Dow (No. 3 on the 2024 Top 50 Companies list) recently published its 2023 INtersections Progress Report. While the report highlights Dow’s progress in sustainability, workplace safety and corporate governance, significant time is dedicated to discussing the future of inclusion, diversity and equity (ID&E) at the company. Titled ALL IN 2025, Dow’s ID&E strategy focuses on embedding inclusion into a range of business functions. Three Inclusion Councils—the President’s Inclusion Council, the Senior Leaders’ Inclusion Council and the Joint Inclusion Council—drive the strategy across the enterprise. Such oversight demonstrates a top-down commitment to fostering an inclusive culture.
Past Progress and Future Potential
The report showcases several achievements on the road to Dow’s goal of “breakthrough results by 2025.” The company has made significant progress in improving representation for ethnic minorities in its U.S. workforce. Across Dow’s global workforce, women have also made gains in representation equity. The company has also seen increased participation in Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), with 61% of employees participating in one of Dow’s 600+ global ERG chapters. Other achievements included improved employee satisfaction and heightened spend with diverse suppliers.
Dow’s ALL IN 2025 strategy emphasizes leadership accountability as an essential tool to meet the company’s ID&E goals. Dow measures inclusion progress through specific metrics that are linked to the annual performance awards for leaders. This accountability tool, combined with an annual employee survey that includes ID&E questions, tracks progress and drives improvements.
Workplace Flexibility
Dow has also committed to cultivating a workplace that better caters to its employees’ needs. The Design Your Day (DYD) initiative, for example, encourages employees and managers to work together to develop flexible working arrangements that promote greater productivity and employee satisfaction. The company offers a global parental leave policy providing a minimum of 16 weeks of paid time off to all parents. A family caregiver leave policy also offers paid time off for employees with sick or injured family members. Dow also encourages community engagement through volunteer days.
Read the full 2023 INtersections Progress Report.
