Our employees need to be as diverse as our consumers who are as diverse as our products.
Steven Brown, vice president of diversity, equity & inclusion at Molson Coors
Molson Coors: Creating a Culture of Inclusion and Belonging through Empathy
This case study lifts up actions from Expanding Equity’s (EE) Belong pillar, which focuses on ensuring that all professionals, regardless of racial/ethnic group identity, feel respected and can be successful. It features EE network member Molson Coors.
Just as every individual’s experiences and perspectives are unique, so is every organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) journey. Molson Coors Beverage Company, a renowned leader in the beverage industry, sought to bring these two ideas together to create an immersive experience for its employees that was rooted in contemplation and compassion to better foster a culture of belonging, both at the company and in the greater community.
Molson Coors’ Empathy Experience is a facilitated, immersive experience that furthers organizational DEI efforts by deepening employee awareness of the experiences of historically marginalized groups and creating space for self-reflection and emotional connections.
To create its Empathy Experience, Molson Coors took the following actions:
- Developed five exhibit-like spaces representing the experiences of women and those who identify as Black, Latino, Asian Pacific and LGBTQ+
- Trained facilitators to lead employee groups and guide reflections following each experience
- Dedicated a permanent space in its Milwaukee headquarters for the Empathy Experience, so that employees could return multiple times, recognizing that each person’s experience is an ongoing learning journey
- Set the expectation for employees that participating in all five spaces was required and foundational to the company’s values
- Expanded the experience to reach all its employees in North America, creating another space in Toronto
By analyzing its strategies, successes and lessons learned, Molson Coors is continually growing its Empathy Experience as part of its organizational DEI journey. As other DEI leaders and companies look to implement their DEI efforts, Molson Coors offered the following advice:
- Start your journey and recognize that everyone is beginning at a different place
- Know why you want to do DEI and belonging work and why you think it’s important to be part of it
- Find what makes sense for you and your organization
- Recognize that you will grow and change as your journey evolves