Diversity is one of Kroger’s core values. We want our associates at all levels to reflect the diversity of the communities where we live and work. The company is committed to fostering an environment where diversity is appreciated as a source of strength and vitality. Each of Kroger’s retail divisions has developed strategic partnerships with universities, educational institutions and community partners, such as the University of Kansas Multicultural Scholars Program and the University of Cincinnati Darwin T. Turner Scholars Program to further our efforts to recruit top-quality candidates.
Spotlight: Our Dillons Division received the Outstanding Employer of the Older Worker Award in 2007 from the Kansas Department of Commerce.
Kroger provides inclusion training to all management and many hourly associates. Many work locations (stores, plants, divisions) have a culture council. These councils, which are composed of a diverse array of associates, work on projects that reflect our core values of safety, integrity, respect, honesty, diversity, and inclusion. They also provide valuable feedback to management by focusing on ways to include more associate input in business decisions and processes.
Kroger is equally committed to retaining talented associates and providing career development opportunities to help
motivated associates realize their potential and advance in the company. As part of our annual, company-wide successor planning, progress on career development plans for women and people of color are reviewed by our senior management team. Kroger requires managers and department heads to report quarterly on the recruitment and
promotion of women and people of color. Today, 39 percent of officials and managers within the company are women and 20 percent are people of color.
Spotlight: The Business Leadership Network, a state-wide initiative sponsored by the State of Wyoming’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, recognized our Smith’s stores for their diverse workforce.
Kroger’s score on the Corporate Equality Index (CEI) increased 40 points in 2007 to a score of 75. The Human Rights Campaign, which sponsors the CEI, spotlighted Kroger as one of the companies with the greatest improvement. Kroger was recognized for its commitment to overall diversity as a strategic focus area, for naming a chief diversity officer and for extending same and opposite-sex domestic partner benefits to associates covered by our company-sponsored plan.
Spotlight: Dave Shull, who manages one of our stores in Athens, Ohio, won the 2007 Trailblazer Award for identifying and utilizing the skills and abilities of workers with disabilities. The store employs five associates with special needs and has been recognized by the Association for Persons in Supported Employment (APSE).
Supplier Diversity
Since the early 1980s Kroger has been actively seeking diversity in our vendor partners. We have minority and women owned companies involved in all areas of our business. We benefit from their unique products, services and perspectives—and our communities benefit from the employment and opportunity these companies provide. In 2006 and 2007 Kroger spent more than $1 billion annually with minority and women-owned business enterprises (MBEs and WBEs). As a result, Kroger is a member of the Billion Dollar Roundtable, a prestigious forum of 13 corporations that have achieved $1 billion or more in annual spending with M/WBEs. We achieved this goal by partnering with more than 1,650 M/WBE companies. Kroger joins 12 other corporate Billion Dollar Roundtable members, including The Procter & Gamble Company, Toyota Motor North America Inc. and IBM Corp.
Each of our divisions and buying groups have supplier diversity champions who are committed to ensuring the company’s supplier diversity initiatives and goals are communicated throughout the organization. These champions, who hold a variety of positions throughout the company, provide valuable insight into actions that support continued growth. Kroger is an active member in the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), and all the regional councils where we operate stores. In addition we are members of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council and its regional affiliates, as well as other similar organizations. Kroger continues to look for opportunities to partner with a diverse group of suppliers. To learn more about Kroger’s Supplier Diversity program, please visit http://www.thekrogerco.com/supplier/supplierdiversity.htm.