The DEI Imperative
Diversity, equity and inclusion — collectively known as DEI — are no longer buzzwords in the corporate world. DEI is now an imperative, and the convenience store industry's retailers and suppliers are increasingly taking notice and taking action.
“As the recognized industry leader, we have a responsibility to accelerate diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) at 7-Eleven. Given today’s marketplace and the incredibly diverse makeup of the customers we serve, it’s not only the right thing to do, it’s a business imperative,” said Treasa Bowers, vice president of human resources and Women’s DE&I and Belonging at Irving, Texas based 7-Eleven Inc., the nation’s largest convenience store chain. “Having a diverse and inclusive culture is core to the 7-Eleven value proposition for both our workforce and customers. It is incredibly important to both stakeholder groups and gives us a competitive advantage, especially when it comes to core growth drivers like innovation and building loyalty.”
While the topic of diversity, equity and inclusion isn’t new, 2020 and 2021 served as a wakeup call for companies to reexamine their DEI initiatives, particularly in light of what some are calling The Great Resignation, the examination of the Voting Rights Act in the United States, and the Black Lives Matter protests around the world, among many other human rights concerns in society, noted Steven Kramer, CEO of WorkJam, a Montreal-based company that helps businesses with frontline employees deliver a superior employee experience.
“Advancing workplace diversity is more important today than ever before,” he said. “Workplaces are essential to each individual’s ability to grow and care for themselves or their families, and they are also the place where social issues are discussed and debated, whether we as leaders acknowledge that or not. Our customers and employees are taking their business (including their choices where to work) to companies with a proven commitment to DE&I.”
Reflecting Your Community
At Fort Worth, Texas-based Yesway Inc., which operates more than 400 convenience stores across a nine-state footprint, the DEI journey centers on reflecting the communities it serves.
“We want a true meritocracy and culture of excellence. A commitment to diversity must change culture and not merely be a strategy,” explained Derek Gaskins, chief marketing officer at Yesway. “To ensure the exercise is authentic, all levels of the organization must embrace change for it to take root. Culture change is systemic and that is what it takes to commit to diversity, equity and inclusion.”
At Yesway, the DEI commitment comes from the top down. CEO Tom Trkla has championed diversity throughout his career, and the proof is evident in the company’s senior leadership team, according to Gaskins. Additionally, more than 61 percent of Yesway’s roughly 5,300 corporate and retail employees are women, and more than 43 percent are persons of color.
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., the Laval Quebec-based parent company of Circle K, has a similar mission: representing its customers and its communities.
“As part of our stated sustainability ambitions, we are working toward equity in opportunity, representation and pay. We are committed to a workplace where all team members feel safe, respected and able to develop their full potential. And our aim is that our people and management teams better represent the diverse communities where we work and operate,” said Elisa Goria, global lead for dispensed beverages at Couche-Tard and a D&I advisor to the retailer’s Executive Council for Diversity & Inclusion.
From Vision to Action
Companies are undertaking a variety of initiatives to turn their DEI goals into reality.
Yesway aims to make steady progress with an emphasis on starting local. Hiring locally as much as possible and leveraging tools like in-store community bulletin boards enables the retailer to support local needs. Its goal is to empower store managers to engage with their local communities, focus on the creation of inclusion, and drive positive business outcomes.
“We aim to continue to empower our regional, district and store managers to support the local communities they serve,” said Gaskins. “We give them autonomy with some oversight to get involved and sponsor worthy causes.”
On the corporate level, Yesway recently launched an organization called Black Kids Predict that is designed to help inner-city Chicago youth develop a passion for STEAM careers (science, technology, engineering, analytics and math). The retailer also supports numerous organizations, including universities and social justice groups, and it supports its executives who serve on boards and organizations working to improve social justice, diversity and inclusion.
Couche-Tard views DEI as a shared responsibility across the organization.
