Diversity, Equity and Inclusion promotes growth and innovation. It is how we listen, learn and work together to realize our potential.
We create an environment that provides the right ingredients to amplify innovation by removing barriers to welcoming diverse talent and perspectives into our organization. This strategic focus is essential to drive positive culture change and to unlock the power and potential of innovation to fulfill unmet customer needs.
Grocery shopping can be a daunting and challenging experience for individuals with sensory sensitivities, including those with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Bright lights, loud store announcements and large crowds of other shoppers can present barriers to some individuals in performing quick and easy tasks that many people take for granted. As a result, individuals with sensory sensitivities often ask others to go shopping for them or choose to shop late at night when not as many other customers are around.
As a family nurturing families, we are committed to supporting families of all abilities and ensuring that our stores reflect the customers and communities we serve. Instead of putting the accountability on our customers to accommodate their own disabilities, in 2019 we introduced our Sensory-Friendly Shopping Program to stores across Canada to create a more inclusive grocery shopping experience for everyone.
Customers can conduct their grocery shopping in a reduced stimulus environment during specified dates and times depending on their location. For example, all Sobeys Ontario stores offer Sensory-Friendly Shopping hours, Wednesdays from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. In Alberta, our Safeway stores offer Sensory Friendly Shopping every Monday from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Since launching the program, our customers have expressed positive feedback about their store being a quieter, more comfortable place to shop during Sensory-Friendly Shopping hours.
We know our teammates have personal priorities that can sometimes be difficult to balance with work demands. Accordingly, we have introduced a number of policies to address barriers to attracting and retaining overall talent and we offer a number of inclusive processes and policies to our office teammates, including flexible work arrangements and enhanced employee benefits... Read More
We are proud to encourage teammates to work in the way that’s best for them. Our comprehensive and personalized flexible work arrangement policies help teams balance work demands with personal responsibilities and interests, and we regularly solicit feedback from our teammates to understand how we can improve our policies to meet their evolving needs. Our Flexible Workplace Policy introduced in 2018 provided the foundation that enabled us to quickly and seamlessly transition our corporate teammates to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employee feedback captured through surveys regarding their unique remote work experiences will further enable us to enhance our flexible workplace policies to meet their evolving needs. Read Less
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategy is endorsed by the Company’s Human Resource Committee and Board of Directors. It is governed by our CEO with active executive leadership engagement and a Council comprised of a diverse group of senior leaders representing all key functions of the business. Through active sponsorship, the Council members lead important change, including advancing the.. Read More Women’s Inclusion Network, sponsoring the Self-Identification process and being instrumental in the evolution of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategy. The governance model sets the tone from the top and oversees the execution of the strategy including measurable outcomes. Read Less
We are committed to keeping Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the heart of our organization by embedding it in our core values and through our leadership behaviours. In May 2019, we launched a new Inclusive Leadership program to strengthen the value of inclusive leadership and educate our leaders about how to engage and leverage the full potential of inclusion. More than 70% of our leaders, including our executive team, have completed the program to date. Key themes and learning outcomes are applied to enhance existing initiatives and programs that provide leaders with practical tools to strengthen inclusive leadership.
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