DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION UPDATE
OCTOBER 2022
EXECUTIVE UPDATE
In June 2020, we made a public commitment to our staff, clients and communities worldwide to take meaningful steps to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in our workplaces and the markets in which we operate. As part of that commitment, we recognised the importance of holding ourselves accountable through the publication of regular reports on our actions and progress. Our first diversity and inclusion report was published in August 2020, followed by updates in November 2020 and May 2021. In the last reporting period, we have continued to progress in advancing our mission to champion diversity and inclusion in all aspects of our business and are pleased to share that progress with you in this executive update.
Notably, reflecting our commitment to fostering an inclusive working environment, in May 2022, we implemented a new Flexible Working Policy that aims to provide team members with increased flexibility regarding their work schedule and location of work, while allowing ZIMMERMANN to maintain a collaborative, progressive and productive work environment.
We continued and increased our investment in diversity and inclusion learning and development over the period. Over seventy emerging managers from across our global business undertook immersive training in managing unconscious bias in recruitment and fostering safe and inclusive workplaces, as relevant to their career stage. We also provided our retail hiring managers with training in best-practice recruitment and added two additional diversity and inclusion-related modules, ‘Your Unique Diversity in the Workplace’ and ‘Identifying Diversity in Others’, to our learning management system.
We also continued our investment in the ZIMMERMANN Leadership Series, a bespoke leadership program designed for our valued executives and emerging leaders. Looking ahead, we have developed an extension program for leaders who have completed the series to refresh and embed their leadership learning and development as they progress in their careers at ZIMMERMANN.
We have also strengthened our employee education regarding reporting inappropriate workplace behaviour. In this regard, we have implemented a Whistle-blower Policy, supported by anonymous reporting hotlines in all regions to raise workplace incidents and seek advice.
We continued and extended our commitment to diversity recruitment during the reporting period through our partnerships with CareerTrackers and Disability Services in Australia, and Black in Fashion Council in the US. Through our partnership with CareerTrackers, we provided two paid internship programs for Indigenous university students in our design department. In partnership with Disability Services, we delivered a pre-employment readiness program for eight individuals with a disability who undertook a nationally recognised course in warehouse fulfilment and supplemented their learnings with on-the-job training at ZIMMERMANN. As a result of this program, all participants learnt new skills and enhanced their employability opportunities in the warehousing sector, including at ZIMMERMANN. Four trainees were offered seasonal contracts at ZIMMERMANN, with two trainees accepting ongoing casual positions. Also reflecting our commitment to diversity recruitment, we continued targeted advertising of open positions on Black in Fashion Council’s job board and maintained processes for ensuring all job advertisements are welcoming to diverse talent.
Regarding our workforce composition, we have made progress in advancing gender and racial diversity across our workforce. In the US, ZIMMERMANN’s representation of Black or African American employees as of August 2022 is 12%, up from 5% in June 2020 and 10% in April 2021. ZIMMERMANN’s Hispanic and Latinx representation in the US as of August 2022 is 21%, up from 15% in June 2020 and 15% in April 2021. The percentage of males employed globally at ZIMMERMANN as of August 2022 is 13%, up from 5% in June 2020 and 6% in May 2021.
As part of our commitment to ensuring that our shows, campaigns, and brand content reflect the diversity of the different communities we operate in, we continue to ensure our online content reflects models from a variety of racial or ethnic backgrounds. Since our Fall 2021 collection, we have also reflected greater size diversity in our online campaigns.
In line with our commitment to supporting the communities we operate in, ZIMMERMANN established a Philanthropic Group led by the Chief Executive Officer to support communities in need. In March 2022, we mobilised resources to help the communities impacted by the catastrophic floods in Australia. Along with other brands in the wider Australian fashion industry, we worked to send suitable and needed clothing supplies via Thread Together and donated to the Queensland and New South Wales Flood Appeal to help the Australian Red Cross provide vital humanitarian support to the people and communities affected by the floods. Concurrently, we donated to The World Food Programme, a global humanitarian organisation which launched an emergency operation to provide food assistance for people affected by the war in Ukraine.
