Organization Name: Sephora
Headquarters Location: San Francisco, California
Organization Website: www.sephora.com
Industry: Retail
Number of Employees: 13,510
CEO: Jean-André Rougeot
Diversity Leader: George-Axelle Broussillon Matschinga
Diversity Leader Title: Vice President, Diversity & Inclusion
George-Axelle Broussillon Matschinga
1. Number of minority, women, or members of other underrepresented groups that are currently C-level executive at Sephora;
Five
- Number of members of the above-mentioned groups that have been added in the past three years:
Three
2. Number of minority, women, or members of other underrepresented groups that currently serve on the Sephora board of directors:
Sephora does not have a board of directors.
3. The diversity make-up of Sephora:
Sephora approaches diversity in a number of ways. In June 2020, Sephora made several renewed commitments to bring long-standing values of the brand to life. We pledged to make the Sephora experience more inclusive and equitable, for our team members, clients, and the broader beauty community. To realize these commitments, we created a holistic strategy named the Sephora D&I Heart Journey, supported by 11 internal D&I task forces and a detailed Action Plan — including marketing, merchandising, hiring, training, operations and the in-store experience — to tackle bias across all aspects of our organization.
We continue to work every day to create an inclusive environment for all. In July 2021, we announced the progress we’ve made across the business, examples include:
- At the end of 2021, we more than double our assortment overall, including achieving the 15% benchmark in prestige haircare.
- In Marketing, Black-owned brands now comprise 15% of Sephora’s total social and digital content; To broaden inclusion for Sephora’s Latinx clients, we have doubled the number of Spanish-language YouTube videos produced each month
- To make our retail experience more inclusive and welcoming, we created 20 new inclusivity training modules required to be taken by all Sephora retail employees, including a series which trains all Sephora employees to recognize and mitigate their unconscious biases.
*Full progress report can be viewed here.
We also continue to hold ourselves accountable to increase representation across all areas of the business.
As of November 2021, our workforce is made up of:
- 67% People of Color
- 18% Black/African American
- 82% Female Identifying
Leadership in our US stores, distribution centers and corporate offices is comprised of:
- 45% People of Color
- 10% Black/African American
- 75% Female Identifying
4. Sephora’s Pipeline-to-Leadership program for women and members of minority and other underrepresented groups:
Sephora has developed three Emerging Talent Programs to help us build a strong pipeline of underrepresented candidates. We implemented an internship program for undergraduate students, a Rotational Management Program in our corporate offices, and a scholarship program for students pursuing a licensed career in beauty.
- Internship program: In the summer of 2021, Sephora hired 43 interns from diverse backgrounds, including students from the Drexel Co-Op program. More than 50% of these early career professionals self-identify as talent of color.
- Rotational Management Program: Most recently introduced in 2021, summer interns will be eligible to apply for a full-time position in our newly created Rotational Management Program, which will be launching in mid-2022. This program is designed to support a diverse talent pipeline and build our future inclusive leaders. Applicants who are hired will be offered a role in each of three participating functions— Marketing, Merchandising, and Inventory Management—to learn our core business processes and store operations.
- Sephora Scholarship: The Sephora Scholarship Program is designed to empower BIPOC students pursuing a licensed career in beauty through professional training and education. This annual, year-long program provides participants with tuition for cosmetology and esthetician school, a paid internship at Sephora, first-hand industry experience, mentorship, and access to open roles following graduation. A total of five states are participating, and the program has welcomed 31 scholars in 29 different stores.
Similarly, in our continued commitment to create an inclusive space for our employees, Sephora’s distribution centers are leading the way by creating accessible environments that welcome talent with disabilities. A structured nine-week training program, a commitment to equal pay for equal work, and equitable performance standards are some of the ways we respect the dignity of our employees with disabilities and value talent in all its forms. Our employees can expect state-of-the-art facilities that help simplify and streamline our processes to expand employment opportunities for our diverse workforce.
Additional Support Programs
In May 2021, we launched the Sephora Talent Incubator Program (STIP), our first-ever structured mentoring and coaching program inclusive of underrepresented talent of color. This one-year program is designed to build the next generation of culturally competent and diverse leaders by readying them for next steps. In addition to mentoring and group coaching tracks, STIP offers a culturally oriented individual coaching track. The cohort consists of 50 mentees and 28 mentors, comprising women, people of color, and other underrepresented groups.
5. Pay parity for women, minorities, and other underrepresented groups at Sephora:
Sephora engages in ongoing efforts to maintain competitive compensation in each market, and fairly and appropriately compensate all employees, regardless of their gender or race.
