Social | Human Rights, Labor Practices
Respecting diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I)

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Our commitment to DE&I

Respect for diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) is a key element of the Bridgestone Group’s Global Human Rights Policy and practiced in various ways across the operation. Equity was added to the 2022 revision of this policy to reinforce and clarify its commitment to providing equitable opportunities, and the Group will continue to advance initiatives that address potential disparities and other workplace and social issues related to equity.

The Bridgestone Group's Stance on "Respect for Diversity"

The Bridgestone Group provides a work environment in which individuals who have diverse values and personalities can work comfortably and demonstrate their abilities. To make this possible:

  • We recognize and respect diversity of culture and customs in each country of the world.
  • We sympathize with ideas from diverse viewpoints of diverse people and create new value.
  • We establish a system in which employees can perform their duties with peace of mind and demonstrate their abilities to the fullest across the various stages of their lives.

The Bridgestone Group believes that its DE&I commitment and actions are crucial to the sustainable growth of its business and will lead to the creation of unique value as expressed in the “Bridgestone E8 Commitment.”

DE&I programs around the world

Diversity seminar

The Bridgestone Group has set up tailored DE&I programs that reflect the context, rules, traditions and regulations of the individual countries and regions in which it operates.

Initiatives in Japan

Women’s empowerment and advancement

Bridgestone respects differences in culture and customs and has established a culture that allows all employees to feel safe and included so they can contribute their best.

    Some key statistics:

  • The ratio of female employees in the Group globally is 11.2%, the ratio of females in the top management is 10.4%, and the ratio of females in management positions (managers other than the top management) is 10.6%.
  • In contrast, women at Bridgestone represented only 3.3% of all management position in 2021 (excluding global assignees).

Bridgestone recognizes the need to improve female representation in its management structure, and is taking actions to achieve this goal. The company set a target to increase the ratio of women in all management positions (including those who are seconded to Bridgestone Corporation) from the current 2.6% to 7.5% by 2025.

Bridgestone has established a Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Promotion Department to improve female representation in its management structure, and promote DE&I to all employees through a variety of learning programs. In 2021, a mentor system was introduced in which leaders work together to support the career development of female manager candidates. Also, the company has set specific goals for female representation in each department and is working on them through the plan-do-check-action (PDCA) cycle. For female managers, the company further supports their development through an external mentor system and training.

Supporting the LGBTQ+ community

In 2021, to create an inclusive work environment for all employees, Bridgestone took steps to ensure that employees in same-sex partnerships have the same access to parental and family care leave as those in opposite-sex marriages. In September 2021 the company updated its childcare and family care guidebook to eliminate gendered words (e.g., dad, mum.)

Bridgestone received the highest rating of Gold for four consecutive years in the PRIDE Index, an indicator of how companies have implemented initiatives to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace.

Going forward, Bridgestone will continue to expand its initiatives to realize DE&I in its workplaces.

Initiatives at BSCAP

Approach

Bridgestone China, Asia Pacific (BSCAP) is undertaking DE&I initiatives based on the philosophy of Right Person in the Right Position with the Right Skills. Its intent is to draw out the ambitions and abilities of individuals to the fullest and identify the most suitable talent for each position.

BSCAP leverages talent analytics in an annual talent review to understand as a region and by group company the current representation of gender, experience, nationality, and generation diversity to build its talent pipeline.

BSCAP employees can express their voice by participating in a regional Employee Engagement Survey that aim to foster a high-performing organizational culture.

Women’s empowerment and advancement

BSCAP has set an aspirational goal to increase female representation in management roles to 20% by the end of 2022. It aims to provide women with equal opportunities to showcase their capability and capacity to deliver the expectations of each role.

[BSCAP] 2021 IWD pledge

BSCAP has been commemorating International Women’s Day (IWD) since 2019 through a more structured and consistent approach. BSCAP has launched SBU guidelines for group companies to promote the celebration of women’s empowerment and achievements and be part of the mission to help forge a gender-equal world.

In 2021, BSCAP executives and group companies in each country commemorated IWD in various ways. For example, BSCAP executives made the #ChooseToChallenge pledge, and the BSCAP group company in Indonesia organized a webinar hosted by esteemed female speakers.

Initiatives at BSAM

Approach

Bridgestone Americas (BSAM)’s DE&I strategy consists of three key areas: workplace, workforce and marketplace. In each area, it aims to provide an inclusive work environment, educate leaders and employees, and create equitable opportunities. To help achieve these goals, in 2021 BSAM conducted unconscious bias training as an introductory learning program related to DE&I for over 3,600 participants. BSAM is also committed to improving transparency by reporting various initiatives and progress through its DE&I Annual Report.

  • Workplace
    Ensuring an inclusive environment that focuses on all dimensions of diversity.
  • Workforce
    Hiring, advancing and retaining employees so that the leadership team at all levels is reflective of the company’s overall employee population.
  • Marketplace
    Providing financial and other support to organizations that create equitable opportunities for underrepresented groups in BSAM’s community.

