2019 CSR Report
The ITW Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Council, led by ITW’s Vice Chairman Chris O’Herlihy and other senior leaders, helps drive progress. Our progress is ingrained in our comprehensive enterprise D&I framework, which ensures we embody a global and inclusive view when it comes to talent. The D&I framework includes four key areas:
We expect our leaders to embody ITW’s values with global cultural awareness. A core responsibility of our leaders is to build and develop a diverse pipeline of talent, contribute to achieving our enterprise diversity goals and be stewards of our D&I initiatives.
xDiverse backgrounds bring unique perspectives, helping to drive innovation and organic growth – key objectives of ITW’s business strategy. In order to compete successfully in a global market, we must continue to focus on attracting and retaining the best talent that is reflective of our global communities.
xCreating an environment where all team members feel valued is critical. This includes promoting employee development, actively seeking different perspectives and supporting ITW’s Employee Resource Groups.
xWe strive to be a great employer and commit to working diligently to strengthen and sustain ITW’s unique and differentiated enterprise brand. Our efforts include sharing our progress and success and being an active member of our communities through key professional associations, universities and community partnerships that align with our D&I goals.
xWe remain committed to achieving our D&I goals and enhancing the diversity of our global leadership teams. We have seen significant improvement since beginning our current D&I strategy in 2013. As noted earlier, our continued progress requires us to build a sustainable, deep and diverse talent pipeline of Great ITW Leaders for our global leadership roles. We look forward to sharing our continued progress.
Our goal is to create inclusive work environments that enable our colleagues to contribute their best work. We are focused on ensuring colleagues feel valued for their unique backgrounds, perspectives and experiences while also having a strong sense of belonging as a key member of the team.
At ITW Construction Products UK-Nordics Division, the division’s D&I committee is focused on reinforcing inclusion across its work locations. A key initiative in 2019 included addressing mental health and wellness among their 700 colleagues. The team’s bottom-up approach started with training 15 of their colleagues to serve as Mental Wellness Champions to proactively promote and support mental wellness. Throughout 2019, the champions leveraged key awareness days, such as World Mental Health Day, to hold activities at their sites, including stress management workshops and forums to discuss mental health wellness. By year end, 30 division colleagues were trained and serving as Mental Wellness Champions, with plans to build on the enthusiasm for inclusion.
For the last three years, ITW has joined more than 600 companies in participating in McKinsey & Company’s Women in the Workplace Study – the largest comprehensive study of the state of women in corporate America. As part of this study, ITW also surveys its employees. In 2019, ITW distributed the survey to over 5,200 U.S. women and men professional colleagues to better understand their ITW workplace experiences. Of the ITW colleagues surveyed, 82 percent recommended ITW as a great place to work, and 78 percent were happy with their jobs. The results and feedback from the survey are being used to develop action plans and further progress our D&I efforts.
Our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are employee-led organizations that bring together diverse groups of people to share experiences and innovative ideas to help accelerate our path to full potential. These groups directly support the enterprise talent strategy with specific focus on attracting, retaining and developing talent and promoting cultural diversity and community. In 2019, our ERGs grew to over 45 global chapters, increasing in employee outreach and engagement.