Caterpillar is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotive. For nearly 100 years, we’ve been helping our customers build a better, more sustainable world while doing business on every continent. Customers use our products to build the basic infrastructure that enables higher standards of living so that people have access to water, electricity, roads, bridges, hospitals, schools and so much more.
As Caterpillar’s Chief Human Resources Officer, my role is to ensure we have the people strategies that allow us to engage and ignite the passions of over 100,000 employees around the world. My skill set has been developed through a variety of professional experiences that have culminated in over 40 years in business, and even more years of lived experiences. But I am one person, serving one role. It takes thousands of people with different lenses, expertise, backgrounds and experiences to imagine, design, build and deliver the products and services that advance sustainable progress and help improve living standards globally.
Why Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Are Important to Our Company
There’s an African proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” At Caterpillar, we have long drawn on the diversity of our people as a source of innovation and competitive advantage. Our D&I principlesare embedded in a set of common principles called Our Values in Action:
- Integrity
- Excellence
- Teamwork
- Commitment
- Sustainability
These principles define what we stand for and how we conduct ourselves. The variety of cultures, backgrounds and experiences of our employees – united by our values with a shared accountability to create an inclusive environment – enable us to challenge paradigms and uncover new ways to think, work and achieve. We call it The Power of Everyone.
Creating Connections
Many of those diverse perspectives are reflected in our 14 employee resource groups (ERGs) that represent our global communities. For more than 20 years, our ESGs have engaged and connected communities inside and outside of our company across the globe.
“We are committed to fostering a workplace that respects and celebrates our employees’ diverse backgrounds, experiences and prospectives, and encourages a culture where employees feel valued and included. This heightens the opportunity for greater team performance and strengthens us as a company, enabling us to provide superior value for those we serve.”
Our Diversity & Inclusion Framework
As we believe that D&I is a journey and not a destination, our three-pillar framework outlines our strategic approach. The objective of our framework is to weave D&I seamlessly into the business and in a way that’s consistent with Our Values in Action and continues to foster an environment where all employees feel that they belong, are heard and valued.
In 2022, we celebrated the 20-year anniversary of our first ERG, Caterpillar’s African American Network (CAAN). CAAN has been instrumental in laying the foundation for connecting employees who share similar life experiences. It serves as a model for recruitment and retention, and a mentor and champion of diverse talent. As an executive co-sponsor of CAAN, I have seen first-hand how its membership has remained committed to their vision of being a catalyst for the overwhelming success of Caterpillar, our employees and the communities in which we serve.
That foundation and commitment has extended not only to the traditional affiliations of women, Hispanic, Asian, LGBTQIA+ and veteran resource groups, but also young and experienced professionals and individuals with disabilities. Our ERGs are one aspect of how we celebrate diversity.
I invite you to read more about our approach and achievements in our annual Diversity & Inclusion Report and check out opportunities to join our team on our Caterpillar careers website at Caterpillar.com/careers.