BSAM has set a 2030 milestone to ensure that its leadership makes steady progress toward mirroring the employee populations they lead. This long-term goal reflects the understanding that sustainable progress on DE&I often takes five years or longer to achieve. At BSAM, the sustainability of DE&I efforts is critical, and it is committed to making meaningful progress over the short and long-term.

Organization and resources

BSAM has created a dedicated DE&I Center of Excellence with a five-person team focused on enterprise initiatives; creating strategy, tools, and resources for the business; and facilitating training and education to further the DE&I agenda.

A Board subcommittee oversees DE&I progress at the enterprise level and guides the DE&I Center of Excellence along with its strategic framework and accountability measures.

BSAM believes that DE&I is everyone’s responsibility. To that end, in 2021 BSAM launched its “Free to Be” movement that helps employees understand the importance of inclusion and bringing one’s whole self to work. It will continue to promote initiatives to increase racial and gender diversity, embed DE&I into the business, and create an even more equitable and inclusive work environment. These priorities will be accomplished with the direct employee input, including from its employee resource groups (ERGs):

  • BBOLD — African American/Black employees
  • BWIN — Women employees
  • BNEXT — Millennial employees
  • BBRAVO — Veteran employees
  • BUNIDOS — Latinx/Hispanic employees
  • BPROUD — LGBTQ+

The ERGs bring together employees and allies based on shared characteristics, life experiences, and interests and are critical in helping BSAM value employee differences. Each has the autonomy to define its purpose and programming, including community outreach and volunteering, mentoring and development opportunities, and networking.

2021 DE&I Annual Report

Initiatives and results in 2021

In 2021, BSAM released its inaugural annual report on DE&I. To provide transparency on BSAM’s DE&I-related efforts and results, the report includes a DE&I scorecard showing diversity representation at all levels and functions of BSAM’s organization in 2021. BSAM recognizes that while it has made progress in recent years, including an increase in female representation in leadership by three percentage points overall in 2021 alone, much progress is still needed. This transparent disclosure represents a visible commitment to accountability for making the long-term, sustainable progress that is needed.

Nashville pride

BSAM has also sponsored the PRIDE Festival in Nashville for over a decade.

Plans for 2022 and beyond

In 2022, BSAM is focused on improving representation of racial and gender diversity, continuing to educate leaders with resources and experiential learning, embedding DE&I into ways of operating in the business and with customers, and ensuring that employees feel that their workplace is equitable and inclusive.

BSAM foresees potential challenges as resignations in the U.S. continue to increase and labor shortages persist in pivotal areas of BSAM’s business and operations, including technical fields. BSAM plans to overcome them by focusing on retention and development strategies and partnering with organizations to cultivate relationships and grow a broader talent pipeline, with a focus on traditionally underrepresented groups.

Initiatives at BSEMIA

Approach

Bridgestone Europe, Russia, Middle East, India and Africa (BSEMIA) believes that a diverse work environment creates a better understanding of its customers, greater employee engagement, decision-making that includes diverse perspectives, and innovative ideas that lead to better outcomes. It is working to create an environment where all employees feel safe and included so they can contribute at their best. A key element of this work is more fully engaging employee resource groups (ERGs) to involve employees in building an even-more inclusive culture. In 2022, BSEMIA will promote initiatives to respect diversity with a particular focus on three groups: gender, seniority and experience.

Achievements in cultural diversity

BSEMIA has achieved a high level of cultural diversity. This is the result of decisions made by management over the last eight years to build an international business run by local experts, regardless of their nationality or cultural background. As a result, nearly all nationalities from the region are represented in BSEMIA’s headquarters and across its many geographies.

In South Africa, Bridgestone South Africa (Pty) Ltd. (BSAF) achieved Level 1 Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE)*1 Contributor status which was the highest rating in the certification. This recognizes BSAF's efforts to include African people in the workforce, support African businesses and give back to underserved African communities. BSEMIA was also recognized as a Top Employer and Great Place To Work in 2022 in multiple countries.

  1. B-BBEE: A mandatory governmental program that encourages businesses to integrate African people in the workspace, support African businesses, and give back to African communities affected by land repossession during apartheid.

Plans for 2022 and beyond

BSEMIA has developed an action plan and goals for DE&I. Going forward, it plans to launch a steering committee with involvement of the management board. The committee will work with ERGs to discuss actions and next steps and report quarterly updates on progress.

Instead of setting specific KPIs, which could lead to undesirable behaviors and outcomes for the business in the short term, BSEMIA is focused on setting a clear sense of direction that will provide perspective and the ability to measure progress.

The following table provides a more detailed outline of action steps for 2022 and 2023. These include issuing a diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEI&B) policy statement, providing inclusiveness and unconscious bias training to all HR employees and leadership teams, and screening for diversity in the talent management process.

Diverse workstyles

To realize its Mid-Long Term Business Strategy, the Bridgestone Group will develop a truly global human resources strategy and approach that embraces diverse work styles to accommodate each employee's needs. By doing so, it will more fully engage employees, resulting in even greater productivity and added value from each employee. The Group strives to create a comfortable, flexible and vibrant work environment that takes into account the needs of different individuals at different moments of their career, so that home or family situations do not prevent any employees from being successful in the Group.

