Trust and Empower: Value Begins and Ends with Culture

When I became CEO of Emerson just a few months ago, what excited me most about the opportunity was the people. And now – 130 days, 12 nationwide town halls, one global webcast, countless employee conversations and two COVID-19 vaccines later – I’m more energized than ever about the people of this company. Nearly 85,000 people come together every day in service of a larger purpose: We drive innovation that makes the world healthier, safer, smarter and more sustainable. These dedicated employees could spend their time and talents anywhere, but they choose to make Emerson the innovative powerhouse that it is – and I could not be more grateful.  

Modernizing our workplace culture is my top priority – and if you asked what is top of mind for me next year or five years from now, I have no doubt that my answer will remain the same. A company’s culture is a living organism, created by the expectations we set and the Purpose, Causes and Values we hold close. Culture is strengthened by consistently living those tenets, day in and out – and it can be quickly eroded when we act in a way that is inconsistent with our beliefs.  

We – and truly, all company leaders – have an obligation: to build a culture worthy of our workforce. We collectively spend as much time with our colleagues and customers as we do our families, and having a culture that supports, encourages and sparks creativity is vital to a strong team. 

Across every role I’ve held, my leadership style has been to trust and empower. When you trust and empower people to do their job well – to let them run and stay out of their way while holding them accountable – incredible things happen. Part of that trust is fostering the environment that best supports them. We’ve recently implemented a new global work from home policy – the company’s first – that allows employees to choose the balance that works for them and their families. We’re seeing a larger societal demand for this balance, as a recent McKinsey survey found over half of employees now want a hybrid working model coming out of the pandemic.  

Changing our working model was an important step, but we know that empowerment is much bigger than an individual level. We’ve put a larger focus on diversity, equity and inclusion than ever before. We believe that a workforce should reflect the world around it, that different backgrounds and experiences lead to an invaluable exchange of ideas, and we are committed to taking intentional steps to drive more diversity within our organization. Just this week, we finalized Emerson’s first diversity target to hold the company accountable: We will double representation of women globally and U.S. minorities at the leadership level by 2030. This is an aggressive target, but I am confident that employees of all levels are passionate about inclusion and that, together, we will make this goal a reality.  

We are improving our culture and building a diverse workforce because it’s the right thing to do – but it also makes us better as a company. We want to retain and attract the brightest talent to ensure the continued strength of our organization and to provide value to our many stakeholders. Having an empowered culture is critical to those efforts and to driving sustained employee engagement.  

I’ve already seen tremendous cultural momentum. I invite you to take a moment and read our newest ESG report, published this week, to learn more about how our teams are driving exceptional progress in Environmental, Social and Governance leadership. As we continue to enhance our culture, I am confident we will eclipse that progress and make measurable gains internally and for our customers.  

I look forward to continuing to share our progress toward our ESG initiatives and diversity goal. Working together with our global team, I know we will keep building on a culture that makes everyone feel proud to call Emerson home.