Business Administration Graduate Degree) cohort. We had more than 20 employees participate, and 100% graduated from the program with their MBAs.”

Those who have benefited from programs like the MBA cohort also have plenty of opportunity to pay it forward. Says Cervera, “In Chicago, our ERG has sponsored private high school scholarships for more than five years to help students in underserved Latino communities.”

Cervera shares her own experience of this cycle through her participation in EXCELerate—a sponsorship program where high-potential senior management-level employees receive high-touch sponsorship from executive leaders. She says:

I was selected to be a member of the inaugural EXCELerate cohort, received incredibly valuable hands-on sponsorship from a seasoned leader, and was successfully promoted to a more senior role. Now, I’m a sponsor in the program and have a protégé for whom I am helping open doors. I have no doubt my protégé will do the same.

Cervera feels strongly about the importance of working with her BMO colleagues to “Boldly Grow the Good in business and life,” despite the extra demands on her time. She says:

I want to be able to help the organization narrow the gap in minority representation at the most senior levels. BMO has made it possible for me to contribute to that in an environment where I feel safe sharing my ideas and concerns and empowered to take action to do what’s right for clients, colleagues, and the organization. Saying you support DEI is one thing, but having clear goals that are widely communicated, supported by the CEO, measured, and tracked for progress is true commitment. It’s amazing to see, as a minority employee, that your organization is making a difference.

Making a difference is part of BMO’s core values. The bank has been fine-tuning its efforts for decades and while it is understood that there is more work to do, it has only grown more motivated to help “Boldly Grow the Good in business and life” over time. To CEO Darryl White, there’s no room for equivocating: “There can be no middle ground on issues of inclusion. If we’re not a meaningful part of the change that must be made, then we’re part of the problem.”

Humana, BMO and Baker McKenzie Are Aligning Actions to Values
These are three of the most recent Spotlight Stories of the 70+ Catalyst CEO Champions For Cange organizations committed to advancing more women into leadership. Learn how all of these Champion CEOs accelerated change and measurably outpaced their industry peers by reading our latest report on their progress.

The post BMO: Breaking Down Systemic Barriers to “Boldly Grow the Good in business and life” (Spotlight Story) appeared first on Catalyst.

These efforts were set in motion by late Global Chair and highly regarded champion of diversity, Paul Rawlinson, and have been steadfastly pursued by Baker McKenzie’s current Global Chair, Milton Cheng, as well as senior leaders throughout the firm.

Says Cheng:

Closing the gender gap in our senior leadership is all of our responsibility. I am committed to ensuring that all of our people are given fair opportunity to advance and thrive at Baker McKenzie. Gender equality benefits us all.

Critically, Baker McKenzie’s leaders also understood that a change of this magnitude—impacting some 4,800 attorneys (and 13,250 employees altogether) in 74 offices across 45 locations worldwide—would require more than a quick fix. They needed to spur systemic change on a global scale, which they kickstarted by setting bold but achievable goals (GATs) on a deadline. But to turn those goals into sustainable action, they needed to embed GATs into the heart of the organization and hold themselves accountable by measuring their progress along the way.

As a first step on this journey, Baker McKenzie convened a GAT project team which met with groups across the firm to determine the most efficient path forward. The team concluded that building GAT and diversity imperatives into two key areas—partner promotions and recruitment—would have the greatest impact at the senior-most levels in the shortest amount of time. Later, GAT considerations would be woven into other processes, like succession planning and mentorship and sponsorship programs.

The new requirements were firm but simple: all external candidate pools for recruitment of partners or senior business professionals should meet the 40/40/20 targets. And beginning in July 2020, at least one out of every four partner promotions in offices that did not have at least 25% women partners should be a woman. Other regions were tasked with inclusion goals that went beyond the GATs. In the US, for example, leadership is working to increase representation at the senior levels among marginalized racial and ethnic groups—to 15% of principals, 20% of national partners, and 15% of leadership—by 2025.

Baker McKenzie’s culture was already conducive to adapting in the name of inclusivity—and embedding GAT considerations into existing processes also helped maximize buy-in—but none of this made instituting such large-scale change efforts seamless. However, because the teams most instrumental in driving change, such as recruiting, felt empowered to have the difficult conversations necessary—whether with external recruiters or colleagues—this new method of operating soon became the norm. By working together across teams, with steady support and communication from the executive committee, many of the hesitations that often accompany process changes have largely been overcome.

The progress made toward the GATs since 2019 has been substantial. Perhaps most notably, the firm has met its goal of women comprising 40% of all standing global committees, including the executive committee, as of October 2022. In addition, 30 of Baker McKenzie’s offices have increased their percentage of women principals, with a 6% increase globally, to 25%. There has been a 2% global increase in women local partners (LPs) up to 35%, which is close to meeting the GAT goal of 40%.

But GATs are not just being met through system-wide approaches. The firm has a number of smaller-scale programs that have successfully contributed to gender parity for years and continue to do so today. One of these is Leaders Investing For Tomorrow (LIFT), a personalized, highly focused, 12-month global sponsorship and leadership development program designed to support the progression of high-potential women into senior leadership roles. Since its inception in 2017, LIFT has greatly benefited the careers of almost 150 alumnae, of which 80+% have moved into leadership roles.

