What Diversity, Equity and Inclusion mean to us – and why it matters
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) are sources of great strength and areas of high priority at Dentsply Sirona.
We provide opportunities for and encourage all employees to bring their unique perspectives and experiences to the workplace. We embrace our diverse teams and celebrate their differences. Inspiring and empowering them to bring their whole selves to work. This approach encourages all employees to do their best work, bring new ideas to the table, drive innovation and create helpful solutions for our customers.
When we work toward a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment, we go beyond. We challenge the status quo. And, as a result, we have a work environment that values every employee and nurtures their growth.
1. Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Primer for 2023. Gartner, 14 February 2023.
Our Leaders on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
"Diversity, Equity and Inclusion take real work and effort to achieve any level of success. It is a mindset we truly embrace at Dentsply Sirona, by not only talking about it, but also providing resources and taking actions as an organization to live our values and build a culture of respect for everyone, a culture where everyone is welcome and feels a sense of belonging, and a culture where everyone is safe to be their full self.”
Andreas Frank, Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer
Recognizing Our Differences
Dentsply Sirona’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council consists of diverse employees from around the world who champion DE&I initiatives inside our Company and externally in the communities where we live and work.
The Council’s top priority is to increase the awareness and impact of DE&I initiatives at Dentsply Sirona. An important part of that is enabling our leaders to discuss and be held accountable for driving sustainable and equitable outcomes for all employees.
Driving our DE&I Priorities
Demonstrate our commitment to diverse representation across the global workforce
- Introduce programs that develop and source diverse talent
- Build relationships with universities to create diverse and early career pipelines
Advance the efforts of the DE&I Council
- Evaluate current policies and processes to ensure they are inclusive
- Benchmark challenge areas
- Promote the establishment of and participation in Employee Resource Groups
Develop awareness to foster inclusion
- Increase DE&I education for leaders, hiring managers and individual contributors
- Coach people managers to use performance development tools to drive inclusive behaviors and practices
Provide opportunities to accelerate internal talent
- Mentoring, sponsorship and development programs
Measure employee experience at key milestones
- Seek opportunities for continuous improvement
- Ensure alignment with our culture
Our DE&I Goals
BEYOND is how we describe the way we’re taking action for a brighter world. It’s the name of our sustainability strategy and represents the way we go beyond the ordinary to improve lives around the world and create healthy smiles.
Diversity, equity and inclusion is woven into the fabric of our Company – BEYOND is the program that helps us turn our goals into reality. For example, we strive to:
- Ensure progress on diversity action plans
- Achieve global gender parity by 2025
- Increase female & People of Color (POC) representation at the Director level and above
- Demonstrate positive progress on employee engagement
- Increase Employee Resource Group (ERG) participation
Paradigm 4 Parity Partnership
In 2021, Dentsply Sirona joined the Paradigm for Parity coalition – a movement of CEOs, senior executives, founders, board members and business academics who are committed to achieving a new norm in corporate leadership: one in which women and men have equal power, status and opportunity. Dentsply Sirona is confident that Paradigm for Parity will help drive long overdue change in the corporate world and reinforce our Company’s gender diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
After our employee Jennifer Nelson was featured as a 2021 Woman on the Rise by Paradigm for Parity, we congratulate Tiffany Readinger for being recognized as a 2022 Woman on the Rise. We're grateful for their dedication to gender equity. Both women broadened awareness of DE&I topics and fostered allyship through leadership of two of our largest Employee Resources Groups (ERGs) DS Women and BOLD (Black Organization for Leadership & Development).
FirstTo50 Women Speaker Development Program
Dentsply Sirona established the FirstTo50 program for our women Key Opinion Leaders because we believe we have a corporate role and responsibility to support representation of women in dentistry.
This program is one way we support the way educational programs and events are presented by balancing the representation of females that best reflect our collective dental community.
Employee Resource Groups
The goal of our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) is to foster diversity in the workplace, expand our Company’s DE&I footprint globally, and give our people access to diverse experiences and perspectives. They are voluntary support networks for employees who share similar backgrounds and interests. Any employee can join any ERG as a participant or ally supporting marginalized groups.
Our first two ERGs were established in 2020 and global participation to all seven ERGs grew to 2,201 members in 2023.
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