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Jacobs - We live inclusion

Category: Staff Network Group

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At Jacobs, we understand that “inclusion” is a verb, not a noun. It means being transparent and taking action on our statements, commitments and initiatives that drives meaningful, measurable change both in our company and in the communities that we serve. It means creating a workplace where our differences are accepted, celebrated and harnessed to bring the innovative, extraordinary solutions clients demand from us. It means creating a culture of belonging where everyone can thrive — a culture that we call TogetherBeyond℠. 

 

Bold, accountable leadership

We are operationalizing TogetherBeyond and amplifying inclusive behaviors and improving diversity at all levels of our organization, from our Board of Directors and Executive Leadership Team to the 21,000 members of our eight grassroots employee networks. Our Board of Directors is now 55% diverse and our Executive Leadership Team 67% diverse (race and gender).

We are committed to holding all leaders accountable to making sure that broad-based diversity is reflected in their own teams, using data analytics to measure our progress with the same rigor and transparency as our financial performance metrics. Inclusive behaviors are now a key formal component of all our leaders’ performance and salary reviews, and all leaders at Vice President level and above are required to mentor two or more junior members of staff, at least one of whom must have a different lived experience from themselves (i.e. on the basis of ethnicity, gender, race, geography, disability, sexuality or veteran status). With this framework in place, we can be confident of delivering on bold, aspirational goals such as those of our global Action Plan for Advancing Justice and Equality and our 2025 aspirational 40:40:20 goal (40% men, 40% women and 20% any gender) — to ensure that we are propelling a new generation of diverse visionary thinkers throughout our company.

 

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Driving equality at every level

Through TogetherBeyond we tackle topics that are important to our employees such as equality, unconscious bias and allyship. While providing training and resources to our people is important — over 97% of them have completed our Advocate & Ally inclusion learning program — equally effective are the regular authentic and courageous conversations our grassroots employee networks are creating around these topics.

Partnering with members of these networks has allowed us to launch meaningful policies and programs that directly impact the wellbeing and potential of our people:

  • Our focus on creating equal opportunities within Jacobs, including as to historically underrepresented groups continues to increase as we deliver on the promises laid out in last year’s global Action Plan for Advancing Justice and Equality.
  • In partnership with McKinsey, nearly 300 employees are participating in their Connected Leaders Academy programs, which seek to create a unique learning environment and safe space for sharing common experiences, helping promising Black, Latinx and Asian employees build their network and become part of a new wave of Jacobs leaders.
  • Our Black and Latinx employee networks, Harambee and Enlace, continue to lead STEAM outreach efforts in the communities that we serve and are working to bring a new generation of diverse visionaries from underrepresented and underserved groups into the industry.
  • We also galvanized our commitment to supporting indigenous communities in the regions that we serve, rolling out anti-Indigenous-racism training and observing Canada’s first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with a video message from Steve Demetriou. In Australia we observed National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Week by celebrating the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and launching our Reconciliation Action Plan to educate employees and remove any existing barriers preventing indigenous communities from joining our company and supply chain.
  • In partnership with our Women’s Network, we launched gender-balanced interview teams, provided flexible working arrangements, improved caregiver leave, rolled out our first domestic violence policy in Australia/New Zealand, piloted a “Male Champions of Change” allyship program, and created “Bridge the Gap”, a program that actively supports parents returning to work.

Delivering our Action Plan for Advancing Justice and Equality — Key Achievements

In January, we observed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a U.S. company holiday for the first time, and encouraged all of our U.S. employees to make it a “day on, rather than a day off” by using the day to volunteer in their communities to honor Dr. King’s legacy.

We invested over $500,000 in contributions tangibly benefitting the Black community and helping create a new generation of Black talent through targeted STEAM programs. Examples include a partnership with SEED LA’s new campus in South Los Angeles, scholarships for outstanding Black students at the University of Connecticut and with the Cowrie Scholarship Foundation in the U.K., and a Tier 1 partnership with Howard University where Jacobs is renovating a computer lab and creating five scholarships.

We are focusing on growing our Supplier Diversity Program Framework, spending over $1.3bn in 2021 on diverse suppliers across the company.

  • We are taking action, in partnership with our Prism network, to ensure that our LGBTQ+ family can truly “bring their whole best self to work”, establishing gender-neutral restrooms, publishing guidance to support transgender employees who are transitioning at work and supporting the employee and manager with trained HR specialists and ensuring U.S. healthcare plans are inclusive. Jacobs colleagues around the globe joined Prism, our LGBTQ+ network, in celebrating events like Pride Month, Transgender Day of Visibility, Non-Binary People’s Day and International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia. We also joined Tent’s LGBTQ+ Refugee Mentorship initiative, committing to mentoring over 50 refugees who have fled persecution from Afghanistan and other countries.
  • At Jacobs, we value the unique insights and talents that people with disabilities bring to our culture and business practices. In partnership with ACE, our employee network for people with disability and their allies, we are developing our company’s first Accessibility Action Plan, to be launched in FY22. Earlier this year, Steve Demetriou became one of 72 CEOs to sign Disability:IN’s CEO Letter on Disability Inclusion, demonstrating our commitment to creating an inclusive global economy where people with disabilities participate fully and meaningfully. We also joined The Valuable 500, an organization that seeks to ensure disability inclusion is on business leadership agendas across the globe.
  • Through VetNet, our employee network for veterans, their families and current military reserve members, we continue to work to recruit, develop and retain the best military and veteran talent, partnering with key organizations like Hiring Our Heroes, Boots2Roots and HirePurpose. In November we were proud to receive the HIRE Vets Gold Medallion for Veteran Recruiting. Our One World employee network continues to celebrate cultures around the world and foster global connectivity, nurturing and supporting our diverse employees and clients across all ethnicities and cultures.
  • Empowering employees to maximize their potential, our Jacobs Careers Network continues to organize and support career-enriching development and networking opportunities in all our geographies.

 

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VERCIDA works with over one hundred clients who are committed to creating an inclusive work environment. If you are an employer and interested in working with VERCIDA to promote your diversity and inclusion initiatives and attract the best candidates, please email [email protected] for more information.

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