Better Lives.
We value and invest in our associates, and recognize that their talent, capabilities, and engagement support our innovation and growth. We are committed to creating a workplace that helps our associates be their best not merely in their careers but as a whole person. Here are some of the ways we deliver on this promise.
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Associate Engagement: Since launching in 2018, we have engaged more than 1,600 associates around the world in nine Business Resource Groups united around various communities and their allies.
Innovation for Good®: Our associates demonstrate their passion for innovation and social impact through their participation in our innovation incubator focused on creating new business opportunities that address pressing environmental and social issues.
I-Prize: Annual competition for Kohler associates around the world to pitch revolutionary innovations that have a social purpose. Winning ideas receive funding for further development.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Our diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs are managed at a senior-management level through the Executive Leadership Diversity Board (ELDB), chaired by our CEO and composed of the Kohler Leadership Team and key senior leaders. The ELDB implements our DEI programs and monitors our progress toward DEI goals, which in 2021 included requirements for diversity-first hiring.
Associates in Action
Our associates demonstrate their passion for innovation and social impact through their participation in our innovation incubator, Innovation for Good (IfG), focused on creating new business opportunities that address pressing environmental and social issues. The incubator has provided funding for new products and services since 2011. This year, IfG product developments included:
- Pour-flush toilet: a seated porcelain toilet that does not require electricity or piped water to function was used by Water Mission
- Container-based solution (CBS): in partnership with Sanergy to provide safe sanitation for the unsewered, CBS had a first field trial
- KOHLER WasteLAB® : Applications of landfill-bound pottery, wastewater sludge, slag, and glaze overspray to design and produce stunning products saw the launch of a new tile collection called Abstra™
In 2018 IfG launched I-Prize, an annual competition for our associates to propose innovative new products and solutions addressing a key social or environmental purpose. The 2021 I-Prize, themed Carbon Emissions generated:
- 12 semifinalist teams with 50 participants and 14 innovation ideas
- six finalist teams with four ideas awarded incubation funding to advance into incubation in 2022