We also strengthened our commitment to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion and equal opportunity for employees in our supply chain through the implementation of our Supplier Code of Conduct and by supporting suppliers through training and capacity building to ensure that our supply chain is a safe and respectful environment and that our business partners are transparent, trustworthy and conduct their business ethically and with integrity. We have engaged an independent third party to conduct supplier audits and conduct anonymous surveys to collect workers’ perspectives on the availability and effectiveness of grievance mechanisms, equal treatment between women and men, wages, benefits, and hours of work, among other items. We have also initiated the rollout of an independent grievance mechanism in eleven factories in China.
We also partnered with non-profit organisation Nest to conduct wage and workplace diagnostics to ensure worker wellbeing for the artisans we work with. Nest supports the responsible growth and creative engagement of the artisan & maker economy to build a world of greater gender equity and economic inclusion.
Although we are proud of the work we have done to advance diversity and inclusion in our workplace and communities and celebrate the efforts and achievements of our team, we know that we have more work to do. We remain committed to listening and learning to improve and extend our efforts. We invite you to follow our progress through future updates in the Careers section of ZIMMERMANN.COM where you can also review our diversity and inclusion statement, commitments, and year to date progress.
Regards,
Chris Olliver, CEO
Simone Zimmermann, Founder and COO
Nicky Zimmermann, Founder and Creative Director
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION STATEMENT
At ZIMMERMANN, we are on an ongoing journey to build a socially responsible brand. We are committed to empowering diverse perspectives and voices, both within our company and in the communities in which we operate.
We value creativity and know that great creativity requires different voices and perspectives. We seek to create a working environment that is diverse, supportive, respectful, and encouraging, and that values uniqueness. We take meaningful action to advance the diversity of our workforce and to promote an inclusive culture, providing resources and training to our talented teams to develop their diversity and inclusion capability. We regularly review our policies, practices, and employee benefits for inclusivity. We endorse a zero-tolerance approach to racism and discrimination.
As a global brand, we recognise we have an opportunity and a responsibility to disrupt prejudices and promote equity beyond our workplace. We continue to seek diverse and inclusive representation in our campaigns and shows. We recognise the diversity of our clients and seek to understand and meet their varied needs, preferences and sensitivities within a viable commercial framework. We partner with organisations that share our commitment to improving the employment of traditionally underrepresented talent and the wellbeing and security of marginalised groups in the communities in which we operate.
We know that meaningful change requires honest reflection, genuine commitment, and ongoing learning. We continue to actively listen to and learn from our staff, clients, and communities and engage with experts on how we can advance diversity and inclusion both as an employer and as a brand. To drive accountability, we track and regularly report on our progress to our teams, partners, and communities.
OUR COMMITMENT
As previously announced as part of our June 2020 Diversity and Inclusion Statement, ZIMMERMANN has made the following commitments:
• Reinforcing zero tolerance for racism or discrimination in our workplaces
• Increasing diversity in recruitment across our business
• Ongoing training for all our teams – corporate and retail – to support our commitment to diverse and inclusive workplaces
• Ensuring we have diverse representation in our campaigns and shows – both behind the scenes and on the runway
• Partnering with other organisations in the communities we operate to improve the participation of diverse talent in our industry and to promote safe, respectful and equitable communities
• Encouraging our partners to make similar commitments and to be active in the conversation about how brands can be a force for change
• Establishing a Diversity and Inclusion Group (D&I Group) to lead and drive our actions
Our commitments are supported by substantive actions, initiatives, and projects to drive measurable results, and are reviewed and extended over time to advance our progress.
OUR PROGRESS
Governance
In July 2020, we established the ZIMMERMANN Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Group. Comprised of senior leaders with varied racial and ethnic backgrounds, roles, experience and locations across our business and chaired by our Chief Operating Officer, the D&I Group leads, drives, and tracks the delivery of our commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion. Group members meet bi-annually to review progress on our stated commitments, explore new opportunities for building a more equitable organisation, and agree on new commitments to advance our progress. To ensure our efforts are results-driven and best practice, the D&I Group has engaged an external expert to provide guidance and recommendations on its initiatives and progress. We have also established a revolving observer seat to provide more employees from our business with an opportunity to contribute to the group.
