Nestlé Purina PetCare Uses the Everyday Inclusion® App to Embed DEI in Daily Culture
Executive Summary
Nestlé Purina PetCare (Purina) is investing in diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace in a meaningful way. They have a strong Organizational Development team that partners with the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team to develop DEI content, and they have been using Everyday Inclusion, a comprehensive DEI mobile app, as part of their DEI learning strategy for the last 12 months. Nestlé has incorporated Everyday Inclusion as an integral piece of their DEI educational efforts in the Diversity University, which is now available for all employees in Nestlé’s educational offerings.
According to Dawn Higgins, Senior Manager of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Nestlé, the Everyday Inclusion app helps people on their DEI journey on a daily basis, without having to go to a class, or do a lot of pre-work, like traditional DEI learning and development opportunities.
- The Everyday Inclusion app fills a resource gap, providing easy access to DEI learning for hourly employees in Purina’s 21 factories. Historically that group has logistically been hard to reach and engage.
- The Everyday Inclusion app has been widely accepted and used by People Leaders, providing quick, easy, ongoing DEI leadership development.
- Data informed insights from app usage will also be shared across Purina as they look to implement a new DEI strategic plan and create more internal data transparency.
This app helps drive knowledge by giving people what they can do daily that is impactful — small, everyday actions.
Dawn Higgins
Senior Manager Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Nestlé Purina North America
Findings/Results
ACCESSIBILITY & SCALABILITY ISSUES
Purina’s Organizational Development team and DEI team partner to produce excellent DEI content, and by adding the Everyday Inclusion app, they have moved toward solving the issues of scalability and accessibility they faced. Their strong offering of online trainings for associates are less accessible to hourly, factory employees. Consequently, these workers were often left out of DEI learning opportunities and conversations.
With accessibility for all associates in mind, the DEI team set out to find a tool that would make DEI learning approachable for everyone. Dawn Higgins, Senior Manager of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion expressed, “where can we reach people doing DEI in their daily lives? Having something where they didn’t have to go to a class, do a lot of pre-work for, get a book off the shelf, or even login?” Everyday Inclusion allows Purina to reach a population of employees not easily accessed before and bring manufacturing employees into the DEI conversation.
“Where can we reach people doing DEI in their daily lives? Having something where they didn’t have to go to a class, do a lot of pre-work for, get a book off the shelf, or even login?”
Purina’s DEI Ambassador Program (similar to an Employee Resource Group) is comprised of 250 personnel including Executive Management. The Ambassador Program is divided into 12 workstreams (LGBTQ+, Disability etc.) and is responsible for championing employee causes, raising awareness, and promoting DEI throughout Purina. These Ambassadors assume the role of DEI champions within the factory environment and have been heavy app users. They helped to break down silos and build app use momentum, with co-leads helping execute rollout initiatives and working as liaisons with the DEI team. They have been working to disseminate and reinforce overall DEI efforts and are using Everyday Inclusion to amplify their work.
INDIVIDUAL INVOLVEMENT
Purina was also looking for help addressing the question of associates asking, “what can I do?” as they began their individual journeys toward advocating for DEI in the workplace and community. Using the Everyday Inclusion app, they have extended access to DEI resources for all associates and as Higgins states, “help people in their journey on a daily basis”. Continued Higgins, “Most of us use some type of phone daily to communicate and do things, and it seemed like a no brainer the app given many of us are already tethered to our phones. I believe inclusion starts with ‘I’, and using the app answered ‘what can I do’ question in an accessible way.”
“The biggest win is the number of people leaders who have downloaded the app and are using it.”
Additionally, when an employee is new to their DEI journey, the Purina DEI team found they can be intimidated by large amounts of information or worried about saying or doing the wrong thing. They recognized employees were asking for accessible, easy-to-use, more practical and unique ways to access DEI knowledge. “We saw the app as an opportunity engage all associates, but especially to create a new avenue for our factory hourly associates to learn more about DE&I and to make the process a little less intimidating,” said Amber Overton, DEI Specialist at Purina.
To engage employees from the start, Purina has integrated the Everyday Inclusion app into the onboarding process for all associates. Every month has a new-hire cohort, and the Purina team shares information on tangible ways to be involved in DEI using the Everyday Inclusion app. Results have gone up for downloads and use since making Every-day Inclusion a priority and including it in associate onboarding.
