Elementis strives to create a culture where all employees feel safe, respected, valued, and empowered to contribute ideas and perspectives. We recognise that the diversity of our people and the inclusive nature of our culture are intrinsic to better business decisions and fundamental to the success of our strategy.
Our DE&I Leadership Council is co-chaired by the CEO and CHRO and is represented by senior leaders who have a passion for DE&I. During 2022, the council delivered functional and business segment DE&I strategies, and are further driving greater accountability within the organization. The council has continued to deliver against their road map with initiatives centred around knowledge and culture, process and policy, and communications and reporting.
In 2022, education for DE&I topics has been focused on creating an inclusive culture and continuing to build leadership skills through a Train the Trainer series. Expert speakers addressed foundations of inclusion in organizations and active cultural advocacy while compliance training was delivered to all employees on microaggressions and allyship. Over 323 hours of self-directed Linkedin Learning DE&I content was logged, and Allyship and Advocacy workshops were delivered to 220 people managers globally.
Elementis is an equal opportunities employer and considers applications for employment from all backgrounds. We provide facilities, equipment and training to assist all employees. Should an employee become differently abled during their employment, efforts would be made to retain them in their current role or to explore opportunities for redeployment in the Group. In 2022, the Facility Access Program executed on removing physical barriers, with 14 sites completing plans.
Our employee resource groups (ERGs) are becoming more established and are helping raise awareness of various topics and perspectives. The global Women in Leadership forum has organised external speakers for a range of topics and established a framework for “Listening Lounges” to be facilitated regionally in 2023. In the US, Empowering Each Other, a local women in leadership forum, was established to create greater opportunities for learning, mentoring and volunteering in the community.
We have a Board composition with 37.5% female Board members. Our strategy to increase gender diversity continues to result in a greater proportion of females in senior positions, up to 34% in 2022 (from 31 in 2021). We align with the FTSE Women Leaders definition of senior positions, that is our ELT and direct reports excluding administrative roles. Across the whole employee population, gender diversity has remained flat at 24% in 2022. This compares with 37% women in manufacturing roles (International Labour Organisation data).
| % Female | 2022 ex. Chromium | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior leaders* | 37 | 34 | 31 | 30 | 25 |
| Total | 26 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 23 |
*ELT and direct reports, excluding administrative personnel
Considering our continuing operations (excluding employees in the divested Chromium business), our total female percentage becomes 26%, with 37% as senior leaders.
The Board meets the target referred to in the Parker Review for there to be at least one individual on the Board from a minority ethnic background.
Ethnic minorities make up 24.7% of our workforce in the US** in 2022 – up from 22.8% in the previous year.
**Based on self-identification and voluntary declaration of ethnicity.