Disney is shifting its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts to align more closely with business performance, according to an internal memo from Disney's chief human resources officer Sonia Coleman and obtained by Axios.
The changes include restructuring executive evaluations, rebranding DEI initiatives, and modifying content advisories on Disney+.
Key Changes in Disney's DEI Strategy
- Executive Compensation: Disney is replacing its "Diversity & Inclusion" performance factor with a broader "Talent Strategy" evaluation. While the new metric still includes DEI elements, it prioritizes how talent initiatives contribute to business success.
- DEI Rebranding: The company has retired its Reimagine Tomorrow initiative, which previously highlighted underrepresented voices, and removed its website. The content has been relocated to Disney's corporate and internal websites.
- Employee Resource Groups: The company has renamed its "Business" Employee Resource Groups (BERGs) to "Belonging" Employee Resource Groups to reflect a focus on workplace culture and employee experience.
Changes to Content Advisories
Disney is also revising how it presents content warnings on older films. Previously, certain titles like Dumbo and Peter Pan featured an auto-play disclaimer acknowledging negative depictions and cultural stereotypes. Those messages will now appear in the details section instead, with a more condensed advisory:
"This program is presented as originally created and may contain stereotypes or negative depictions."
Political and Business Considerations
Disney's approach reflects CEO Bob Iger's push to refocus the company on entertainment rather than political debates. Since his return in 2022, Iger has emphasized storytelling and business performance over advocacy, stating at the 2023 shareholders meeting:
"Our primary mission needs to be to entertain, and then through our entertainment to continue to have a positive impact on the world. It should not be agenda-driven, it should be entertainment-driven."
The Memo in Full
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
What Is DEI and Why Does It Matter for Companies Like Disney?
DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, a framework used by companies to create fair and inclusive workplaces.
- Diversity refers to representation across different demographics, including race, gender, age, and background.
- Equity focuses on fair access to opportunities, addressing systemic barriers.
- Inclusion ensures that all employees feel valued and have a voice.
For companies like Disney, DEI initiatives influence hiring, workplace culture, and even content creation. These efforts help brands appeal to a broad audience, maintain a positive public image, and meet employee expectations. However, evolving political and business pressures often lead to changes in how companies approach DEI, as seen in Disney's recent restructuring.
Read the full report at Axios.
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