Creating an inclusive, diverse culture is not only the right thing to do, it ensures we continue to be an innovation leader. Setting DE&I expectations with our leaders and tying DE&I goals to their performance pay is one very important step that will nurture and create a diverse and inclusive culture at Oshkosh.
Emma McTague, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Oshkosh
Oshkosh Corporation Case Study
This case study lifts up actions from Expanding Equity’s (EE) Attract pillar, which focuses on attracting qualified talent to apply for open roles in the organization to increase diverse representation at all levels of the organization. It features EE network member Oshkosh Corporation.
Oshkosh Corporation’s purpose is to make a difference in people’s lives. Because of their People First culture, diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) are a priority for the company. They have been on a journey to ensure their team members can bring their full selves to work so they feel valued, respected and included.
Oshkosh has done a number of things to increase diversity representation. One was establishing leadership level goals for global female and U.S. Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) representation. To achieve these goals, they took the additional step of tying achievement of these goals to the long-term incentive pay for leaders.
“Creating an inclusive, diverse culture is not only the right thing to do, it ensures we continue to be an innovation leader. Setting DE&I expectations with our leaders and tying DE&I goals to their performance pay is one very important step that will nurture and create a diverse and inclusive culture at Oshkosh.”- Emma McTague, SVP and Chief Human Resources Officer
To implement this, Oshkosh took the following actions:
- Researched different data points and benchmarks and set one of their racial equity aspirations: to be an organization with the best talent that reflects broader market demographics
- Took their research and collaborated with their Total Rewards and Finance teams to link DE&I representation goals to leader compensation
- Established their DE&I representation goals and milestones and tied them to a formal incentive plan
- Mobilized their employees to act by using multiple channels (e.g., key leadership meetings, internal DE&I newsletter) to build awareness of these changes
To sustain these efforts, Oshkosh’s top leaders meet on a quarterly basis to discuss key business initiatives, including talent initiatives such as these DE&I
goals. Along their journey, Oshkosh took away several key learnings to share with other companies looking to implement a similar initiative:
- Take time to build relationships and learn about the company culture before making changes and setting goals
- Tie DE&I goals to the company’s overall strategy to provide greater clarity to the rest of the organization about the business impact of these goals
- Never build in a vacuum and constantly collaborate with others