This week we launched our new Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) strategy. The aim of the new strategy? Ensure everyone in Tate & Lyle is seen, heard and valued, and our teams reflect the local communities we serve.
To start this process, we had hundreds of conversations across Tate & Lyle globally and now have a fuller understanding of where we are today and where we are striving to be in the future.
We believe equity, diversity, and inclusion are vital to us achieving our purpose – Improving Lives for Generations – and to accelerate the global growth of our business.
As a business founded on expertise and creativity, we need to celebrate how our unique differences generate better ideas and deeper insights, empowering us to lead the next food revolution for and with our customers.
To do this we have set out commitments and ambitious goals for the coming two, five and 10 years across four key areas: Systems, Talent, Culture and Society. We are committing to bold, actionable goals within each ED&I pillar.
You can read more about this action plan in our forthcoming 2021 Purpose Report, but here is a taste of what we will be tackling in the next 12-24 months to ensure everyone in Tate & Lyle is seen, heard and valued:
- Redesigning recruitment and performance to mitigate bias, diversify our talent pipeline and produce equitable retention and advancement opportunities.
- Pursuing more inclusive and localised benefits that better reflect the needs of our people across an intersectional range of identities.
- Better understanding who is in our global workforce and what their experiences are of inclusion, equity and allyship.
- Modernising and scaling our ED&I learning to build capability and confidence
- Expanding networks, visibility and mobility for a diverse range of talent by launching a sponsorship programme.
- Strategically growing our Employee Resource Groups
- Formalising a supplier diversity programme that meets increasing customer demands
Lauren von Stackelberg (she/her), our Chief Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer, explains: “I’m often asked, what’s a quick win in ED&I? And my answer is, there isn’t one! We alone can’t fix all of society’s deep-rooted, systemic inequalities around race/ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, socio-economic background, neurodiversity and more.
“What we can do, as a company and in our working lives, is recognise and remove barriers to equity wherever we find them. We can serve society by doing this at scale for and with our customers, suppliers, and communities. My aspiration is to make our purposeful brand synonymous with ED&I.”
We will continue to listen and learn, and our strategy will evolve with the needs and priorities of our business.
It’s an exciting time to work at Tate & Lyle for a variety of reasons, and our new ED&I strategy will set us on course to achieve many of our goals, fostering an inclusive culture where everyone can be seen, heard and valued.