“We saw the app as an opportunity to engage all associates, but especially to create a new avenue for our factory hourly associates to learn more about DE&I and to make the process a little less intimidating”
LEADERSHIP ENGAGEMENT
In the initial implementation, app users have been split almost evenly across Purina between individual contributors and management. Because of the large management engagement, Purina has realized the benefit of the management team gaining DEI knowledge, with the easy ability to pass that on to their teams and create team cultures of inclusion. “The biggest win is the number of people leaders who have downloaded the app and are using it. The efforts of communication in our newsletter, the champions at the factories and targeting efforts are working,” stated Overton. Management use expands the reach to a larger group than just the direct individual users of the app. One leader can impact 15-20 people, realizing a compounding effect in learning new inclusive behaviors.
With the knowledge that managers are willing and have the desire to learn more, Purina reinforces in their communication efforts the impact and importance a manager has in their DEI mission and how the app can be used as a leadership tool. “It takes no time to download the app and it can help you in your leadership, your development, and it’s easy. You don’t have to carve out 20 minutes to do this. The leaders are taking action and using the EI app consistently with 65% of daily usage streaks created by them,” said Higgins.
DATA INFORMED INSIGHTS
The DEI Team have access to data dash-boards that provide insights into user behavior data. While the dashboards protect the anonymity of individual users, Program Managers have been able to gauge associate engagement with the app. They also can now leverage data-informed insights into topics employees are searching for and top screen views before investing in and launching additional DEI initiatives.
These insights will also be valuable as Purina looks at opportunities for alignment with all metrics across the Purina family of companies as they move to evaluate and move forward on a new DEI strategic plan. Sharing these people-powered data informed insights aligns with a move towards increased internal transparency with data and metrics.
- Nestlé Purina PetCare initial rollout was to 250 associates in Ambassador Program (12 workstreams promoting DEI in the broader organization)
- Launched app in 2020 at DEI event using a promotion to encourage employees to download the app
| Individual Contributors | People Leaders | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Use | 51% | 49% |
| Daily Tip | 29% | 71% |
| Streaks | 35% | 65% |
The Solution
The Everyday Inclusion app is a fully developed and deployed innovative solution that revolutionizes the way businesses are tackling DEI. The app creates a rhythm of inclusion, shifting DEI from programmatic activities to embedded in daily culture and expands DEI from living in a department to living across the organization. Employees at every level have DEI resources, quizzes, gamification and easy-to-use information, delivered straight to their smartphones.
Employees receive daily inclusion nudges so they can absorb the information, act on it and create positive behavior change. People Leaders have a solution for quick coaching and a learning tool they can use long-term with their teams and direct reports. Inclusion pulse surveys allow companies to collect real-time data on whether their employees feel like they are included and belong, a key driver of employee engagement and retention. Usage data provide key insights into DEI needs.
Inclusion Nudges and People Powered Predictive Data
Employees receive inclusion resources and daily practices they need to retain DEI knowledge at their fingertips, and management teams have real-time data that allows them to scale best practices, get ahead of retention issues and create a workplace where everyone feels they belong and can thrive.
Because Everyday Inclusion puts the business of belonging into the hands of every single employee, it’s a solution that is highly scalable, easy to implement, creates real learning and lasting behavior changes that drive business performance. Leaders can:
- See where they stand and set benchmarks for improvement
- Take regular pulse surveys and quickly measure inclusion
- Track key metrics including screen and search data
- View aggregate stats in real-time by location and employee role
- Track inclusion hot spots
- Know where employees are feeling isolated or left behind
Employees simply download the app – there is nothing that needs to be installed on or integrated with a company’s systems. Everyday Inclusion doesn’t live behind company firewalls or collect any personally identifiable information.
About Nestlé Purina
Nestlé Purina PetCare creates richer lives for pets and the people who love them. Founded in 1894, Purina has helped dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives by offering scientifically based nutritional innovations. Purina manufactures some of the world’s most trusted and popular pet care products, including Purina ONE, Pro Plan, Fancy Feast and Tidy Cats. Our more than 8,700 U.S. associates take pride in our trusted pet food, treat and litter brands that feed 51 million dogs and 65 million cats every year. More than 500 Purina scientists, veterinarians, and pet care experts ensure our commitment to unsurpassed quality and nutrition.
Purina promotes responsible pet care through our scientific research, our products and our support for pet-related organizations. Over the past five years, Purina has contributed more than $150 million towards organizations that bring, and keep, people and pets together, as well as those that help our communities and environment thrive.
Purina is part of Nestlé, a global leader in Nutrition, Health and Wellness.
About The Moxie Exchange
Moxie develops solutions that support inclusive values, create daily behavior change and embed inclusion in corporate culture. The Moxie product suite covers the lifecycle of diversity and inclusion from recruiting to daily interactions, designed and delivered for everyone from executive leadership to the newest hire. Everyday Inclusion’s people-powered predictive data takes the guesswork out of what D&I resources are needed. Several chief diversity officers have called Everyday Inclusion “the future of D&I.”