Inclusion and Diversity: The WTW Commitment

Our philosophy on inclusion and diversity

At WTW, we believe that a culture of inclusion and diversity (I&D) is critical to our business. It's not a separate initiative in its own silo. Rather, I&D is fundamental to everything we do. How we hire and promote, how we work with clients and how our teams function. The reason is simple: Making tangible progress on I&D objectives is good business.

I&D has a direct impact on our ability to grow and excel. That's why we're committed to creating an inclusive work environment where everyone is heard, respected and valued for who they are. We believe that building diverse teams that leverage all of our best thinking and efforts will help us make better decisions, be more creative and improve our ability help clients solve complex problems. It's key to sustaining our competitive advantage, today and in the future.

Our vision for inclusion and diversity

With 45,000 colleagues serving more than 140 countries and markets, our company vision includes being a destination employer where colleagues work together as one team. We use our unique perspectives to serve clients, striving for excellence and high performance in all we do. Our enterprise-wide I&D priorities align with and support this vision.

Enterprise-wide I&D priorities

1. Build a robust pipeline for underrepresented talent
2. Meaningfully increase the level of overall diversity – including the number of women – in leadership
3. Promote an inclusive culture, one that respects each other's differences and celebrates what's unique about each of us

Putting I&D into action at WTW

Our commitment extends beyond words and is put into practice throughout our organization every day.

DreamBig@WTW

DreamBig@WTW provides opportunities for youth ages 15 to 18 who are living in marginalized communities and facing adversity. Partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters and Urban Synergy, we help disadvantaged youth to define passions, gain confidence, see their potential, build skills – and maximize opportunities.

The three-year program provides mentorship from WTW professionals and summer internships within WTW. While giving back to communities, it also helps produce future business leaders and entrepreneurs, strengthens communities in need of our support and makes WTW more diverse.

Pronouns Matter at WTW

Our colleagues’ freedom to be themselves in the workplace is the backbone of our inclusive culture — one that’s safe, respectful and allows everyone to thrive. And we firmly believe this includes our transgender, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming colleagues.

At WTW, we support the fair treatment and reward of everyone, irrespective of gender identity. We understand that gender isn’t binary (male and female), and pronouns are a vital part of having your identity recognized and respected, particularly so for trans and non-binary people.

Using individuals’ correct pronouns shows that you’re aware of who they are and that you respect them enough to acknowledge that they know who they are. Using correct pronouns and indicating your pronouns are simple ways to show support, be inclusive and help us avoid making assumptions about one’s gender identity based solely on name or appearance.

When more of us share our pronouns on social media profiles and in email signatures, we normalize being open about pronouns and create a more inclusive culture where all our colleagues will feel comfortable to do the same. This in turn fosters a safe and welcome space for our gender-diverse colleagues to be and say who they are. Using the correct pronoun shows we respect each other — a core WTW value — and lets our diverse colleague population bring their true selves to work each day.

Global I&D Calendar

Our global I&D calendar provides a consistent framework for us to mark various events across the cultural spectrum that celebrate the diversity of our company and the broader society in which we operate.

The global calendar also serves to educate and engage our colleagues about a wide range of diversity-related topics and events such as our annual PRIDE initiative, celebrated by WTW employees in countries throughout Europe and the Americas from June through August.

WTW celebrates International Women’s Day

WTW colleagues globally support this celebration of the economic, political and social achievements of women.

Our global and regional I&D Councils

Our global I&D council, sponsored by Carl Hess, Chief Executive Officer, and Kristy Banas, Chief Human Resources Officer, sets the standard for our I&D initiatives globally. It is driven by geography-led I&D councils that provide local perspectives and help translate our global priorities into actions that will deliver the greatest impact within each region. These councils – with members from our various businesses and functions – drive our I&D activities around the world, ensuring that these initiatives are directly embedded within our ongoing performance and aligned with our priorities.

Our inclusion networks

Our inclusion networks are designed to engage our talent and better connect us to each other, our clients and the communities in which we work and live. They are at the heart of how we engage and inspire colleagues on the ground and actively work to support our goal of recruiting, retaining and developing underrepresented talent. Each of our inclusion networks has two executive sponsors – either at a global and/or local level – who use their influence to advocate for and advance the mission of the network.

Current inclusion networks include:

Gender Equity — supports specific needs of our female talent, including an emphasis on developing more women leaders, mentoring and connecting with clients and work-life balance.

LGBT+ — promotes a supportive, respectful and inclusive working environment for colleagues across the diverse spectrum of sexual orientation and gender identity. We seek to engage LGBT+ colleagues, strengthen their affiliation with the company and facilitate the development of relationships with LGBT+ members of the communities in which we work and live.

Multicultural — focuses on the particular needs of colleagues from a range of backgrounds and encourages acceptance through learning about and celebrating the diverse races, ethnicities, religions, languages and cultures that make up our organization. By leveraging the differences among our diverse cultural groups within the company, we are better able to serve the clients and communities in which these same groups are represented.

Workability (Asia, North America and the U.K.) — welcomes all colleagues with an interest in disability, wellbeing and health-related matters at work. We are committed to challenging attitudes and increasing understanding related to disability, removing employment barriers for disabled people and those with long-term health conditions and ensuring that disabled people have the opportunities to fulfill their potential.

Young Professionals (Asia, the U.K. and Western Europe) — aims to create a community of connected, engaged, well informed and career-confident young professionals who can help drive the future success of WTW. The group provides training, networking and development opportunities and also a platform for young professionals to share their ideas and have their voices heard. 

Recognition for our I&D efforts thus far

Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, since 2015

Diversity and Inclusion Honor Roll, 2011 – 2021

Diversity Champion Member, 2015, 2017 – 2021

Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, 2019-2022