Believing “it takes a village,” the c-store operator encourages its employees throughout the company’s global network — from its stores to operations, IT, fuels, marketing, finance and more — to join its business resource groups. Couche-Tard started with the formation of its Women's Council about four years ago. Since then, it’s added five more business resource groups to address other underrepresented minorities: Race; Culture & Ethnicity in both Europe and the U.S.; Disability Inclusion; and LGBTQ+.
“We aim to turn courageous conversations into measurable action, driving change and building a more equitable workplace that reflects the diversity of our team members and customers,” said Letty George, director of global communications and a D&I advisor to the company’s Executive Council for Diversity & Inclusion.
Couche-Tard also use its frontline mobile app to engage with store employees, encouraging them to share content around the DEI journey and open further discussion. It hosts culture-building celebrations and educational opportunities across its global network. And just recently, it launched a partnership with CALIBR, a strategic talent development partner dedicated to accelerating the readiness of mid-level Black executives for senior executive roles.
“We know that change doesn’t happen overnight, but these initiatives are part of our journey of creating an environment where our minority team members can grow and bring their authentic selves to work,” said George. “We want to create a pipeline for developing diverse talent as we work toward our D&I ambition of equity. And we will continue to research further partnerships and growth opportunities for all our underrepresented groups.”
At 7-Eleven, its commitment to DE&I is built on three guiding principles: be intentional, be authentic, and be accountable. All three principles work together to help the retailer make decisions about DE&I initiatives and track progress, as well as identify opportunities for growth and improvement, Bowers explained.
“7-Eleven leadership understands how crucial this work is for our entire portfolio of brands and they put a stake in the ground early on to signal DE&I and the future of our business are inextricably linked,” added Larry Hughes, 7-Eleven’s vice president of corporate human resources and DE&I. This has allowed 7-Eleven’s Office of DE&I to engage leaders across the company with education and training programs impacting all departments, he noted.
2021 was an inflection point in making more significant headway in building DE&I into the company’s culture and stakeholder engagement, Bowers shared. 7-Eleven ran a number of DE&I education campaigns celebrating myriad cultures and groups, with extensive participation from its associate business resource groups, which play a tremendous role in leveraging DE&I across the enterprise, involving both its stores and support-center environments.
“Not only are their membership numbers growing, but the value they provide through both educational and leadership developmental events, community sponsorships and other activities continues to expand,” Hughes said of the associate business resource groups.
7-Eleven also maintains an Equality & Diversity Task Force and Roundtable to serve as a sounding board for its DE&I strategy and provide important feedback on the pulse of its workforce relative to equity in the workplace. “We’re casting a wider net in terms of leaders and associates who can get involved and contribute, which is key to success,” said Hughes.
Other DEI initiatives launched by convenience channel retailers and suppliers include formal mentorship programs, cultural fluency programs, celebration of events like Black History Month and Hispanic Heritage Month, internal support and recognition, and more.
It’s Bigger Than Three Letters
There is strength in diversity, according to Scott Myers, president and CEO of Altria Group Distribution Co. “We recognize the power of diverse teams — unique individuals who don’t think or look alike — working together to achieve our vision. To win in the future, we need to build on that passion to transform our business, talent and culture,” he said.
Led by a chief inclusion, diversity and equity officer and a team that supports the enterprise, Richmond, Va.-based Altria’s DEI commitment reaches all corners of the organization. Companywide efforts include its Race & Equity Initiative, which includes $5 million in contributions to nonprofits working to address systemic racism faced by Black Americans and advance social and economic equity.
Other DEI initiatives at Altria include:
- An inclusion, diversity and equity rating for every people leader, given by their manager based on feedback from their teams and others in the company;
- Twelve employee resource groups; and
- Focus groups and field surveys to assess the experience of different employee groups and identify any gaps and additional actions needed to ensure that every employee’s experience is equitable.
Altria’s DEI commitment goes beyond the company level as well. Last year, it launched the “2021 Industry Stronger Together Challenge,” starting with a series of sponsorships, including Convenience Store News’ own diversity and inclusion initiative.
“This started a whole new conversation in the industry that is alive with this issue,” Myers said.
Across the convenience channel, it is clear that DEI is more than just a three-letter acronym.
