At Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru), we believe that diversity makes us stronger. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) are core to our culture and how we treat each other as humans first. From our employees and our retailers to our local communities where we live and work, we value each unique story and strive to create a space for belonging and an environment where all people feel a sense of belonging.
Our goal is to inform and inspire as we look to help our colleagues deepen their understanding of DEIB as a business imperative. We continue our DEIB strategy through our focus on Workplace, Workforce, Marketplace, and Community. At Subaru, we define DEIB as:
Diversity
The collection of identities and experiences (both seen and unseen) that represent the individual differences that make us all unique.
Equity
The guarantee of fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all people, and the identification and elimination of barriers.
Inclusion
The intentional effort to cultivate an environment where everyone is engaged and all contributions are considered and valued.
Belonging
The outcome of an organization that values and prioritizes Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. A sense of belonging is when individuals feel their identity is seen, welcomed, and appreciated, allowing them to fully participate in a community.
At Subaru, we are cultivating a culture of inclusivity so our employees feel welcomed, included, and a sense of belonging, with equal access to opportunities that allow them to thrive in their careers. We do this through our 5 Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), partnering with our Talent Management team to create unique and relevant learning moments that allow people to deepen their understanding of DEIB in the workplace, and tailored DEIB resources to support individual DEIB learning and development.
In 2023, we relaunched our Diversity Council, a leadership group comprised of our executive team, ERG Executive Sponsors, and the Associate Director for DEIB. The DEIB team organizes regular meetings with the council to present updates, discuss new opportunities, field questions, or discuss relevant challenges. The goals of the Diversity Council are to collaborate and identify new opportunities that will help operationalize and advance the DEIB strategy throughout Subaru. Each council member plays a role in ensuring that our DEIB work aligns with our corporate values and delivers on the strategic priorities and focus areas of Workplace, Workforce, Marketplace, and Community. Members provide input at council meetings and are an active champion of the work on their respective teams.
Our teams continue to utilize coffee talks to have brave conversations across important topics. In 2023, we also partnered with TED@Work to equip employees with the right resources and platforms to continue having these conversations. In its pilot stage, our TED@Work resource reached about 150 employees. We continue to engage learning partners that help enable our team members to expand their knowledge as we work together to continue to foster an inclusive workplace.
For more than 16 years, we have worked closely with NAMAD to provide opportunities to foster a more diverse community of retailers. This includes providing qualified candidates access to low loan rates on acquired stores and assisting with the cost of professional group dues and financial consulting fees.
In October 2023, Kevin Kight, General Manager of Subaru of Olathe in Kansas, was named a 2023 Automotive News Notable Champion of Diversity. The Notable Champions of Diversity in Automotive program has recognized individuals who advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the automotive industry. Kight plays an instrumental role in driving our DEIB strategies and initiatives at the local level, fostering a culture of inclusivity and encouraging listening, learning, and acknowledging the diverse experiences within the workforce. These steps importantly result in lasting employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and overall business performance. For his collaborative work to advance DEIB, Subaru also recognized Kight as a Subaru Retailer DEIB Champion.
“Strengthening the diversity of our employees enables us to build stronger connections with our customers and community to better understand their needs, and to foster their loyalty with our brand. I look forward to continuing this work and seeing where it takes us.”
– Kevin Kight
Embracing inclusion and belonging not only enriches our work environment but is an extension of the Subaru Love Promise and our H.E.A.R.T. (Honesty, Empathy, Appreciation, Respect, and Trust) philosophy that we strive for across the Subaru family. Through consistent recruiting and an open and welcoming work environment, Kight has successfully grown the Subaru of Olathe's employee base from from 26 to 97 people in the last two years. Efforts at the retailer included providing best-in-class healthcare and inclusive benefits like paid parental leave, closing the location in recognition of major holidays, including Juneteenth, conducting quarterly surveys to gauge employee experiences, and creating an environment where every individual feels invited to belong. He has also recognized the importance of promoting inclusivity and belonging for customers.