Learning and Development
Reflecting our commitment to developing the diversity and inclusion capability of our team, we have implemented mandatory face-to-face unconscious bias training for all leaders and managers customised for our industry and tailored to support the achievement of our diversity and inclusion goals. All leaders and managers globally participate in annual immersive training on unconscious bias as their career development progresses. Topics include managing unconscious bias in recruitment and fostering safe and inclusive workplaces.
We have also implemented a new global learning management solution that covers mandatory workplace behaviour content tailored to each region in our business. Topics include anti-racism and EEO, modern slavery, wellbeing, anti-bullying and harassment, and diversity and inclusion. The diversity and inclusion modules include understanding diversity and inclusion, creating value through diversity and inclusion, unconscious bias, your unique diversity in the workforce, and identifying diversity in others. Also, recognising our commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inclusion, the learning management solution has a module on the Acknowledgement of Country and Indigenous cultural awareness. Every team member, whether in our stores or in our offices, is required to complete courses relevant to their region and these courses form part of the onboarding of every new team member joining us at ZIMMERMANN.
In addition to learning solutions addressing diversity and inclusion and workplace conduct, the ZIMMERMANN Leadership Series is a bespoke leadership program designed for our valued executives and emerging leaders. The series is run annually for new executives and managers. Looking ahead, we are implementing an extension module for leaders who have completed the series to refresh and embed their leadership learning and development as they progress in their careers.
Recruitment
Reflecting our commitment to increasing the diversity of our recruitment, we have implemented targeted advertising of open positions on diversity-focused job boards. In addition, we have implemented processes to ensure all job advertisements are welcoming to diverse talent. Also, all hiring managers must undertake unconscious bias training tailored to their role, and our retail hiring managers undertake mandatory best-practice recruitment training.
We have also established partnerships with organisations committed to the employment of traditionally underrepresented talent, including CareerTrackers and Disability Services in Australia, and Black in Fashion Council in the U.S.
CareerTrackers is an Australian non-profit with a mission to build Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation across sectors of professional employment and nurture emerging leaders for our future. The organisation works with students from Year 12 through to university, linking them to multi-year paid professional internships in relation to their dreams and aspirations. Partnering with employers, universities, and a broader ecosystem of Indigenous services, CareerTrackers create a long-term sustainable pathway for students to enter professional employment. ZIMMERMANN’s partnership with CareerTrackers supports Fashion Textiles Design students with the goal to create a full-time role at the completion of their studies. The first design student commenced their placement in November 2020. In the most recent reporting period, ZIMMERMANN continued its partnership with CareerTrackers, offering two paid internship programs and covering travel costs for two Indigenous university students in its design department.
Disability Services is a social enterprise organisation supporting people living with disability to enter the workforce. In partnership with Disability Services, ZIMMERMANN delivered a pre-employment readiness program for eight participants who undertook a nationally recognised course in warehouse fulfilment and supplemented their learnings with on-the-job training at ZIMMERMANN. As a result of this program, all participants learnt new skills and enhanced their employability opportunities in the warehousing sector, including at ZIMMERMANN. Four trainees were offered seasonal contracts at ZIMMERMANN, with two trainees accepting ongoing casual positions.
BIFC (Black in Fashion Council) is an American organisation established to represent and secure the advancement of Black individuals in the fashion and beauty industry in the United States. BIFC envisions workplaces where Black people are represented and amplified at every level, holding jobs in both C-suite and junior-level positions, and working alongside allies to create diverse spaces that directly reflect what the world looks like at large. To achieve these goals, BIFC hosts annual Career fairs to create opportunities for the Black community to successfully enter careers within the fashion industry and in turn create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive industry. BIFC also hosts Townhall meetings with guest speakers and professionals from across the industry who share their insight and provide suggestions on navigating a career in fashion. ZIMMERMANN's partnership with BIFC allows us to continue to work towards building a foundation for inclusion and diversity in the US, utilizing the BIFC resources and guidance. BIFC will also partner with us to provide feedback, counsel and amplification of ways in which we are delivering on our commitments. In addition, we have access to the BIFC Jobs Board to list roles and search for diverse candidates to fill roles.
