Diversity and inclusion

The company strives to create a level playing field and equal opportunities for all its teammates. It promotes their talent regardless of their beliefs, age, disability, parental status, ethnic origin, nationality, sexual or gender identity, sexual orientation, political or religious affiliation, trade union or minority organisation membership, or any other characteristic that could be subject to discrimination. Employees can use the Whispli reporting platform to report all acts of discrimination, harassment, etc., that could harm their physical and mental health.

DECATHLON’s purpose, “Move People Through the Wonders of Sport”, aims to democratise sport and its practice for everyone all over the world. Through this purpose, the company aims to promote equal opportunities to reach an overall state of physical, mental and social well-being. DECATHLON’s conviction is to be a company where its teammates feel comfortable to be themselves, reflecting the diversity of the customers and users it serves and the society in which it operates. Its ability to catalyse differences, and to promote mutual communication and challenge, drives creativity, performance, responsibility and attractiveness.

As part of this programme, the Group began a two-year assessment and certification process in July 2023 with the external expert EDGE Empower®11, which is involved in various stages in order to:
1. Collect data and policies
2. Conduct a survey among teammates in 20 countries (the survey will be finalised in 2024)
3. Analyse the results through an international assessment of HR processes
4. Audit our processes through a third-party vendor to measure inclusiveness

At the same time, DECATHLON has drawn up a global EDI policy aligned with its ambitions to initiate, strengthen and promote the development of affirmative actions in the countries where the company is present. The aim of this policy is to support the inclusion of under-represented groups and marginalised communities through four pillars:
- Inclusive hiring
- Appointments and career development
- Pay equity
- Caregiver support.

Once approved by the Executive Committee, this policy will be rolled out worldwide from 2024.
A new question was also added to the DECATHLON Teammates Barometer this year to measure teammate satisfaction with the diversity initiatives put in place. 

In 2023, 91% of teammates responded that they valued the diversity that DECATHLON brings to the team and its leadership.

DECATHLON believes that one of the company’s responsibilities is to help create a more equitable society. It is also essential for the company to combine people’s strengths, as different approaches deliver results and strong leadership abilities to achieve its transformation. In this, gender balance within the teams is a real asset in creating value and building a long-term social model at the company level.

To achieve its goal of “50% women and 50% men team leaders” by 2026 (37.6% women and 62.4% men as of December 2023 compared with 38.7% women and 61.3% men in 2022),
DECATHLON launched an international project in 2021 dedicated to gender equity. This project focuses on creating a culture of equity and inclusion in the workplace where every individual, regardless of gender, can express their potential as a way to drive performance. The main pillars of the project are:
- Reinforcing the company’s human ecosystem through gender-balanced leadership
- Individually and collectively engaging DECATHLON’s top management (leaders in the countries, HR, Sports, etc.) and defining annual objectives for the number of women leaders (globally and locally per business unit)
- Identifying and preparing future women leaders (International Talent Pool)
- Providing gender-balance training for leaders and sharing inspiring examples within the “Circle of Women in Top Management” and during the “Women in Leadership” programme.

- Increased number of women in positions with a high level of responsibility, thanks to better identification of female talent and specific support during the recruitment process. As of December 31 2023, 31% of DECATHLON’s top management13 teammates were women (compared with 19% in 2022) and 45.5% of its Executive Committee members were women (compared with 30% in 2022).

- Creation of the Women in Leadership programme to promote and strengthen the potential of female talent, as well as to create a strong network enabling participants to discuss their professional ambitions. In 2023, 140 women took part in this programme in two different sessions, covering the themes of professional ambition, meaningful careers, leadership styles, how to create an internal and external network, etc.

- External study on the gender pay gap conducted by EDGE Empower®. This study started in 2023 with the aim of collecting and analysing all the remuneration data available in the company. The results will provide a better understanding of the pay gap and enable the launch of dedicated policies to reduce it.

- Integration of gender equity issues in the onboarding programme for leaders, with a half-day session devoted entirely to the subject. During this programme, an exercise dedicated to dialogue on gender equity helps participants become more aware of how their behaviour and decisions can impact the creation of an egalitarian ecosystem.

- Identification, sharing and monitoring of fifteen high-impact actions for all business units and countries through collaborative work sessions. The best practices implemented in the countries where DECATHLON is present were listed and analysed in order to identify the 15 most impactful actions that could be implemented throughout the company. 

These actions were shared with human resource leaders, who now monitor their implementation using a dedicated scorecard.

🇫🇷 In France, DECATHLON aims to guarantee implementation of the 2021 2024 agreement on professional gender equality signed with labour partners. This agreement sets targets including: 25% of women leaders in Sports & Processes and services, 40% female store department managers and 45% female logistics department managers. To meet these goals, the company is driven by a roadmap for each of the five themes comprising the agreement: sexism prevention, recruitment, professional advancement, remuneration and work-life balance.

To raise awareness and support teammates, training sessions and workshops are available in France: “Preventing sexism”, “Boost’Elles”, “Women in leadership” and “Parenting and life balance”, for example.

🇵🇹 Thanks to the efforts of DECATHLON Portugal since June 2022, the percentage of women team leaders in this country rose from 33% to 39.3% at the end of 2023. To achieve this result, an assessment was conducted at the beginning of the project to identify three main obstacles to gender equity. Then, dedicated strategies and action plans were put in place for each one, with the goal of reaching 50% women leaders by 2026:

1. Make positions of responsibility more attractive to women:
- Assessment: In 2022, only 30% of external applications received for department manager positions came from women
- Goal: 50% of external applications from women
- Action plan: Redesign the communication and job descriptions to be more inclusive, regularly update recruitment training to ensure that every leader is well-trained and aware of the importance and benefits of gender balance within the teams, and at all levels of responsibility.

2. Identify and develop female talent:
- Assessment: In 2022, while 50% of female and 50% of male sports leaders were considered potential candidates for
store leadership positions, only 13% of the people hired in those positions were women, and just 20% of applications received were from women.
- Goal: 50% female, 50% male applicants.
- Action plan: Identify female talents across the country and regularly monitor their development and performance, set up the Women in Leadership programme locally, and create an appointments committee.

3. Support parenthood:
- Assessment: In 2022, not one female store manager had dependent children, and of the department managers who were parents, there were four times fewer women than men
- Goal: Improve the results of the DTB survey
- Action plan: Publish dedicated policies (e.g. for maternity/ paternity leave departures and returns), create a specialised
+BEM ESTAR Programme service (psychological and administrative support), and set up a re-boarding plan.

🇻🇳 DECATHLON Vietnam is continuing its 2023-2026 gender equity project that aims to reach 50% women leaders and 50% men leaders in its teams by 2026. This project is structured around five main areas and saw several advances in 2023:
1. Discrimination-free recruitment and appointments: The policy has been updated to strengthen gender neutrality
2. Work-life balance: Support for pregnant and breastfeeding women, with a specific means of transportation being provided, especially for teammates who work in production and have to travel to factories
3. A healthy working environment: A workshop on tackling harassment was organised and led by experts (35 participants), and specific training was offered on four supplier production sites: three workshops for leaders (85 participants) and one workshop open to all teammates (38 participants) to work on unconscious biases
4. Empowering women: Fifteen DECATHLON Vietnam teammates attended the international Women in Leadership programme (with the aim of expanding this initiative locally in 2024)
5. Equal pay for equal work: A wage gap study is planned for 2024.
As of 31 December 2023, 39.7% of team leaders were women and 60.3% were men at Decathlon Vietnam.