While major retailers like Target and Walmart have scaled back on their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), cosmetics brand Lush temporarily renamed three of its bath bombs as “Diversity,” “Equity,” and “Inclusion,” doubling down its own commitment.
“A lot of us had a reaction, especially leading up to the executive order, where, at first it felt like it’s a shame to see, especially when we look at the power and the ability and the influence that corporations have to not just on their customers’ lives, but their staff’s lives, and the benefits that come from having an intentional, allocated DEI program on the staff experience,” Amanda Lee Sipenock Fisher, lead of Lush’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging program, told Retail Brew. “It was a really crucial moment to just reconfirm, especially in a moment of uncertainty and change to say, ‘Oh no…we’re staying the course,’ especially as those [others] are rolling back.”
She added that for the British retailer known for its handmade and cruelty-free range of bath, hair, and skin care products, diversity is part of the brand’s DNA and if anything, the executive order only encouraged the company to amp up its efforts.
Currently, DEI programs within the company guide practices such as hiring, resource groups, and employee development. The retailer also recently had a month-long partnership with nonprofit KultureCity on sensory accessibility and acceptance. It is additionally working on implementing new learnings focusing on essential tools to deal with microaggressions and culturally insensitive comments in the workplace.
“We have a global DEI strategy that we work on. So between our Canadian and US program, and then we’ve got a program in the UK and Ireland, we work really closely together on that strategy,” Sipenock Fisher said. “We’re able to implement it and localize it based on our individual needs…Since the implementation of our program, this is the second major strategy that we’re now working on. The first one ran for its first few years. We were able to bring quite a new, incredible program to life that we are continuing.”
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Lush also runs an anonymous, voluntary global demographic survey every 18 months that “our staff can take and really count themselves and make sure that their unique lived experiences and identities are represented within this data,” she said.
While the retailer has put DEI in focus and continues to expand on its existing programs, there is the question of how consumers might see it. Much like voters, shoppers are deeply divided on the polarizing issue. But Sipenock Fisher said Lush has received primarily positive feedback both internally from employees and from customers.
“I was just looking through pages of feedback that was shared from the LinkedIn article that had gone out, and that common thread, that at least I was seeing, was people being affirmed that, ‘Okay, good. I didn’t think Lush was going to go anywhere, but I’m happy to see that they have confirmed that that is true,’” she said.
She further believes that far from a PR liability, DEI is actually good for business.
“I think about all of the innovation that inclusion allows for, and all of the engagement that equity allows for, and when I think about how much those matter to a business when they’re really looking at, ‘What is the ROI on something like a DEI program?’” she said, “I could easily see how various companies might see it as a PR risk, but when you really look at the work…I see all the good that can come from a program like this, and I see it as a really wise business decision, both for your internal and your external customers.”