Our seven WestRock Resource Groups (WRGs) bring an inclusive perspective to our company, the business and each other. They offer innovative ideas for change, increase employee engagement and are essential to our business success.
African American/Black + Allies
To foster the success of African-American/Black employees at WestRock through personal and professional development, engagement, service and integrate aspects of our rich, diverse culture across the enterprise.
Differing Abilities, Caregivers + Allies
Institute a team that supports an inclusive workplace for individuals with differing abilities and their caregivers where they feel safe and valued, while also creating an environment where these individuals feel as if they belong and are accepted.
Early Careers + Allies
To connect, develop and empower WestRock’s next leaders by creating opportunities for both professional and personal growth to enable a diverse and inclusive workplace for the future.
Organization for Latinx/Hispanic Advancement + Allies
To support WestRock’s Diversity & Inclusion mission to be a company committed to equity, where we Latinx/Hispanics genuinely belong, are respected and valued, and can do our best work, and where diversity and inclusion are competitive advantages.
PRIDE + Allies
To be a strategic partner between WestRock and the LGBTQIA+ community focused on promoting a culture of Professionalism, Respect, Integrity, Diversity, and Excellence through inclusion, education, and trust.
Women + Allies
The Women + Allies (W+A) Resource Group is committed to the advancement of women across WestRock. We engage women and allies through professional development, mentoring, and sponsorship, to amplify our accelerated approach to diversity and inclusion. As we promote equity, we maximize the impact on our businesses, our customers, and the communities we serve.
Veterans Engagement Team + Allies
Create WestRock veterans and allies community to attract, retain, develop and showcase the skills of the military veterans in our business while engaging and providing support in the veteran communities where we operate.
Throughout WestRock, we seek to advance our diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging work focusing on three main areas:
Click through to learn more about how each supports our progress towards our goals.
In 2021, 86% of all WestRock managers participated in inclusive leadership training. This training increases awareness of some of the challenges team members face and builds capabilities key to leading more inclusive teams and organizations. WestRock also designed a new learning experience called “Blind Spots,” which teaches both hourly and salaried team members how to identify and address unconscious biases. In 2022, we finished very strong with Blind Spots training: 102 US sites trained, 62% of hourly workforce and 82% of salaried workforce trained.
Our WestRock Resource Groups (WRGs) continue to grow and have positive effects within our company. After launching five WRGs in 2020 (African American Black + Allies, Early Careers + Allies, WestRock Veterans + Allies and Women + Allies) we added two more in 2021: P.R.I.D.E. + Allies (LGBTQIA+) and Differing Abilities, Caregivers + Allies. The WRGs, which have an intentional focus on allyship, had a combined membership of more than 4,300 teammates around the globe as of January 2023. Our WRGs continue to be impactful to the overall business - team members belonging to at least one resource group scored 9 points higher on the FY22 Employee Engagement Survey Index compared to those that do not belong to a resource group.
WestRock’s talent acquisition team and programs focused on increasing our diverse hiring – overall, on college campuses, in our rotational programs and through veteran and military programs. A variety of efforts, including posting open positions both internally and externally, seeking diverse slates of candidates and establishing diverse interview panels, made a notable impact on our overall results. Our external partnerships continue to expand with 7 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) along with advanced military and veteran recruiting: 857 hires in FY22 with 7% of our U.S. workforce self-identifying as veterans.
Throughout WestRock, we seek to advance our diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging work focusing on three main areas:
Click through to learn more about how each supports our progress towards our goals.
WestRock partners with external organizations aligned with our values to help maximize impact and reach.