ZIMMERMANN is seeking to extend its commitment to diversity recruitment to its EMEA operations and is exploring partnerships with specialist diversity recruiters. We look forward to sharing details in future updates.
In Australia, we have also introduced a structured and paid Graduate Training Program to introduce talented young people into our industry more effectively than traditional short-term work experience programs. We have set a diversity target for the program such that at least one of the three Design graduates will be an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander student or from a minority background. We have resolved to use the Australian program as a template in our US business in lieu of unpaid internships in order to create a better training experience and a more positive work environment. This is currently a work in progress, and we look forward to sharing updates in the future.
Supplementing our external recruitment initiatives, our annual Careers Day provides all team members with an opportunity to learn more about the varied opportunities available to them across our business so that they can continue to acquire new skills and develop their careers at ZIMMERMANN.
Workforce Diversity
We recognise that to create substantive and enduring changes in the diversity of our business, we must be clear about where we stand today. In order to hold ourselves accountable and make quantifiable changes, we must also be more transparent.
We have taken the time to review our organisation and learn more about our team to ensure that we better reflect the diversity of our clients and our communities in different parts of the world. In the US, collecting information on the gender, race and ethnicity composition of our workforce is required as part of the Equal Employment Opportunity survey and data (EEO-1 Data). In Australia and Europe, organisations may only compile this information through voluntary disclosure. To gain more visibility beyond the US, we conducted an optional and anonymous survey in July 2020. To track our progress, we repeated the survey in May 2021 and August 2022.
A summary of the diversity information we have collected about our team is set out below.
ZIMMERMANN’s GLOBAL WORKFORCE
ZIMMERMANN has 21 retail stores in Australia, 19 in the USA, 1 in the UK, 3 in France, 6 in Italy, 2 in Spain and 1 in China. ZIMMERMANN’s head office is in Sydney. We have operations and sales offices in Paris and New York City. ZIMMERMANN also operates a digital business globally.
Approximately 929 people are employed by ZIMMERMANN in Australia (69%), the USA (18%), the UK (1%), France (6%), Spain (1%), Italy (4%) and China (1%). Regarding organisational function, 41% of our team is employed in Corporate/Office roles and 59% in Retail/Store roles.
Employees participated in our 2022 voluntary survey from each of our corporate offices located in Sydney, New York and Paris, as well as our 52 stores across cities in Australia, USA, UK, France, Italy, Spain, and China. In total, 626 of our employees globally completed the survey (Australia 64%, USA 19% of respondents, EU/UK 17% of respondents). Respondents comprised 371 retail (59%) and 254 corporate (41%) employees. Pleasingly, 73% of our employees completed this survey in 2022, compared with 60% in May 2021, and 48% in July 2020.
Currently, our team is made up of people from more than 52 nationalities, up from 35 nationalities reported in 2021. The largest nationalities represented are Australia (276 employees), US (71), Italy (38), France (30), China (23), UK (15), Brazil (13), Spain 13 and Hong Kong (10).
Data for gender, age, race and ethnicity are provided below. Due to reporting or systems constraints, some gender diversity data is presented using binary categories of male and female. ZIMMERMANN respects that gender is non-binary and adopts a more inclusive identification in our voluntary global survey.
