Diversity & Inclusion

Update from our CEO to our team members

Our Path Forward

Dear Team Members,

The events of the past several weeks have solidified that there is still much work that needs to be done on the way to becoming a truly inclusive society. While I was quick to share my views on the situation as it unfolded, it is time that we talk about our path forward. It is one thing to send a corporate memo or make a post on social media. It is another thing to actually make change happen. Otherwise, the words in those memos or social posts become empty. Now more than ever, we need to be asking ourselves, “what’s next?” What are we actually going to do about it? What connects our words to action? We can no longer stand by and watch events like this unfold, and not participate in impacting change.

At Spinrite, we are proud of cultural diversity. We believe in a customer-first approach to everything we do. Across North America, we serve a customer base that is widely diverse and there are consumers that we have yet to reach. In order to best meet the needs of this diverse customer base, we strongly believe in hiring team members who bring unique opinions and viewpoints. This diversity can come in many forms, but the key is that we embrace a culture where all employees are inspired and encouraged to share their passion, talents and ideas. Regardless of race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or religious beliefs, everyone is treated equally – no exceptions. This is not stated in a corporate policy – it is simply who we are.

However, that is no longer enough. We need to do more. We cannot raise our children in a world of degrees, where some lives matter more than others – especially based on the color of someone’s skin. Unfortunately, this is the world we live in today.

We are still a relatively small company. We operate on a few basic, fundamental values, with the underlying premise that small actions can add up to big gains. To properly address the “what’s next” question above, we need to ask ourselves what small steps can we take to help make a big difference across the U.S. and Canada. As I have watched and listened to the reactions of our team members across the company, one thing has been very clear. Everyone knows what is right – that we need to treat people the way that we would want to be treated ourselves.

The issue is that we don’t always know how to talk about it. We need to go back to basics and ensure we feel comfortable talking openly about anything that comes up. Therefore, over the next several months, we will be rolling out mandatory training on diversity and inclusion with a specific focus on communication. Put simply, we are going to get better at being aware of diversity issues and discussing them openly.

Once we have trained our team members at all levels of the organization, we will then focus on positions that have influence and decision-making responsibilities including our Leadership Team, Managers, Supervisors and HR team members. We will educate team members on the unconscious biases that may be impacting our decisions in hiring and provide ourselves with effective tools on how to create an environment that encourages inclusion.

We will also incorporate demographic information into our annual employee engagement survey. This will allow us to hear how our team members in marginalized groups view our workplace and allow us to drill down and overcome these challenges.

I am confident that these steps will help ensure that we have our own house in order and that everyone is in a position to succeed. We must be mindful that change does not happen overnight. However, with the focus on inclusion, I am confident that these changes will make us a better organization. As always, I encourage you to reach out with your thoughts and feedback on new ways that we can drive change.

Sincerely,
Kylee Peters
CEO