Diversity & Inclusion as a Business Enabler
Authors: Sequeira John , Hu Sandy , Lo Albert 
Published: December 2008

Can we increase our production? Can we leverage "technology play" in enhanced oil recovery, ultra deepwater, and unconventional resources development? Can we lead in the commitment of reducing CO2? Can we successfully operate in over 140 countries and manage the complex partnerships and relationships in these countries that are underpinned by diverse cultures, values, and beliefs? Today, Shell faces all these questions as we try to keep up with the challenging energy demand in our growing world economy.

In Shell, we see the work in Diversity and Inclusion as being a key business enabler in finding solutions to the challenges above, in addition to it being aligned with our Core Values and General Business Principles,

Shell's Diversity and Inclusion framework focuses on making a difference in the areas of Talent, Leadership, and Competitiveness within the context of a diverse global stakeholder, customer, and talent base.

Due to our global operations, the workforce that we draw from is more diverse than ever before, especially in the growth markets and regions where we operate. The average age of workers is rising, and the number of women in our workforce continues to increase. As employee value propositions and societal expectations continue to change, our future, sustained success depends on our ability to attract, motivate and retain this increasingly diverse pool of talent.

Through education and learning, communication, recruitment and retention, development and mentoring, and building supportive and inclusive environments, we are creating a competitive edge to attract and retain the best people and build an inclusive environment where innovation and performance thrives as differences are encouraged and leveraged.

Internally, this translates into a working environment where the richness of ideas, backgrounds and perspectives are valued and harnessed to create business value and the potential of employees are maximised because they feel involved, respected, and connected. Externally, an inclusive culture ensures we understand our stakeholders and customers, and builds trust and strengthens relationships with them and optimizes the positive economic and social impact of our presence. It is part of our corporate social responsibility and license to operate.

We underpin our efforts by targeted metrics that monitor progress and assure action takes place because we are an organizational culture where what's get measured gets done. One measure that we monitor on a global basis is the representation of women in senior leadership. Another is the diversity in the nationality of senior leadership. A third is our Diversity and Inclusion Indicator, which monitors inclusion across our work environment and comes from five questions within our annual People Survey.

This paper/presentation will outline in more detail the issues we have faced in implementing D&I over the last ten years, the lessons learnt, and what we see as a critical issue going forward for our company, our industry and the global economy as a whole. We will also provide case studies from Asian and Middle East to highlight why Diversity and Inclusion is a business enabler and the difference it makes when it is embedded early into the organizational culture and included as a critical enabler strategic business projects.