By Denise Merle
Senior Vice President and Chief Administration Officer
In 2019, we added inclusion to our vision as a core value. It was an intentional step to accelerate our work to create a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace. I know lots of companies say they’re doing this work, and I believe many are truly earnest about it. But it’s not easy to drive meaningful change. It takes focused effort, steadfast commitment, empathy and patience — along with self-reflection and a willingness to be uncomfortable at times as we learn and grow together.
Building a truly inclusive environment also takes a clear-eyed understanding of why this work is important for our business. This is not a flavor-of-the-month exercise for us. We didn’t add inclusion as a core value because we felt outside pressure, and we aren’t going to change course because of any rhetoric outside our walls. We are making these investments because to draw in the very best talent, we need a culture that fully values each person for who they are, the contributions they make, and the breadth of ideas, experiences and perspectives they bring to work each day. Everyone has choices about where they work, and we face the same labor constraints as other companies. So our culture needs to outshine them all — not just in words on a recruiting brochure, but in real action and through a sincere commitment to drive change.
And we’ve been making that change. We see it in the year-over-year improvement on inclusion questions across all demographics in our annual employee survey. We see it in the incredible engagement and membership growth in our employee resources groups, and in the remarkable honesty and vulnerability from employees who have shared testimonials as part of our Amplifying Awareness series on Roots. We see it in our development programs, where our leaders are learning how to build trust, spot inequities and foster psychological safety on their teams.
These are great accomplishments, but we have so much more work to do on this journey. As with safety, creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture where people feel a true sense of belonging takes continuous focus and nurturing. We are far from done. But we have made some really encouraging progress, and I want to make sure we pause here at the five-year mark to really acknowledge and celebrate that — not just at the company level, but through all the individual acts of caring and curiosity that have helped us get where we are today. Your engagement in this work is what ultimately drives our ability to bring inclusion to life on every team.
So what’s next? This year we will continue to train leaders and teams on what it means to build an inclusive workplace, with a particular focus on psychological safety and how inclusion drives innovation, which drives OpX. You’ll also start hearing more about the “power of the pause,” which requires all of us to take a moment to ask ourselves whether we have an inclusive mindset before making important decisions related to people — including everything from hiring to team event planning. We will continue to build on the success of our employee resources groups, and we’re also working to strengthen our inclusive recruiting strategy to ensure that candidates from traditionally under-represented talent pools know who we are and are excited to apply for roles at our company.
Finally, as Devin said at the Town Hall in January, we are entering what is certain to be a highly contentious election season in the U.S., and I’m sure many of you are approaching this year with some trepidation. We are bracing for a presidential election that could increase polarization and raise tensions across the country — in the news and in our communities, and also among friends, family members and coworkers. As we prepare for this volatile political environment, I encourage everyone to be mindful of all the different people and perspectives around you. Whenever you’re in a meeting or at lunch or involved in any casual conversations, please remember that not everyone will support the same candidates or be passionate about the same issues as you. And that’s true no matter where you work. We simply can’t make assumptions about what other people think or value.
We are all individuals with unique opinions and convictions that define who we are, but we can still be careful not to make anyone feel singled out or slighted by what they’re hearing around them. I would say that’s true at any time, and it’s especially important right now. One of our greatest strengths as a company has always been how well we work together to achieve common goals, and I encourage everyone to lean on the culture of trust, respect and collegiality that has distinguished Weyerhaeuser for nearly 125 years.
So thank you, again, for everything you do to help us continue moving forward on our inclusion journey, and if you’d like a more detailed look at our progress, I encourage you to take a look below at some of the milestones we’ve hit over the last five years.
