Our business opportunities are increasingly related to the global world. We must foster our ability to deal with a broad and diverse base of suppliers and customers alike in order to provide products and services of superior quality and value. Diversity takes advantage of our differences and infuses our company with new business ideas and approaches. Associate diversity translates into customer satisfaction. Because we see ourselves as an employer of choice, we value associates' contributions and input.
Diversity provides a richer, more fertile working environment for creative thinking and innovation.
We are committed to fully developing associate talent from a full range of opportunities. It is from this increasingly diverse pool of talent and abilities that our future leadership will come. The goal of a diverse workforce is to attract and retain a quality pool of associates by providing job satisfaction, training and opportunities for personal and professional growth at a fair level of compensation, regardless of race, gender, and any other differences within the workforce. We continually analyze employment data to identify our progress in eliminating unnecessary barriers. We are examining policies and practices that could potentially create a barrier to specific groups.