FirstEnergy Corp. recently published its updated Strategic Plan and announced that it is continuing its progress toward building a more diverse and inclusive workplace by pursuing a 30% increase in racially and ethnically underrepresented employees, both overall and at the supervisor-and-above leadership level, by 2025.
"Setting this goal will accelerate FirstEnergy's transformation into a more innovative, diverse, and sustainable company," said Steven E. Strah, FirstEnergy's president and acting chief executive officer. "Our Strategic Plan identifies bold goals for key areas of our business. I'm confident that with continued enhancements to our processes, we will achieve and exceed our objectives."
FirstEnergy is working to build a diverse, high-performing, and innovative workforce that better reflects the diversity of the customers it serves; create an inclusive environment of respect, appreciation, and belonging for everyone; and help employees grow, develop, and excel in executing the company's strategy.
To accelerate workforce diversity, FirstEnergy has set a goal to increase the number of employees from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups by 30% by 2025. This represents an increase from 10% to 13% in the overall employee population, and 7.5% to 9.7% at the leadership level compared to the 2019 baseline.
"Diversity and inclusion are key to building a more sustainable company, achieving our goals, and bringing the FirstEnergy mission to life," Strah said. "Our employees move our strategy, culture, and company forward. We know that as a more diverse and inclusive company, we will improve our ability to attract top talent, increase employee engagement, and better reflect the communities we serve, which in turn will improve decision-making, enhance our safety culture, and fuel innovation for a more sustainable future."
In support of its goal to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of its workforce, the company is enhancing its recruiting strategy and hiring processes. Key changes include launching a FirstEnergy Ambassador network to build relationships with colleges, universities, and educational organizations; increasing investments and involvement with historically Black colleges and universities; and providing leadership and management training around its hiring philosophy.
FirstEnergy's Strategic Plan also articulates numerous other goals that support the company's objectives. These goals include the previously announced pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, as well as specific targets related to:
- Enhancing a culture of compliance through transparency and accountability
- Enabling a smarter, more resilient electric system
- Embracing innovation across the organization
- Meeting the challenges of climate change
- Developing a diverse and inclusive workforce
- Building collaborative relationships, marked by trust and respect, with all stakeholders
- Strengthening the company's safety-first culture
- Delivering strong and predictable financial results
