- Disney is shifting its DEI work to focus on business goals and company values.
- The changes will impact content disclaimers and how executive compensation is determined.
- CEO Bob Iger has emphasized Disney’s mission to entertain rather than advance an agenda.
Disney has become the latest company to make changes to its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, as President Donald Trump’s election has triggered a cultural shift across corporate America.
The company told employees in a memo from chief human resources officer Sonia Coleman that it was shifting DEI efforts to prioritize its business goals and company values, as Axios earlier reported. Business Insider confirmed the memo’s authenticity.
The changes will also impact content advisory disclaimers that Disney began affixing to films in 2020, BI confirmed.
The memo said DEI would play a less prominent role when it comes to evaluating executive compensation, and the company is getting rid of Reimagine Tomorrow — a digital hub launched in 2021 to amplify underrepresented voices.
At the same time, Disney is rebranding its “Business” Employee Resource Groups (BERGs) into “Belonging” Employee Resource Groups, according to the memo.
Disney has previously found itself in the political crosshairs. For instance, Disney’s former CEO, Bob Chapek, faced criticism from both the right and left over his delayed response to the so-called Don’t Say Gay law in Florida.
CEO Bob Iger has spoken out against Trump in years past, though he’s been quieter during the president’s second term.
Disney has somewhat reversed its early embrace of diverse themes after getting hammered by critics on the right. At The New York Times’ 2023 DealBook summit, Iger said his company’s movies could sometimes be too focused on messaging over entertainment.
“I’ve used ‘Black Panther’ as a great example of that just in terms of fostering acceptance, or the movie ‘Coco,’ which Pixar did about the Day of the Dead,” Iger said at the summit. “I like being able to do that, entertain and if you can infuse it with positive messages, have a good impact on the world, fantastic. But that should not be the objective.”
Some close to Disney have predicted that in Trump’s new term, the company could get even more conservative in its story treatment, lest it touch off another culture war battle.
Still, given its storied place in American culture, Disney seems unlikely to escape controversy. “Captain America: Brave New World” star Anthony Mackie was recently criticized for saying his character shouldn’t just represent America (though he wasn’t the first Captain America to do so). He has since clarified that he’s a “proud American” while upholding the character’s universal appeal.
Disney’s upcoming live-action “Snow White” has also drawn controversy for reimagining the “seven dwarfs” as “magical creatures.”
Here’s the memo from Coleman:
Executive Leaders,
For over 100 years, Disney has entertained and inspired generations of families from all walks of life around the world. We create entertainment that appeals to a global audience, and having a workforce that reflects the consumers we serve helps drive our business. With more than 230,000 dedicated employees and Cast Members in more than 40 countries across six continents, Disney has long believed that the rich variety of talents and experiences our employees bring to their work is good for our business and enhances the experience of our global consumers, audiences, and guests.
Creating a welcoming and respectful environment for our employees and guests is core to our company culture and our business. Our values — integrity, creativity, collaboration, community, inclusion — guide our actions and how we treat each other. Today I want to provide an update on how our values are embedded in our leader compensation programs, specifically our Other Performance Factors (OPFs), as well as share some of the work that has been underway to evolve our talent strategy consistent with these values.
Other Performance Factors (OPFs): Beginning this fiscal year, we are adding a new “Talent Strategy” factor to our executive compensation planning. This factor will assess how leaders uphold our company values, incorporate different perspectives to drive business success, cultivate an environment where all employees can thrive, and sustain a robust pipeline to ensure long-term organizational strength. This new factor represents an evolution of important concepts in the former Diversity & Inclusion OPF and will be used alongside our other two OPFs, “Storytelling & Creativity” and “Synergy.”
As many of you know, we have spent the last year partnering with stakeholders across the company to discuss the evolution of our strategic framework for advancing our commitment to being welcoming, respectful, and inclusive in how we operate so we are the best place to work. The resulting framework — which we released in December — is designed to align our initiatives with our business goals and company values, centered around four key pillars:
People: We reach and attract the best, most talented people around the world and foster barrier-free talent processes for everyone.
Culture: We purposefully champion a culture where everyone belongs and can contribute to our business success.
Market Reach: We create unforgettable stories, experiences, and products that entertain and resonate globally.
Community: We learn from and support under-served communities by establishing and investing in impactful relationships with organizations and business stakeholders.
As we developed this new framework, we looked at ways to enhance our programs and practices to strengthen our workplace environment, in service of our business.
While some of you are already familiar with what’s new, we wanted to highlight some of the key developments:
New Online Destination: In December, we added our new framework to our corporate Impact website and the Belong hub on MyDisneyToday, with a focus on our above pillars and continued progress. This new framework, rooted in our efforts to enhance our employee experience, marks the evolution of the significant work done with Reimagine Tomorrow and succeeds that branding.
Employee Groups: Last year, we began the process of unifying and streamlining our global enterprise-wide Belonging Employee Resource Groups (BERGs) structure, and rebranded the “B” in BERG from “Business” to “Belonging” to highlight that our employee groups’ role is focused on strengthening our employee community and workplace experience.
While this will continue to evolve, what won’t change is our commitment to fostering a company culture where everyone belongs and everyone can excel, enabling us to deliver the globally appealing entertainment that drives our business.
Warm regards,
Sonia
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