Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is a key force driving the APS Promise and Principles. Inclusivity is integrated within each of our cultural principles and behaviors. By taking actions to include every employee, we create a culture of trust that allows us to embrace diverse perspectives, create psychological safety for challenging respectfully, and uniting as a team.
At APS, we believe that belonging matters. When we feel seen, heard and valued, we can more effectively unite behind our APS Promise.We create this sense of belonging through our commitment to inclusion, which involves embracing the unique perspectives of each employee. True inclusion brings greater appreciation for our diversity. This allows us to equitably leverage our powerful workforce so we can successfully bring our APS Promise to life.
Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is demonstrated in numerous ways, internally and externally, including: Multi-Year DEI Strategy and Roadmap. In 2021, we launched a comprehensive DEI strategic roadmap to provide clarity around our DEI efforts. The strategy was created with input from key stakeholders throughout the Company and incorporated the extensive, candid feedback received from the Listening Sessions with executives held annually. The DEI Strategy focuses on eleven key areas, which are organized into three primary focuses: Alignment and Accountability, Workforce Evolution, and Leveraging Connections. The eleven focus areas are internally facing within APS, and externally facing in the communities we serve.
DEI Governance and Advisory Groups. Our Inclusion Council includes a Steering Committee and Executive Advocate group. We also launched a DEI Employee Advisory Council. This group of more than fifty employees from diverse business functions and organizational levels provides feedback on DEI plans, initiatives, and projects and helps brainstorm about effective ways to incorporate DEI at APS. Input from this group is shared by the DEI Team with the Inclusion Steering Committee and Executive Advocate group.
DEI Education and Learning. The goal of our education efforts is to bring inclusive leadership education to the business unit leadership teams covering topics such as cultural competence and unconscious bias. We launched a DEI self-paced module for all employees explaining how cultural competence drives inclusion of diverse groups and conducted cultural competence assessments with our inclusion council groups. In addition, held listening sessions with employees to learn about what matters most to them.
Robust, Long-Standing Employee Network Groups. Our self-organized Employee Network Groups (ENGs) were formed to encourage employees to challenge themselves, develop additional skills and advance within their chosen fields. The Company supports 10 employee networks that enable employees to connect with one another and promote career development: These groups are open to all APS employees and promote engagement, inclusion, and leadership opportunities.
Ongoing Community Partners for Recruiting Diverse Talent. APS partners with the following organizations to recruit diverse talent into the company’s internship and emerging talent pipelines: American Indian Science and Engineering Society, Hispanic Business Student Association, National Society of Black Engineers, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Society of Women Engineers, Student Veterans, Women's Business Leaders Association at Arizona State University.
Support for Individuals with Disabilities. APS has initiated a pilot program with the Precisionists, Inc. to bring more neurodiverse talent into APS roles and projects. The Precisionists, Inc. is a national company focused on creating 10,000 jobs for people with disabilities over the next decade, by providing industry best practices for delivering administrative and technology services performed through teams which include individuals with disabilities.
Recognition. Recently, the company’s efforts to build a diverse, inclusive environment have received recognition such as the 2021 Inclusive Workplace Award a joint accolade from the Diversity Leadership Alliance and Arizona Society of Human Resource Management. In addition, we remain committed to recruiting, hiring and developing top talent with a focus on increasing diversity and creating opportunities for historically underrepresented populations. We continue to focus on hiring diverse employees as well as hiring employees from our veteran community.
Overall Employee Diversity 2022
- 35% of employees are ethnically or racially diverse
- 26% are female
- 15% are veterans
New Hires in 2022
- 44% were ethnically or racially diverse
- 40% were female
- 7% were veterans
Read our Consolidated EEO-1 Data Report covering diversity statistics.