The Bridgestone Group respects and encourages flexible work styles by offering benefits such as hybrid work schedules, childcare facilities in some locations, paid parental leave, and family care and/or volunteer leave above the legally required minimum in many locations including Japan, Americas, Europe, Russia, Middle East, India and Africa.

In Japan, Bridgestone has established a support system for balancing work and childcare duties and provides guidance regularly for employees who plan to take parental leave. The company holds seminars for employees and management to ensure appropriate preparation and support during leave, and to ensure this support continues after returning to work.

Bridgestone also supports employees who manage their work and family care efforts by shortening working hours, enhancing family support leave, and disseminating information through guidebooks and in-house newsletters.

Bridgestone intends to further expand these programs designed to help build an inclusive workplace where employees can feel comfortable and fulfill their potential.

Response to the COVID-19 pandemic

The Bridgestone Group and its strategic business units quickly deployed policies and practices in 2020 to protect the safety and security of employees around the world as the business environment shifted rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Group implemented a work-from-home arrangement for employees in all regions whose roles can be performed remotely. Based on this experience, the Group has implemented a new flexible hybrid work model in which employees will work on a hybrid basis (office/home) in line with the needs of their role and team. This transformative adjustment to the Group’s work practices dramatically increases the flexibility the Group offers employees, and will significantly accelerate DE&I efforts across its operations.

Promoting disability inclusion through The Valuable 500

The Valuable 500

In March 2021 the Bridgestone Group joined The Valuable 500, a global initiative launched at the 2019 World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos. The Valuable 500 aims to help business leaders transform their businesses and unlock the social and economic value of people living with disabilities around the world. It gained the endorsement of the CEOs of 500 companies worldwide. The concept of The Valuable 500, which respects diversity and promotes inclusion, has much in common with the Group’s corporate philosophy and is in line with the intended direction of its Global Human Rights Policy.

Sharing the belief of The Valuable 500 with other world leaders, the Group will strengthen its diversity initiatives, including building a diverse workplace that empowers employees with disabilities. The Group will work to create a more inclusive society that promotes good physical and mental health through co-creation with communities and strategic partners, and promote awareness and access for people with disabilities through its support of the Paralympic Games./p>

Ensuring pay equity

The Bridgestone Group commits to ensuring pay equity for its diverse workforce. Its compensation programs are designed to be market competitive based on regional/local trends and best practices as described below.

In Japan, Bridgestone’s salaries are set according to "role," "ability to demonstrate," and "results," and the same compensation program is used for all employees regardless of their characteristics. Its compensation program is based on a survey conducted to ensure a competitive position in comparison to the market, and then salary revisions are considered each year based on social trends in Japan and other factors. In determining compensation for employees who are represented by labor unions, the company holds labor-management negotiations with the Bridgestone Labor Union every spring, and revises employee salaries in accordance with the agreement.

BSAM’s compensation program is committed to attracting, motivating and retaining employees who enable it to achieve its short and long term business goals. Its compensation practices are in compliance with federal, state and local legal requirements. BSAM ensures pay equity through the job offer process, its annual compensation practices, and periodic internal compensation reviews. External market data is leveraged to evaluate and develop competitive pay structures, which are updated annually. Additionally, short-term and long-term incentive programs are utilized to meet business needs and offer market competitive total direct compensation. These programs are reviewed and approved annually by the Succession, Nomination & Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of BSAM. Pay practices are governed by collective bargaining agreements for those hourly employees represented by labor organizations.

In BSEMIA, its compensation program is based on the principle of a market based pay for performance. The purpose of the program is to hire, engage and develop the right talents that Bridgestone needs for future growth. The drivers of the program are base pay, short and long term variable pay, and a proper benefit program. The market data are collected externally to check the local reference to ensure the adequate program. The company also holds collective bargaining agreements with labor union to ensure equity and complies with the regulations of the countries and regions where it operates. In addition, the compensation team conducts inspections every year to assure the equity, and the results are shared in the Succession, Nomination and Compensation Committee of the Board of directors of BSEMIA.

BSCAP believes that it is important salaries are paid based on the employees’ performance. Employees are generally paid based on the company and individual performance with reference to their experience, skills and market competitiveness level. Other applicable conditions may apply for employees who are represented by labor union, which include region-specific minimum wage and items specified in the collective bargaining agreements, among others.

External recognition

Awarded gold in PRIDE Index for four consecutive years

Awarded gold in PRIDE Index for three consecutive years

In November 2021, Bridgestone received the highest rating of Gold for four consecutive years in the PRIDE Index, an indicator of how companies have implemented initiatives to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace.

Certified Family Responsible Company

efr

Bridgestone Spain was recognized as a certified Family Responsible Company (efr certification) by the Fundación MásFamilia, an independent organization.

Relevant Information

Sustainability