Gender Diversity
Gender ratios of ZIMMERMANNS’s global workforce overall (Source: self-identification data from employee survey)
Gender ratios of ZIMMERMANNS’s global workforce by market (Source: HR system)
Gender ratios of ZIMMERMANNS’s highest governance body (Source: HR system)
Gender ratios of ZIMMERMANNS’s offices by rank (Source: HR system)
Gender ratios of ZIMMERMANNS’s stores by role (Source: HR system)
Age Diversity
Percentage of employees by age and rank in ZIMMERMANN’s offices (So%urce: HR system)
Percentage of employees by age and role in ZIMMERMANN’s stores (Source: HR system)
Race/Ethnic Diversity
ZIMMERMANNS’s global workforce overall (Source: self-identification data from employee survey)
ZIMMERMANN in the USA
In the United States, we collect diversity data to comply with EEO-1 reporting requirements of the Federal Government. A summary of our most recent EEO-1 Report is provided below. To align with government reporting schedules, the EEO-1 Report is dated August 2022.
Gender Diversity
Race/Ethnic Diversity
Content Diversity
Shows and Campaigns
We have committed to ensuring that our shows, campaigns and brand content reflect the diversity of the different communities we operate in.
The casting of our runway shows continues to evolve to present greater diversity as we have moved from our first presentations in Australia, to shows in New York over the past several years, to digital presentations during the pandemic. To view our most recent runway castings, you may visit our Resort 2023 Collection Presentation and our Spring 2023 Collection Presentation.
Like our shows and presentations, our campaigns are an important opportunity for us to express the creative vision for our season, as well as our commitment to diversity, and we continue to work to increase diverse representation across our campaigns. To view our most recent Campaigns, please visit our Resort RTW 2023 Campaign, Resort Swim 2023 Campaign, Fall RTW 2022 Campaign and Summer Swim 2022 Campaign.
Social Media
We are committed to providing more consistent racial, ethnic, and cultural representation and diversity in our social media feeds, the content of which is commonly derived from our shows, presentations, campaigns, and brand events. As part of this commitment, we have set a benchmark of ensuring at least 25% of online images reflect models with a minority racial or ethnic background. Since our Fall 2021 collection, we have also sought to ensure our online images reflect greater size diversity.
Inclusive Workplace & Culture
At ZIMMERMANN, business is conducted to the highest standards of integrity, honesty, respect and fairness when dealing with employees, customers and business partners. Our expectations regarding integrity, legality, honesty and ethical conduct extend to our employees globally and all third parties engaged in commercial relationships with us. The standards of behaviour are established in our Code of Ethics which is provided upon hiring alongside the company’s Policies & Procedures.
As part of our ongoing efforts to foster a more diverse and inclusive workplace, we have implemented a regular pulse survey to tap perceptions of inclusion, equity, and belonging. The results from the survey will be used to track our progress and to provide us with insights into areas where we can improve.
Results of our first survey administered in April 2021 indicated 74% of our employees agree or strongly agree that ZIMMERMANN values people with diverse backgrounds and experiences, with an additional 22% of employees scoring this item as neutral.
Results of our diversity and inclusion survey administered in August 2022 indicated 86% of respondents rated their team highly in diversity and inclusion (average score 7.91 on a scale of 1 (not diverse and inclusive at all) to 10 (very diverse and inclusive). When considering the organisation more broadly, 60% of respondents rated ZIMMERMANN as an organisation highly in diversity and inclusion (average score 7.68 on a scale of 1 (not diverse and inclusive at all) to 10 (very diverse and inclusive).
While we are pleased to learn that most of our staff hold positive perceptions of diversity and inclusion, survey results highlighted some areas of opportunity for us to further strengthen inclusion at ZIMMERMANN and we continue to explore and implement targeted solutions.
Actions we have taken to date to foster an inclusive workplace and culture include reviewing our internal training materials, particularly for our retail teams, to ensure that these guides and resources are inclusive and aligned with our core values. As an example, as a result of this review, we implemented inclusive uniform guidelines in our stores.
In addition, in response to a review of our employee benefits, every full-time employee at ZIMMERMANN is now entitled to an Annual Personal Day, being an additional day of paid leave per calendar year, for the purpose of celebrating or observing an event of personal or cultural significance.
We have also implemented initiatives to support the well-being of our employees, including a new flexible work policy that aims to provide team members with increased flexibility with their work schedule and location of work, while allowing ZIMMERMANN to maintain a collaborative, progressive and productive work environment
We have also strengthened our employee education regarding reporting inappropriate workplace behaviour. In this regard, we have in place anonymous reporting hotlines to raise workplace incidents and seek advice in all regions. We expect our employees to act in compliance with the law and to report any violation following the procedure detailed in our Whistleblower Policy.
