Australian department store, David Jones, was recently recognised as a finalist for the ‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Excellence’ award in the 2024 Australian Retail Association Industry Awards. This award recognises a retailer showcasing exceptional progress towards creating a diverse and inclusive organisation.
Diversity Partners has worked closely with David Jones since 2021 when we helped build a new diversity and inclusion strategy for the business.
We’ve recently provided education to senior leadership teams and store managers nationally to strengthen their capability to lead diverse teams and design products and services that reflect the diverse customers that shop with them in-store and online.
Several initiatives from the retailer place diversity front and centre at the service and customer level.
In 2020, David Jones launched its Indigenous Pathways Program in collaboration with the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Foundation. This initiative offers workshops, seminars, networking and mentorship opportunities for winners of the National Indigenous Fashion Awards.
The Allyship Network is an employee resource group that has Empowered Allies in all stores to help create a positive inclusive in-store experience. The Allyship Network drives days of significance. For example, LGBTQIA+ inclusion is celebrated through events such as Pride Day 2024 and Wear it Purple Day, which included promotion across social media platforms. An annual Pride & Mardi Gras Collection, designed by the David Jones LGBTQIA+ team and allies, features fashion, home décor, beauty, and accessories.
Celebrating cultural diversity through events such as Eid al-Fitr, Ramadan, Diwali and Lunar New Year is important to their business. Each year, David Jones brings these celebrations to life through engaging customer experiences & team member activations.
Annual collections (such as Diwali Collection) are designed by the David Jones team that celebrate these cultural days, featuring fashion, home décor, beauty and accessories. Team members in the business who celebrate these days are involved in creating the campaigns and support those team members who work on these campaigns.
When organisations prioritise diversity, these types of initiatives result in repeat business, as Deloitte research on the business case for customer diversity highlights: ‘Organisations that go out of their way to meet the needs of their diverse customers – whether they be women, identify as LGBTIQ+ or have a disability – the research shows that these organisations are rewarded with stalwart supporters who return for repeat business and actively campaign within their communities on behalf of that organisation.’
Inclusion is one of David Jones’ four key cultural values. Louise Harding, Chief People Officer (CPO), shared with us that the work done over the past few years has helped bring this value to life. ‘I want our people, customers and community to know this is something we take very seriously and are committed to making a difference.’
‘We really value the support of Diversity Partners, particularly how their team has taken the time to understand our business and tailored engaging and practical content for our senior leaders and store managers to lead inclusive and high performing teams.’
All leaders from David Jones who provided feedback on the Inclusion in Action education recommended our program to others and 100% of leaders agreed they can apply what they learnt back in their roles.