Diversity & inclusion can have a number of meanings depending on one's geographic location and experiences. To most, it references topics such as race, gender or religion.
At Abercrombie & Fitch, we approach diversity and inclusion from a very broad perspective, recognising that there are 25 different dimensions of diversity that make up who we are.
In short, we define diversity and inclusion as follows:
Diversity is about who you are as an individual – what's seen and unseen. It also includes the rich differences between individuals such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, language, and education.
Inclusion is about embracing those differences, and thoughtfully and enthusiastically enabling those differences to equally contribute.
Our commitment
At Abercrombie & Fitch, which now operates stores in the US, Europe and Asia, we are firmly committed to increasing and utilising the diversity of our associates and management team across the organisation. Those differences are supported by a culture of inclusion, so that we better understand our customers, capitalise on the talents of our workforce and have an inclusive mindset that values every dimension of diversity.
Our strategy
To ensure that we uphold Abercrombie & Fitch's commitment with diversity and inclusion and to effectively manage this initiative, we have six diversity drivers that make up our diversity and inclusion strategy. These drivers give structure and direction for the initiative at Abercrombie & Fitch. Much like a soccer team develops a coordinated strategy to score goals; our strategy helps us achieve very specific goals in creating and sustaining a more inclusive environment for our associates and customers.
Our six diversity drivers
• Leadership commitment
• Employee engagement
• Measurement and accountability
• Communication
• Training and education
• Policy integration
In addition to our six drivers, we also partner and sponsor organisations that align with and compliment our commitment to equality and inclusion. The evidence of our commitment can be seen through our strong partnerships with groups such as The National Society of High School Scholars, which has 700,000 members across 160 countries, and support for sponsorship opportunities such as the European Diversity Awards, and the NYSE Euronext Global Diversity Leadership Exchange (NYX is the first cross-border exchange group created by the combination of the New York Stock Exchange Group and Euronext NV, in 2007).
As mentioned above, we are especially pleased and excited about our new relationship with the European Diversity Awards. Its reach and efforts to unite Europe on issues related to such issues a race, culture, sexual orientation, religion and disabilities is unmatched. It has afforded us the unique opportunity to connect with an effort that aligns well with our corporate culture of inclusion and support the dialogue for equality, while we expand our brand throughout Europe.
As a founding corporate partner of the event that awards the 'diversity champion of the year' category, our associates and customers were able to see our commitment in action. In fact, one of our European recruiters commented on how "proud he was to be part of a company that truly invests in this issue". A statement like this is meaningful and translates into a form of corporate brand equity.
Finally, a successful diversity and inclusion program must have the support from the top leadership within the organisation and engagement among its associates. One way we have our top leadership involved is by relying on our Executive Diversity Council (vice president and above from different aspects of the business; HR, allocation, stores, finance, and so on) at our corporate office - with members from both the US and Switzerland, Stores Diversity Council for our store's organisation (with members located across the US, Europe and Asia), and a DC Diversity Council for our distribution centre associates. Simultaneously, we engage our associates through social media and interactive learning modules to help create the connections they need to sustain our efforts. In the words of one associate, "A&F has made me much more interested in other people, their cultures and has made this world seem a lot smaller knowing that people are much more alike than I ever imagined."
To learn more about what Abercrombie & Fitch is doing globally, click here.
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