Anahita Thoms, Global Sustainability Lead Partner and Head of International Trade, Germany, is one of those LIFT alumnae. Thoms, who was a participant in the 2018 LIFT cohort, says that while the sponsorship and professional development aspects of LIFT were extremely valuable to her career, it was the connections she made with fellow participants that made a lasting impact:

What I really liked was meeting these women from all over the world, who were at a similar level in their careers, and were having some of the same experiences as I was, but whom I likely wouldn’t have met were it not for LIFT. Because we were brought together from different regions, we were able to build a network and develop trust. So, we could openly discuss opportunities and challenges, business and personal. It’s so valuable to have an internal support network of people who can relate to your experience.

This sentiment reflects the need for the kind of wholehearted representation and inclusion for which Baker McKenzie is striving. The firm wants employees to see themselves reflected in their colleagues and leaders, and feel free to be themselves among their peers. It’s something, Thoms says, that the next generation is championing:

Everyone at the firm is well aware of the 40/40/20 GATs. Leaders, of course, but I would actually say that our junior associates are perhaps most aware of them, because they care so much about the topic. In every career recruitment call I participate in, there are always questions like, ‘How do you support women?’ ‘What are you doing to support a diverse workforce?’ These things are a real priority for them.

But it’s not just young lawyers and new hires who are actively lobbying for more diversity. Clients are also seeking increased diversity from their outside counsel. Many regularly request firms’ diversity statistics and often require diverse teams for projects.

To Thoms, and Baker McKenzie as a whole, this is just good business. Says Thoms:

I really believe that diversity of thought leads to higher profitability. Having people from different socio-economic backgrounds, different regions, or of different ethnicities… The best people with all of these different experiences means that as a team or as an organization, you really do think differently, and that’s an advantage.

For Thoms, who recently assumed the role of Head of the German I&D Committee, it’s important that, “Every time you get, you give back twice.” This is why she also mentors in the firm’s Rise program—a mentoring program designed to advance the visibility and career development of mid- to senior-level women associates—and will act as a sponsor in next year’s LIFT program in addition to having multiple external and informal mentees. She explains:

I’m happy to be able to help younger people go after their dreams, irrespective of gender, irrespective of race, or their social background, and I really see how my mentees thrive within and outside of Baker McKenzie. I want to empower younger colleagues to support each other both to maintain our diversity of thought but also to help grow a healthy, profitable business.

The notion that a diverse and inclusive culture contributes substantially to the well-being of a business seems to be at the heart of Baker McKenzie’s many efforts. And while there is still work to be done on the journey to achieving equity, the firm’s leaders are proud of their successes and are committed to continuing to make progress year over year. The firm was first among its peers to declare its aspirations around gender equity and continues to demonstrate its dedication to diversity and inclusion both internally and in the world at large.

Humana, BMO and Baker McKenzie Are Aligning Actions to Values
These are three of the most recent Spotlight Stories of the 70+ Catalyst CEO Champions For Cange organizations committed to advancing more women into leadership. Learn how all of these Champion CEOs accelerated change and measurably outpaced their industry peers by reading our latest report on their progress.

The post Baker McKenzie: Transforming Goals Into Action Through Gender-Aspirational Targets (Spotlight Story) appeared first on Catalyst.

According to the newly released Aligning Actions to Values: Catalyst CEO Champions For Change report, women represent 28% of executives at Champion companies, compared to 23% among their global peers.

These companies are led by more than 70 CEOs pledging to advance women across ethnic and racial groups into leadership roles. For the first time since the initiative was launched in 2017, this group provided insight on pay equity reviews, which are critical for advancing women and ensuring fair business practices.

In the United States, where most Champion companies are based, the gender pay gap for full-time employees is 16.9%, with larger gaps for women from marginalized racial and ethnic groups. This report shows that the vast majority of Champion companies (82%) conducted at least one pay equity review within the last three years—a higher proportion than found in other studies—indicating that they are models for other organizations to follow.

Champion companies are also ahead of the Fortune 500 overall in women’s board representation (35% compared to 27%), including the representation of women from marginalized racial and ethnic groups (8% compared to 6%). As a group, these companies exceed the 30% threshold known as critical mass, which decades of social science research has found shifts group dynamics and leads to improvements in corporate governance performance.

“We know that what gets measured gets managed,” said Catalyst President & CEO Lorraine Hariton. “We applaud these leaders and their organizations for prioritizing and driving equity with methodical measurement and transparency.” Catalyst believes the disclosure of diversity, equity, and inclusion metrics and goals illustrates a deep strategic commitment to a fair environment and should be a universal corporate practice.

The Catalyst CEO Champions For Change companies represent more than 11 million employees and over $3 trillion in revenue globally. Since global data collection began in 2018, this group has continually outperformed their global peers in the representation of women across the leadership pipeline.

Read the report and learn more about Catalyst CEO Champions For Change at catalyst.org/champions.

About Catalyst

Catalyst is a global nonprofit supported by many of the world’s most powerful CEOs and leading companies to help build workplaces that work for women. Founded in 1962, Catalyst drives change with preeminent thought leadership, actionable solutions, and a galvanized community of multinational corporations to accelerate and advance women into leadership—because progress for women is progress for everyone.

Contacts
Erin Souza-Rezendes
Vice President, Global Communications
Catalyst
erezendes@catalyst.org

Stephanie Wolf
US Communications Consultant
Catalyst
stephanie@stephaniewolfpr.com

The post Catalyst CEO Champions For Change Advance Women, Pay Equity (Media Release) appeared first on Catalyst.