Inclusive Design
Aligning with our core values of integrity and authenticity, we have reviewed and strengthened processes to prevent inadvertent cultural appropriation in our design process.
We have also extended our commitment to inclusion to our clients, expanding our sizing range in response to a regular review of clients' needs.
Corporate Social Responsibility & Community
At ZIMMERMANN, our commitment to inclusion in the broader community is reflected in our partnerships and philanthropic activities.
Philanthropy
With conflicts, health emergencies and natural disasters increasingly affecting people globally, ZIMMERMANN has established a Philanthropic Group led by the Chief Executive Officer to continue supporting communities in need across the pillars of environment, diversity and creativity. In March 2022, we mobilised resources to help the communities impacted by the catastrophic floods in Queensland and New South Wales. Along with other brands in the wider Australian fashion industry, we worked to send suitable and needed clothing supplies via Thread Together[6] and donated to the Queensland and New South Wales Flood Appeal to help the Australian Red Cross provide vital humanitarian support to the people and communities affected by the floods.
Concurrently, we donated to The World Food Programme, a global humanitarian organisation which launched an emergency operation to provide food assistance for people affected by the war in Ukraine.
Acknowledgement of Country
In Australia in 2021, we engaged with members of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to work with us on developing an Acknowledgement of Country for display on our Australian website and email footers. An Acknowledgement of Country is a way of showing respect for Traditional Custodians of land across Australia and the continuing connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to those lands. As part of the adoption of an Acknowledgement of Country, we began our indigenous cultural awareness journey by implementing mandatory training across our retail and corporate workforce.
Supplier Diversity and Inclusion
We are committed to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion and equal opportunity for employees in our supply chain and continue to drive the implementation of our Supplier Code of Conduct, supporting suppliers through training and capacity building to ensure that our supply chain is a safe and respectful environment, and that our business partners are transparent, trustworthy and conduct their business ethically and with integrity.
We are also progressing our supply chain mapping to continue assessing social risks across all tiers, including the risk of forced, bonded and child labour. We have mandatory modern slavery training for all employees globally and additional training sessions for teams with procurement responsibilities.
We have engaged an independent third party to conduct supplier audits, which assess social and environmental compliance and the implementation of our Supplier Code of Conduct in our main production facilities. Worker engagement is integral to our audit process, and we use technology-supported anonymous surveys to collect the workers’ viewpoints across four indicators—labour, health and safety, environment, and management systems. As part of this survey, workers are asked to give their perspectives on the availability and effectiveness of grievance mechanisms, equal treatment between women and men, wages, benefits, and hours of work.
We have also initiated the rollout of an independent grievance mechanism in eleven factories in China. In addition to providing insight into working conditions at the factories, the provision of an independent grievance mechanism can become a driver of continuous improvement in the factory, providing the factory management with the tools to proactively address issues before they escalate and, ultimately, prevent their reoccurrence.
We have also partnered with the non-profit organisation Nest to conduct wage and workplace diagnostics to ensure worker wellbeing for the artisans we work with. Nest supports the responsible growth and creative engagement of the artisan & maker economy to build a world of greater gender equity and economic inclusion.
Advocacy
We share the steps we are taking towards positive change with our business partners, advocating to drive diversity and inclusion in the fashion industry through collective change efforts.
Community Feedback
While we regularly receive encouraging and positive feedback from our community, we equally appreciate the feedback on what we can do better. Any complaint or unpleasant experience with our brand from any person is welcomed. We are listening and we are acting. To contact us, please email clientservices@zimmermann.com.
Future Updates
We recognise there is much work to do, and effective change takes time, but we are committed to taking the actions necessary to create a more diverse and inclusive ZIMMERMANN. As our D&I Group continues its work, we will provide regular updates on our progress and the initiatives we are implementing here and in the Careers section of ZIMMERMANN.COM