DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION
We strive to create an environment centered around our eight core values, where diversity, equity and inclusion fuel opportunities for our associates, communities, and suppliers.
At The Home Depot, we define diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) as:
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Diversity: Composition of people, such as their similarities and differences (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation)
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Equity: Norms, practices and policies in place that ensure just and fair opportunities and outcomes, allowing individuals to reach their full potential
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Inclusion: How we embrace and enable our associates to feel safe, respected, engaged, motivated and valued for who they are and their contributions
To create positive change for associates, we are working to increase diverse representation throughout our organization; create an environment where every associate feels included and valued; and promote equal opportunity in recruitment, hiring, training, development and advancement. Our efforts have been recognized by others, including Forbes, which ranked The Home Depot on its list of Best Employers for Diversity in 2021.
+CHECK IT OUT: Hear from Chief Diversity Officer Derek Bottoms about how The Home Depot is expanding our DEI mission. Listen to his Give Me an H podcast interview.
LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT
The Home Depot’s learning and development programs expand skills and capabilities so associates can master their current roles and prepare for future ones. We strive to build a learning-rich workplace where associates and leaders are prepared to succeed, motivated to serve our customers well and given opportunities to grow. We see results from our approach to turning front-line jobs into careers: Approximately 90% of our U.S. store leaders started as hourly associates.
We support associate training at all levels of the career journey. As a result of our efforts, in fiscal 2021 we achieved our goal to create career advancement opportunities for 50,000 front-line associates over a five-year period.
+CHECK IT OUT: Hear 22-year associate, Kisha Perez, discuss how Home Depot’s focus on teaching and development helped her go from part-time cashier to department supervisor.
ASSOCIATE ENGAGEMENT
Associate engagement is the emotional connection associates have to our company and our goals. It is vital to The Home Depot’s culture and success.
Associate Resource Groups
Our associate resource groups (ARGs) drive associate engagement and promote inclusion through fostering development, raising cultural awareness, celebrating diversity and community outreach.
In fiscal 2021, we met our goal to expand our ARGs beyond our Store Support Center (corporate facility) to include more associates and increase engagement and participation. Through our new associate engagement platform, Yammer, all our U.S. associates are now able to access our ARGs. We also leveraged Yammer to reach more associates with C.A.R.E. talks, a series of diversity discussions that Champion Awareness, Respect, and Equity for all associates.
Voice of the Associate
Highly engaged associates care about their work and the performance of The Home Depot. Our passion is to create an engaging and inclusive workplace; we do so by proactively listening and responding to associate feedback.
In fiscal 2021, we introduced an additional Voice of the Associate survey to all our associates. Our two Voice of the Associate surveys – Census and Pulse – provided us the opportunity to hear from our associates at least twice in 2021. Our Census survey is an annual in-depth look at our associate’s engagement and satisfaction with their job and with the Home Depot, while our Pulse survey is typically shorter and seeks feedback on specific topics. Based on the Voice of the Associate 2021 Census survey, we saw the highest engagement numbers across the enterprise that we have seen in the past few years.
In addition, we also added two additional surveys – Onboarding and Exit, into our “Lifecycle Listening” toolbelt. These additional surveys allow us to intentionally connect with associates at specific moments within their career at The Home Depot.
Engagement Platform
In fiscal 2021, our new associate engagement platform - Yammer, which was launched at the end of fiscal 2020 - helped create new collaboration spaces and opportunities for reaching associates across the business.
Whether through on-site desktops or on-the-go mobile devices, more than 450,000 associates across the U.S. and Canada have access to Yammer. With more than 650 active communities in the network, the digital hub links associates to both their local co-workers and corporate support across North America. It serves as a central hub to recognize associates for living our values, promote company news, cultivate connections between front-line and corporate associates and fuel the orange-blooded entrepreneurial spirit that’s part of what drives our business every day.
+DID YOU KNOW: In 2022, we announced a goal to achieve $5 billion in direct annual spend with diverse suppliers by 2025. Learn more about our supplier diversity efforts here.