WHEREAS:
A.O. Smith’s 2020 Corporate Responsibility Report explains that “[d]iversity has been empirically shown to promote creativity and innovation and is a priority within our company, driven by our Chief Executive Officer and with full support from our Leadership Team and Board of Directors”;
While the report describes initiatives on female representation, it is unclear how the company examines Black and Brown representation. The 2020 report does not provide statistics on the company’s racial or ethnic diversity in the workforce or leadership. This stands in contrast to Milwaukee, where A.O. Smith is headquartered, which is a “majority minority” city that was ranked the 6th most diverse large city in 2020. Only 34% of Milwaukee residents identify as non-Hispanic white;[1]
This ignites questions about whether the lack of leadership diversity indicates a systemic challenge at the company;
Author Ibram X. Kendi explains: “every policy in every institution in every community in every nation is producing or sustaining either racial inequity or equity…” existing both in “written and unwritten laws, rules, procedures, processes, regulations, and guidelines that govern people”[2];
Harvard Business Review explains: “[c]ompanies must confront racism at a systemic level – addressing everything from the structural and social mechanics of their own organizations to the role they play in the economy at large”[3];
Corporate culture can include “values, norms, conventions, shared beliefs, customs, traditions, symbols, rituals, knowledge, ideology, identities, and shared mental models.”[4] We believe that long-term value creation could be advanced through analysis of whether and how systemic racism is embedded in company written and unwritten policies, corporate culture, and norms.