6. Sephora’s Diversity and Inclusion statement:
At Sephora, our diversity and inclusion mission is simple: To never stop championing all beauty fearlessly and building inclusive environments for our employees, consumers, and communities. In 2019, Sephora announced a new tagline and manifesto, “We Belong to Something Beautiful,” to reinforce our dedication to fostering belonging among all clients and employees, and to publicly strive for a more inclusive vision for retail in the Americas. In 2020, Sephora launched our Diversity and Inclusion Heart Journey to support our vision of becoming the Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Champion in the retail industry.
- How it is shared with jobseekers, employees, and the public:
This is shared across all internal and external platforms, including communications to clients, employees, and our communities (brand partners, vendors, and others)
- How Sephora’s Diversity and Inclusion statement informs the organization’s hiring practices and interactions with employees, customers, and the community:
Sephora is committed to the recruitment of and support for employees of color, starting with new resource tool kits for hiring managers, expanded partnerships with associations dedicated to the advancement of underrepresented talent, incorporation of diversity, inclusion, and equity goals as part of annual performance metrics for all corporate and retail team members, and 100 percent compliance with foundational unconscious bias training for all new hires. We are increasing the frequency and depth of employee training and adding new modules that offer strategies to identify bias and foster inclusive behaviors in the workplace and in the shopping experience.
We have implemented and will be launching several additional programs aimed at career development and advancement across our communities—from aspiring makeup artists to corporate interns to executives. We launched the Sephora Talent Incubator program to develop the next generation of culturally competent, diverse leaders. This one-year program offers structured mentoring and coaching to 50 managers across our corporate, distribution center, and store teams.
7. Programs, policies, or initiatives Sephora currently has in place to ensure fairness and inclusion in the recruitment and hiring process:
- Unconscious bias training
- Diverse hiring team
- Inclusive job descriptions
- Sourcing from nontraditional talent pools and diverse groups
- Participation in virtual D&I Career fairs like the Black MBA conference, sourcing partnerships with HBCUs (Drexel co-op program and Jumpstart)
8. Sephora’s Culture Statement:
We Belong to Something Beautiful
Sephora has been an industry-leading champion of diversity, inclusivity, and empowerment, guided by our longstanding company values. In 2019, Sephora announced a new tagline and manifesto, “We Belong to Something Beautiful,” to reinforce its dedication to fostering belonging among all clients and employees and to publicly strive for a more inclusive vision for retail in the Americas. Sephora continues to give back to our communities and advance inclusion in our industry through its social impact and equity programming, called the Sephora D&I Heart Journey.
9. Current ERGs supported by Sephora: Sephora supports nine Employee Resource Groups, known as our SephoraIN Communities:
- EllesVMH (Women’s empowerment)
- Mi Gente (Latinx Community)
- Green Team (Environment)
- InspirAsian (AAPI Community)
- Sephora Noir (Black & African American community)
- Sephora Prism (LGBTQ+ community)
- SephorAbility (Employees with disabilities)
- Working Parents Group
- Women Who Tech
10. Sephora’s Supplier Diversity program:
At Sephora, supplier diversity means building a strong base of suppliers, with 51 percent of the ownership of designated diverse background. It encourages the growth of underrepresented businesses; promotes innovation through new products, services, and solutions; and drives competition among the company’s existing and potential suppliers.
Sephora collaborated with the National Minority Supplier Development Council, a nonprofit advocacy group, to establish best practices and start building our Supplier Diversity Portal, which we launched in July 2021. New suppliers are encouraged to register at this portal, which will increase visibility and help reach our goal of doubling our current diverse spend by the end of 2022.
11. Honors/recognition for the organization’s diversity efforts awarded during the past three years:
Forbes
- America’s Best Employers for Women 2019, 2020, and 2021
- America’s Best Employers for Diversity 2019 and 2021
- America’s Best Employers for New Grads 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021
Human Rights Campaign
Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index is the national benchmarking tool on corporate policies, practices, and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer employees.
Sephora achieved a score of 100 and earned the designation as a “Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality” 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Disability Matters 2021 Marketplace Award
Recognizes corporations around the globe that are leading the way in mainstreaming disability in three categories: Workforce, Workplace, and/or Marketplace in an annual awards ceremony and conference.
Runway of Dreams’ Pioneer of Change Award
The Runway of Dreams Foundation (RODF), a nonprofit organization working toward a future of inclusion, acceptance, and opportunity in the fashion industry for people with disabilities.
The Arc 2021 Catalyst Award
The Arc of the United States is an organization serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The organization was founded in the 1950s by parents of people with developmental disabilities.
