Company News
January 17, 2018
Laura BeckerStaff Writer
Best Buy Chairman and CEO Hubert Joly on Tuesday said that the journey to building a more diverse and inclusive culture starts with the companyâs values.
Hubert Joly
âEvery organization is a human organization. It is about individuals working together to accomplish something, pursuing their lifeâs purpose and connecting it to the purpose of the company,â Joly said in front of a few thousand of the worldâs top retailers. âItâs creating an environment where our employees can live our value of âunleashing the power of the people.â Itâs hard, though, to unleash the power when you donât feel accepted.â
Joly spoke as part of a panel discussion on the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace at NRF 2018: Retailâs Big Show. The panelists were Sarah Alter, president and CEO of Network for Executive Women; Benno Dorer, chairman and CEO of The Clorox Co.; and Marvin Ellison, chairman and CEO of J.C. Penney Co. Inc. Shannon Schuyler, chief purpose officer of PwC, moderated the event.
Diversity has been a top priority for Joly since he joined Best Buy in 2012. About half of his direct reports and 40 percent of the companyâs board are women.
âThe fact that we have good gender diversity at the top cannot hide the fact we have a lot of progress to make throughout the company from a gender standpoint and with people of color,â he said. âAs CEOs, we have an imperative to act on this. This issue is in our hands.â
He added: âWe are dealing with tough, complex issues with decades if not centuries of biases. Itâs an exciting journey, but itâs a human journey. So, by definition, itâs messy. I know that on our journey we are going to stumble and make mistakes. Itâs so important from a human and societal standpoint, and we have no choice but to stick with this journey.â
In 2017, Joly signed the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion⢠pledge and took the ParityPledgeâ˘, promising to interview at least one qualified woman candidate for every position, vice president and above.