OUR PEOPLE
CULTURE OF CARE
We put our employees and our values at the forefront of all our decisions and actions, ensuring our employees feel safe and supported so they can make, market, and sell our products with the finest craftsmanship, quality, and care.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION STRATEGY
Our Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) vision is to create an environment where leveraging D&I occurs naturally, giving us a sustainable marketplace advantage.
Brown-Forman’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion is led by a Chief Diversity Inclusion and Community Relations Officer who reports directly to the CEO, ensuring the senior-most executive leader at the company is guiding — and ultimately held accountable for — the overall strategy and success of Brown-Forman’s D&I initiatives.
However, we believe that D&I is the responsibility of all Brown-Forman employees. For that reason, the leadership within each of our functions and regions is responsible for driving programs that support our overall diversity strategy, while also addressing the unique regional diversity needs in the communities where we work, live, and conduct business. For fiscal 2020, every employee has been challenged to create a D&I learning objective as part of our performance planning process.
For more information on our D&I strategy and efforts, please visit our Diversity & Inclusion page
Learning and Listening
We cultivate a caring culture that empowers each of us to grow personally and professionally. To help us understand our colleagues’ commitment to the company and where we need to do better, we periodically conduct an all-employee engagement and enablement survey.
Key findings from our Employee Engagement & Enablement Survey
95% |
Participation, up 4% |
84% |
Engagement rate maintained |
83% |
Enablement** rate, up 1% |
|
* Compared to 2016 results ** Employees are in the right roles with the right resources to succeed |
|
Supporting Good Health
The COVID-19 pandemic has tested every company’s culture, including ours, and reminded us that Brown‑Forman is a truly special place. Throughout the pandemic, the safety and health of our people has been paramount, and we have used our values to guide our planning, policies, and practices.
While we know there will be a time when COVID-19 is a page in our past, there are other parts of our approach to employee well-being that are much more permanent. Our Live Well program, for example, is a way we care for our people and benefit from health and well-being. It gives all employees, along with their family members covered by company health plans, online access to coaching, tools, programs, and incentives. These offerings cover a wide range of topics to promote physical, mental, and financial health.
Building a Diverse Family
Creating a culture of belonging where every individual can bring his or her true self to work is absolutely essential to our success and to our caring environment. The more diverse the skills, talents, and perspectives we can draw on, and the more inclusive our workplace, the better placed Brown-Forman is for the future.
Our Employee Resource Group (ERG) networks help solidify strong team relationships and trust between our people. The ERGs also act as innovation hubs, fostering our people’s unique capabilities and contributing to our business success. More information about our ERGs is available here.
Our Newest ERG–EAST
In fiscal 2020, we were excited to launch our newest ERG, EAST (Embracing Asian Society and Traditions). It celebrates and promotes awareness of Asian cultures, and contributes unique business insights on Asian markets. Read more about our ERGs.
Human Rights
Our overall commitment to respecting the fundamental human rights inherent to all people is described in our Global Human Rights statement. We share our policies and practices with suppliers, including our requirements and expectations against human rights abuses in our business.