We expanded our DEIB interview series Under the Hood, a platform to unpack dimensions of diversity and celebrate our unique stories at Subaru. In 2023, the series added a new focus on celebrating diversity and tapping into the voices of our employees. Under the Hood topics included sit downs with our incoming President Jeff Walters and outgoing President Thomas J. Doll, a panel interview on women in the automotive industry, and diving into dimensions of diversity through employee conversations.
At Subaru, we approach the subject of pay with a commitment to honesty, transparency, and equity. Our confidence in our market-leading total compensation (including base pay and bonus) is supported by a methodology that prioritizes equity and fairness. We are committed to empowering our employees with the knowledge needed to hold us accountable for our promises.
To bring this philosophy to life, we categorize each position at Subaru into grade levels, and we openly share the corresponding salary ranges. The transparent methodology guiding these ranges draws from market data from diverse salary surveys, spanning the general and automotive sectors. We use defined guidelines to determine pay and pay increases based on objective criteria to eliminate the influence of any potential unconscious bias when it comes to determining an individual’s pay within the salary range. Through collaborating with leaders across the organization in a formal calibration process, our HR team helps ensure consistency and fairness in compensation decisions company wide.
Additionally, we recognize the need for diligence in maintaining internal fairness and equity. Engaging with a third-party compensation expert, we conduct an annual comprehensive equal pay analysis for all positions and employees. In 2023, the report found no disparities in pay based on race, ethnicity, or sex. This process helps us ensure transparency and fairness for everyone and is a key part of our assessment of pay practices.
Our five ERGs are led by passionate employees who work to create ways to connect, learn, and grow. Our ERGs are integral to our DEIB mission by fostering inclusion and belonging within Subaru through employee engagement and supporting community partnerships. Our ERGs make a big impact each year supporting our goals for the workplace, with more than half of our employees voluntarily joining at least one ERG in 2023. Check out the Subaru of America Foundation, Inc., section to read about the ERG involvement in our second annual DEIB grant cycle.
Meet our ERGs:
The mission of the Black & Latino Employee Network for Diversity at Subaru (BLENDS) is to empower Black and Latino employees by creating professional development programs, offering educational resources, and engaging with the community in diversity initiatives.
Evolve promotes physical and social wellness for our colleagues by educating, motivating, supporting, and empowering employees with resources to help them become the best versions of themselves.
Out+Ally aims to create a network of LGBTQ+ employees and straight allies who strive to establish community, support, and resources for LGBTQ+ employees to create a stronger and more inclusive workplace.
Subaru Armed Forces Resource Group for Employees (SARGE) focuses on outreach and support for the veteran community within Subaru and in the local places we work and live. SARGE teaches respect for those who have served.
The Subaru Women’s Network is a diverse group with the common goal of unifying and empowering women. The network provides an opportunity for growth through education, networking, mentoring, and shaping policies to support all employees in our organization.
Subaru is committed to attracting top talent and ensuring an inclusive candidate experience. To cast a wide net in our recruitment efforts, we engage industry organizations and university partners across our identities and dimensions of diversity. We also proactively foster a consistent candidate experience through hiring manager trainings that focus on behavioral-based interview questions.
Diversity in our leadership management team increased in 2023, with 16% of our corporate leaders coming from diverse backgrounds, a 3.5% increase over 2022. We understand that diversity of thought and experience across all areas at Subaru makes us better and supports our inclusion goals of intentionally cultivating contributions across identities. We look forward to continuing to expand our efforts.
We further expanded the talent pipeline by establishing new relationships with meaningful partnerships that attract, develop, and retain qualified candidates and employees. This included events with HBCUs, historically black fraternities and sororities, military organizations, LGBTQ+ groups, and diverse membership groups such as:
MCCA
Minority Corporate Counsel Association
NABA
National Association of Black Accountants
WOCAN
Women of Color Automotive Network
Beyond the candidate experience, we continue to evaluate and improve our hiring, promotion, performance management, development, and compensation practices to help ensure equal opportunity for all employees.
