Eaton’s Cathy Medeiros Uses Employee Feedback to Bring I&D Change

Cathy Medeiros, the Vice President, Global Inclusion and Diversity for Eaton, has been instrumental in bringing change in the inclusion and diversity (I&D) arena in an industry that has been slow to recognize the power of leveraging inclusion and diversity to attract and retain the best talent and drive business results. Cathy began the change process by seeking a clear understanding of the current culture as related to I&D and using hundreds of focus groups. She used that employee feedback to develop Eaton’s global and regional strategy to be deployed over several years. The result is improved gender and ethnic diversity on the board of directors and at executive and managerial levels.

One of the most successful strategies Cathy attributes to Eaton’s success in I&D is deployment of inclusion Eaton Resource Groups (iERGs). There are eight iERGs bringing together employees who share a common purpose and interest or background. There are now 10,000 members in 60 countries, with the WAVE, ENGAGE, enABLE and PRIDE iERGs operating on a global basis. The iERGs identify priorities, break down barriers, engage in business projects, develop initiatives and act as change agents.