Dow Jones CEO sets target of 40 percent women in executive ranks

William Lewis, the chief executive officer of Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, sent out the following to the staff on Monday evening:

Dear Colleague,

Promoting diversity and championing inclusion is a major priority for Dow Jones as we embark upon an exciting journey through FY18 and beyond. But fine words on diversity need to be matched with firm actions – and this week’s One Thing details my plans to ensure our company recruits, retains and rewards a diverse workforce.

In the immediate term, I am in the process of hiring a diversity and inclusion specialist to lead, audit and advise on diversity issues across Dow Jones. It is imperative that we both understand our own data and act upon it with reference to the very best of practice. The diversity and inclusion specialist will put in place the infrastructure we need to support our diversity and inclusion efforts. This will feature a Diversity & Inclusion Council, drawn from staff across the company.

Promoting gender equality within our company will be the critical, initial focus. This is not the limit of our ambition in promoting diversity – rather, it is a starting point. Thanks in part to the cultural diagnostic work, which so many colleagues took part in and that we carried out at the start of the year, I recognize that other areas – such as ethnicity, sexual orientation, flexible working, disability and veteran status – are all issues and opportunities that need to be championed.

The need, though, to improve the career chances and choices of women is pressing. I am, of course, committed to ensuring pay equity across the company and this process continues, as evidenced by the recently completed second annual review. Analysis showed that an additional 2% of our employees needed further adjustments to their salaries to better align with others in similar roles and at similar levels. This included both men and women and spanned multiple ethnicities. But pay equity is only part of the issue. I will, therefore, also introduce a new Accelerated Management Program for women – initially for 25 candidates drawn from different departments. This program will help develop, coach and mentor individuals to advance and accelerate their careers at Dow Jones and beyond.

Based on work already underway and the efforts of our new diversity and inclusion expert, I will also set a new, company-wide target of executive-level women for every Dow Jones department. As things stand, I will set this target at 40% initially. This will be the first of a number of diversity goals I will identify.

To be clear, diversity and inclusion will be fundamental to our future success. We need to draw upon a wide range of backgrounds, experiences and ideas to ensure we stay relevant and responsive to our customers. They are changing – and so must we.