Jacobs commits to advancing gender equality

Dallas — Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. joins Catalyst CEO Champions For Change companies in demonstrating an active commitment to achieving gender equality in the workplace. Jacobs Chair and CEO Steve Demetriou, and the Catalyst CEO Champions For Change signatories, have committed to advancing more women, including women of color, into senior leadership positions and onto boards.

The initiative, developed by Catalyst – a global thought leader and partner in accelerating the progress of women in the workplace for more than 50 years – recognizes CEOs and top industry leaders who support and drive inclusion and diversity within their organizations.

“Together with 50+ other global companies and Catalyst, we are making strong organizational commitments to support inclusion, diversity and gender equality at work,” said Demetriou. “We continually need to raise the bar, holding ourselves publicly accountable for progress and doing everything we can to build workplaces that work for everyone. As CEOs and board chairs, we have experienced the advantages of having women serve in leadership roles. We believe it is important to have a board and executive leadership teams that are representative of our customers, stakeholders and employees.”

To hold Jacobs accountable, Steve Demetriou boldly pledged to be transparent and share metrics on progress. This is the second year Catalyst is reporting on how well Champions For Change companies lived up to their commitments. Numbers show companies are making strides in just a few years, outpacing their global peers in advancing women in the workplace by up to five percent.

“We commend Jacobs, along with the other Catalyst Champion CEOs, who epitomize inclusion in action. They know and value the importance of creating more gender inclusive workplaces, and serve as inspirational role models for all,” said Catalyst President and CEO Lorraine Hariton.

Jacobs has taken meaningful steps to advance inclusion and diversity in the workplace. The firm was recently honored as Employer of Choice for Workplace Gender Equality, with two women among Jacobs’ Board of Directors and four women among Jacobs’ executive leadership team. Some recent actions include:

• Appointed first female executive vice president in the company’s history.
• Undertaking a full pay equity review with our annual remuneration review and prioritizing budget for any remedial actions required to address inequity in like-for-like roles.
• Introducing conscious inclusion training to all employees over the next year.
• Holding senior leadership accountable for recruiting from a diverse candidate pool both internally and externally.
• Empowering all employees to share opportunities for improvement with leaders.
• Improving talent management and development process to ensure training, development and career advancement are distributed fairly across the company.
• Instituting culture-based leadership metrics into annual executive compensation, which will include inclusion and diversity goals for each senior Jacobs leader.
• Building connections with Jacobs’ Women’s Network

Jacobs’ Women’s Network (JWN) promotes an inclusive culture where women and men can thrive and feel valued. The network has a vision that together fosters an inclusive environment where gender diversity and equality drive profitable growth. With over 5,000 members and more than 90 local chapters on six continents, the impact of the network can be felt throughout Jacobs. Its mission is to accelerate a cultural shift by empowering women and promoting gender equality. The network aims to balance out the representation of gender at all levels, influence recruitment, development, retention and promotion of qualified women and to champion women leaders.

JWN improves the company experience for all employees by hosting local events and monthly global webinars on a variety of topics that aim to inspire and develop employees. JWN is also partnering with HR and local and corporate leadership to focus on areas such as parental leave policy, unconscious bias awareness and other initiatives.

Read the full pledge at https://www.catalyst.org/champions/about and find out more about joining the movement. Join the conversation on social media by using #CatalystForChange and #InclusionInAction.