Subaru offers career readiness support to veterans applying to roles in corporate settings through volunteer efforts with Hire Heroes. In 2023, through our SARGE ERG, we held 43 virtual mock interviews.
“Thank you! I'm super grateful for your help in the process. I don't think I would've gotten the job without the practice. So, thank you for making an impact on another veteran's career.”
– Participating Veteran
Our Interview Guides are resources that support hiring managers through behavioral-based interview questions connected to functional skills and our Subaru Leadership Competencies, ensuring a consistent candidate experience. These guides are complemented with a learning module so hiring managers can gain familiarity with preparing for an interview, the value of using guides to remove bias, the consistency of questions, and sharing best practices for candidate review sessions.
Our Subaru.com website strives for ADA digital accessibility by setting high standards for web accessibility and a focus on ensuring compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 Level A and Level AA. Our ADA Digital Compliance team examines strategies to make Subaru digital platforms more accessible to all.
For more on accessibility in our vehicles, visit the Safety and Quality section to learn about Subaru Mobility Assist.
Our DEIB strategy engages the marketplace through our Subaru Love Promise and our commitment to our customers and retail partners. We also focus on ways to drive inclusivity forward through our marketing efforts and supply chain.
When we engage our customers, current and future, we showcase and celebrate stories and lived experiences that represent our diverse customer base. “A Beautiful Silence” is our award-winning ad highlighting the strong connection between our customers and their vehicles. Subaru partnered with the National Park Foundation to share the emotional significance of expanding representation and access to the outdoors for all through “A Beautiful Silence.” We were proud to be honored with the inaugural FutureCast TrailBlazer Award for this heartwarming commercial.
Our partnerships support communities and organizations that embrace our Subaru Love Promise and champion diverse voices. Our collaborations across these spaces include hosting a screening of “The Approach 2”, a ski and snowboard film series showcasing people of color, women, and adaptive athletes. We also regularly partner with content creators and influencers to engage millions from all walks of life who all share a connection of driving and owning our vehicles.
Supporting our retailers is an important part of establishing relationships where people feel love and respect at every interaction. The goal of our 2023 Retailers Summit was to inform and inspire, resulting in a space for belonging and walking away with new DEIB strategies from dynamic speakers. We curated a full schedule of interactive learning that helped deepen our understanding of DEIB as a business imperative and explored new opportunities to help our retailers expand their DEIB efforts. Participants received a workbook to brainstorm their Impact Statements, further action planning, and the road forward in their DEIB journey. These efforts allow us to create a space for belonging for all people and is what makes Subaru, Subaru.
We work with community partners to create opportunities for inclusion across our supply chain. This includes regularly engaging with our legal partners to foster diversity in their firms and working with our vendor headquarters’ food service contracts.
$1,287,786
total local vendor spend for the year of 2023
Subaru believes in making the outdoors accessible for everyone. In 2023, we hosted an adventure weekend for Black People Who Hike’s (BPWH) leaders in Moab, Utah. Attendees had the opportunity to hike in Arches and Canyon lands National Parks while also trying mountain biking, outdoor rock climbing, and yoga. Employees from BLENDS and Evolve were on-site to support attendees and serve as volunteer drivers, shuttling attendees in Subaru vehicles to each adventure.
For over 3 decades, Subaru has partnered with the Rainbow Push Coalition. To further this collaboration, we created the Subaru U Scholarship for Automotive Excellence. In its third year, this annual scholarship supported six Camden, New Jersey, residents to be trained as automotive technicians at Camden County College. As part of our ongoing commitment to our hometown, we also support scholarship recipients by pairing them with Subaru retailers to provide mentorship, enhance their training, and help them gain full-time employment opportunities.
For the past nine years, we have supported the important work of PFLAG National and its network of chapters across the U.S. Through our DEIB grant, Out+Ally selected PFLAG National as their 2023 grantee, with funds supporting operating and program costs. Our work with PFLAG National aims to ensure that all LGBTQ+ people and those who love them — regardless of their family background or personal identity — are welcomed and accepted.
