It's been our long held belief that Danone's economic and social goals are interdependent.
Danone creates social value by supporting its more than 100,000 employees in more than 57 countries through its human resources strategy. In the UK, over 1,000 people work in our three supply points and offices.
our values
Our four values "HOPE": HUMANISM, OPENNESS, PROXIMITY and ENTHUSIASM guide the way we behave every day, the way we work and make progress in our business, the way we connect with our communities, and the way we develop people.
HUMANISM
Sharing responsibility, respect for others
Attention to individuals, whether they're consumers, colleagues or fellow citizens, is at the heart of our decisions.
OPENNESS
Curiosity, agility and dialogue
Diversity is a source of wealth and change as well as a constant opportunity.
PROXIMITY
Accessibility, authenticity and empathy
Engaging with communities in our common quest to find better health through better food for the greatest number.
ENTHUSIASM
Boldness, passion and appetite
There are no limits. There are only obstacles to be overcome.
INCLUSIVE DIVERSITY
As a global company, Danone serves a huge array of different communities, with different cultures, local tastes and habits. Our teams need to represent the diversity of the millions of people who use our products to recognise and serve their needs, and ensure the success of our business. Truly diverse teams fuel performance and enable us to continue innovating and growing.
Our ambition is to have every one at Danone feel included and able to contribute with their uniqueness, entrusting them to create new futures and drive the food revolution across the world. Inclusive Diversity is a key part of the Danone 2030 Goals.
You can learn more about our global inclusive diversity initiatives here on Danone.com.
In 2019, Danone published a position paper on inclusive diversity, Our Differences Will Make The Difference, which focuses on three overall priorities:
- Promoting inclusive behaviours
- Gender equality
- Culture and nationalities
It highlights our commitments and objectives on inclusive diversity based on these three pillars.
Danone Inclusive Diversity 2020
Danone - Inclusive Diversity - Interview of Putri Realita - Global Inclusive Diversity Lead @Danone
UK and Ireland
In the UK and Ireland, we have an active Inclusive Diversity forum open to all employees. The forum is responsible for delivering a regional roadmap which is built from employee feedback and insights, and regularly reviewed to ensure we are always responding to our employees’ needs.
We have launched Employee Resource Groups (ERG’s) focused on specific topics such as LGBTQ+ and racial inclusion, and we are in the process of building further networks to promote education, peer-to-peer support, and communities.
You can read more about the history of our Pride ERG and its strategy here, as an example of the work our ERG’s deliver.
PROMOTING INCLUSIVE BEHAVIOURS
GLOBAL PARENTAL POLICY
The Global Parental Policy is an initiative which aims to offer a consistent standard of support to all parents-to-be employed across the world.
Danone’s parental policy is based on three key elements:
- pre-natal support such as adapted working conditions and nutritional advice during pregnancy;
- extended parental leave, covering both men and women, which includes 18 weeks for the birth parent or 14 weeks for the legally adoptive parent and 10 working days for the secondary caregiver;
- post-natal support including job protection measures and return-to-work support, flexible working conditions, and support for breastfeeding by providing lactation rooms for mothers in offices that employ more than 50 women.
EMPOWERING DIVERSE COMMUNITIES THROUGH OUR ECOSYSTEM OF PARTNERS
Pioneering work has been carried out by Danone on the empowerment of women within the company and on gender equality more broadly, through projects led by the Danone Ecosystem Fund. The launch of our global parenting policy on this issue marked an important milestone for the company. This commitment to gender equality was recognised by the United Nations, which named Emmanuel Faber "Inaugural Thematic Champion".
Despite recent decades of progress, women continue to suffer discrimination and violence in every part of the word. And yet study after study has demonstrated that empowering women has a snowball effect, transforming families, communities, economies and environment. The Danone Ecosystem Fund has worked to embed gender equality and women’s empowerment in each of its projects: this process enables women to boost their employability and social and economic inclusion.
Stonewall is Europe’s leading organisation fighting to ensure LGBTQ+ people throughout the world can achieve acceptance without exception, partnering with organisations to help create real, positive change. Danone UKIRL is part of the Diversity Champions programme, helping us to continually review and improve policies and practices to nurture a workplace in which everyone is able to truly be themselves.
In 2018, Danone joined the LEAD Network (Leading Executives Advancing Diversity) whose aim is to attract, retain and advance women in retail and consumer goods industry in Europe.
Danone is aware that diversity in management teams makes for better business performance. We recognise that women still face hurdles as they move up the career ladder. Created in 2010 with other companies, EVE is a women’s leadership seminar designed to empower strong, inspirational women to spearhead change within the organisation.
Danone is included in the 2020 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI) which distinguishes companies committed to transparency in gender reporting and advancing women’s equality.
MEASURING OUR ACTIONS
27%
of female executives
42%
of female directors (2020 target achieved)
51%
of female managers, directors and executives
18
Countries have implemented the Parental Policy
39,000
of women professionally empowered through the Danone Ecosystem Fund in 2019
LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT
At Danone, our vision for learning & development is that every employee ‘learns their way’ through relevant, inclusive and accessible development opportunities that enable personal and business growth, now and for the future. If we want to grow our business, we have to grow our people.
To support this vision, we focus our efforts on equipping all employees with the tools and techniques to define their development needs, ensuring we have the right development options in place to support these needs, and strive to deliver these in the most inclusive way.
UK and Ireland
In 2021, we are redesigning all our leadership development programmes to ensure they are delivered in a way that supports the variety of working patterns and personal circumstances in the organisation.
At Danone, we believe that each day is a day of learning and it is through a mix of experiences following our 60/20/10/10 approach that drives growth; where 60% of what you learn is on the job, 20% through your network, 10% online and 10% in the classroom. In 2020, we launched our internal coaching programme to support learning through your network; giving all employees access to a trained internal coach to support their development. To date, it has seen a very high uptake and positive feedback.
81,628
Permanent employees participated in at least one training course in 2019. (excluding certain subsidiaries).
62,331
of professionally empowered people by the Danone Ecosystem Fund.
FUTURE SKILLS
Responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have been working with the IUF - the global federation of unions in the food industry - to support our employees who need new skills, by offering them the opportunity to be trained and upskilled for the jobs of the future - either jobs which will require additional resources in the future, or new jobs that will become increasingly important. Find out more here.
HEALTH & SAFETY
In a constantly evolving economic and social environment, adapting to health and safety challenges is a priority for Danone.
Staying safe at work
The WISE programme, initiated by Danone in 2004, is a worldwide programme with the goal of developing a health and safety culture at all the sites in order to significantly reduce the number of workplace accidents. Developed by Danone's specialist team, WISE Ways help employees stay safe in the work or home office, in our production sites, when travelling or working in the field.
Health and Wellness
Through our One Health wellness programme, we support and encourage healthy lifestyle choices. The programme takes a holistic approach to physical and mental health, offering classes and workshops.
Danone has implemented several initiatives including “Health@Work” programme, which focuses on encouraging employees to maintain a healthy diet, a healthy body and a healthy mind.