Lowe’s: CEO Marvin Ellison’s New Blueprint For Diversity

The 190,000 full-time and 110,000 part-time associates who work at home improvement giant Lowe’s serve more than 18 million customers every week. And since Marvin Ellison took over as CEO in the summer of 2018, there’s been a renewed commitment to diversity and inclusion across the entire operation.

Janice Little, Lowe’s chief diversity officer, an ELC member and one of Black Enterprise’s top 35 women in corporate diversity, says the impact can already be felt. “We started from ground level, and we’re now racing up the maturity curve,” she says. “Partnering with ELC has been a wonderful resource for our associates and leaders,” says Little of creating a business model with diversity and inclusion at its core. “Speaking with our associates who attended ELC’s Leadership Development Week or Mid-Level Managers Symposium, they state how proud they are to work for Lowe’s, who is investing in their development. Associates return from programs with a renewed commitment to Lowe’s and ready to contribute at a higher level to help us achieve our mission. That’s a really strong business tie.” Lowe’s Business Resource Groups (BRGs)—executive sponsored, associate-led groups—were launched by Ellison and Little and are more than just employee get-togethers. “We call them ‘business’ on purpose,” says Little, “because we want our business to rely on them to help us shape our customer commitment.” Lowe’s BRGs are both for associates who identify with a particular culture and those who want to learn about that culture, and each BRG is purposely assigned an executive sponsor from a different background to promote broader cultural competency and gain visibility among company leadership. Donald Frieson, executive vice president for supply chain and the executive sponsor of the Lowe’s women’s BRG, joined Lowe’s with Ellison a year ago. “Women make most decisions about purchases in our stores, so this BRG just makes business sense,” he says. Lowe’s hosted a two-day Women’s Leadership Summit that brought together 500 women employees, including many store managers, in August. “The group included women of all ethnicities, and they had the opportunity to collaborate with women they did not know, from across the entire business,” says Frieson. “One young woman said to me, ‘This is what I like about the new management team. You are listening to us.’ We’re on the right track.” Quonta D. Vance, a Lowe’s division president who joined the company this year, is part of the leadership team that runs the black BRG. “It’s really refreshing to have leaders like Marvin and the rest of his team giving us the push. It comes from our store associates also, who tell us, ‘Hey, we like to see you guys doing more to celebrate diversity and inclusion.’” Associate feedback plays a key role in planning for key programming for future events like Black History Month 2020, he says. As CEO, Ellison feels strongly about the role of the BRGs in advancing the company’s diversity and inclusion strategy. “I’d have done anything to have one when I started out, just to answer simple questions like, ‘Where’s the nearest barber?’ And also harder questions like, ‘How do I find a mentor?’” he says. BRG executive sponsors report directly to him. “They have large functional budgets,” says Ellison, “so they can properly fund their BRGs.” Frieson adds, “Marvin often says we have only two types of associates here, those who directly serve customers and those of us who serve associates who serve customers. We’re all together moving our company from good to great.” With that in mind, Ellison has shared his direct email address to 300,000 associates, and he answers all the questions he receives from them. “And believe me, they ask!” says Ellison. “I want them to hear directly from me. We’re going to respect everyone.”