“DEI isn’t something we ‘do,’ it’s something we embed in all we do,” said Heather Schott, diversity, equity and inclusion manager at Des Moines-based Krause Group, the parent company of Kum & Go LC. “From a practical standpoint, that approach is embedded in all our learning and development efforts. How can each opportunity of learning include building skillsets that support equity and inclusion? It is a journey, but a unique approach we are finding success with.”
Schott joined Krause Group in 2020 to lead its DEI effort. The organization will be growing its DEI team this year as it aims to create a culture where the company actively and intentionally advances equity and inclusion through work on its culture, brand and business practices.
Also this year, Krause Group will pilot networks across the regions in which it operates, which will open key lines of communication, according to Schott. “We can’t claim to be inclusive if we don’t build the structure to allow feedback,” she said. “This will be a key touchpoint to ensure we aren’t just talking about DEI, but are also responding to experiences and perspectives of our frontline associates.”
Ultimately, the DEI team’s job is to train, help create content, impact procedures and processes to be equitable and inclusive, and then hand it off to discipline leaders and key business influencers to bring them to life in sustainable ways, Schott explained.
Creating a Path Forward
With the overall vision of making its workplace even more diverse, equitable and inclusive, and extending that impact to its communities, The Hershey Co. initiated The Pathways Project, a five-year plan codeveloped with its employees to create more pathways to join its workplace, grow at Hershey, and reach out to its communities.
“This year, we are continuing to drive change through The Pathways Project and have exciting partnerships happening with some of our beloved brands in markets around the world,” noted Alicia Petross, chief diversity officer for the Hershey, Pa.-based global supplier of more than 90 candy and snack brands.
Led by Hershey’s human resources department, the company’s enterprise DEI strategy encompasses eight vibrant business resource groups that provide a space for employees to connect and drive company policy and community impact. Additionally, enterprise goals for representation filter through to each department — from hiring to development — and all people leaders at Hershey understand that advancing DEI is part of everyone’s role.
In 2020, the company achieved 1:1 aggregate gender pay equity. In 2021, it achieved 1:1 aggregate people of color pay equity for salaried employees in the U.S.
“We’re very proud of the progress we’ve made so far in our workplace and communities, but we have more work to do and will always have more work to do. This is a never-ending journey,” Petross said.
WorkJam’s Kramer also views DEI as a journey, one that requires constant vigilance.
“DE&I has to be embedded in your culture. It cannot be a program or a monthly training. It must be how you think and how you act. It must be what, as a company, you hold dear. Companies have to commit to an actual investment in their diversity, both in time, budget and the bully pulpit when necessary. The reality is you can’t put a price on culture,” he said.
As one of WorkJam’s strategic growth goals for 2022, DEI is reviewed and examined every month. The technology company sets goals and KPIs around its DEI strategies and activities to ensure they are continuing to make progress.
This year’s focal points include:
- Engaging all team members in helping achieve the company’s DEI goals;
- Providing DEI education around the areas that are of most interest to its team members, or areas of opportunity identified by team members; and
- Building a process that encourages outside minority vendors to bid and submit RFPs for many of the company’s finance, operational and HR contracts.
WorkJam also believes it must do its part to advance DEI in the industry. This means educating its customers and prospects on the importance of allyship, working closely with its customers to support their DEI goals, and being more proactive in communicating how its technology can be a key enabler and a tool to measure efforts.
“A robust DE&I culture has significant economic advantages from higher engagement among all our team members that leads to lower turnover of employees, and also being a workplace where team members want to come to work,” Kramer said.
Steady progress is happening throughout the convenience channel, for sure, but everyone agrees that there is much work still to be done. And many believe that the only way to get on the right path forward is to truly make DEI part of a company’s everyday business.
“We like to think of it as a journey without an end destination, and we are proud of the progress we’ve made so far,” said Bowers of 7-Eleven. “Because we know ‘what gets measured gets done,’ we are turning more attention to data and metrics related to engagement and representation. While we are heartened by our progress, meaningful change requires us to continue to listen, learn and grow as we continue on the journey.”