Societal Impact
We are on a mission to improve lives and shape communities where we live and work.
Delivering A Positive Societal Impact
At Reynolds American, our people play an integral role in our success. Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) goals reflect our commitment to this belief, with targets to increase both women and ethnic minorities in management roles. Our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are helping lead the way, illustrating how to celebrate our differences. We are also passionate about giving and volunteerism in our local communities, continuing our legacy with organizations like United Way of Forsyth County. And, of course, we have an unwavering focus on safety in all our operations and upholding human rights for agricultural workers.
Read more in the 2023 Reynolds American Sustainability Summary.
For us, achieving our diversity goals isn’t just about data and numbers, it’s about people, their ideas, and creating a sense of belonging that inspires us to thrive in our careers.
-Borgia Walker, Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Inclusion within the Reynolds American organization
A Great Organization Made Even Better by Great People
Maintaining and building on our diverse workforce is an essential element of our journey to build a Better Tomorrow™.
We succeed when our people do. Our benefits support our employees’ professional and personal life. That, coupled with our dynamic people has earned us recognition for being a unique and outstanding place to work.
By 2025 we have ambitions and plans in place to reach gender parity in management roles and to have 25% representation in management roles (African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic-American)
Women
In Management
Minorities
In Management
Amplifying Diversity
No matter your gender, race, sexual orientation, background, or beliefs, you are celebrated at Reynolds American Inc. We value diversity because it encourages innovation, creativity, and different ways of thinking; it creates a fascinating place to work, with opportunities to collaborate with a wide range of people from various cultures, all with different perspectives, backgrounds, and points of view.
We are pleased with the continuous progress we are making in building a sustainable pipeline of talent from a diverse range of backgrounds.
Encouraging Community
We encourage all employees to join our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to empower and connect us all to one another. ERGs are designed to create an inclusive community and are open to all employees.
- ADAPT (Able & Disabled Advocates Partnering Together)
- Asian American
- B. E. Y. O. U (Black Employee Network Yielding Outreach and Unity)
- B United (LGBTQ+)
- HOLA (Hispanic Origin and Latin American)
- LINK (All employee networking to foster culture and career growth )
- Veterans
- Women
ADAPT (Able & Disabled Advocates Partnering Together)
ASIAN AMERICAN
B.E.Y.O.U. (Black Employee Network Yielding Outreach and Unity)
B United US LGBTQ
HOLA (Hispanic Origin & Latin American)
LINK (All employee networking to foster culture and career growth)
VETERANS
WOMEN
DE&I is an important part of our sustainability strategy, and we are committed to building a culture where
everyone has a voice.
Our External Recognition
Attracting, developing and retaining a talented workforce are key drivers in our transformation journey to build A Better Tomorrow™ for all. In 2022, for the third year in a row, we received a 100% in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI), which qualifies us as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality. Our hard work has awarded us inclusion on Bloomberg’s Gender-Equality Index (GEI) and recognition as a Top Employer by the Top Employer Institute for 2024.
Achieving Safety Milestones
We are committed to a safe working environment and, by extension, strive for zero accidents in all our facilities. As a team, we ask everyone to keep safety at the forefront.
Our efforts have led to a
36% decrease in workplace accidents since 2020.
New safety initiatives:
Reducing the weight of bobbins, or cylindrical spools for our materials, by decreasing size and testing lighter materials.
Acquiring 28 new lifting devices that are being installed across our operations to simplify handling and transport of our products.
Implementing additional safety tours for operations employees.
In 2023, the North Carolina Department of Labor (NCDOL) recognized our unwavering efforts to prevent injuries and illnesses, and promote safer working conditions across our sites. Leading by example are our Leaf Operations team, which received a Certificate of Safety Achievement for the 23rd consecutive year, the Reynolds Operations Center (ROC), which received the award for the 22nd consecutive year, and our Reynolds American headquarters, which received the award for the 14th consecutive year.
Additionally, Reynolds American headquarters was awarded two Certificates of Special Recognition for 100% prevention of injuries or illnesses that resulted in lost workdays across six million employee hours since 2016.
Our Long-standing Commitment to Human Rights
We respect fundamental human rights as affirmed and set out in our Standards of Business Conduct and Supplier Code of Conduct, including the rights of employees within the Reynolds American organization, the people we work with, and the communities in which we operate across our supply chains and business operations. And all of our leaf suppliers are expected to participate in the industry’s Sustainable Tobacco Program (STP), which requires an annual self-assessment against priority themes, including human rights.
Supporting Farmer Livelihoods
Supporting farmer housing: Since 2006, we have been helping support the need for decent, safe, sanitary, and affordable housing for agricultural workers. In 2023, we provided $50,000 to Southeast Nonprofit Housing for its On-Farm Housing Program. The program provides incentives for growers to build new, better housing and is proven to increase both health and productivity.
While industry-wide standards help ensure high environmental, social, and agronomy protections, many of the challenges impacting the livelihoods of our farmers and sustainability of agriculture are aided by additional certifications.
The GAP Connections farmer certification program helps produce quality crops while protecting, sustaining, or enhancing the environment; ensuring the safety and rights of farm laborers; and recognizing producers committed to a higher standard.
Thrive assessments were launched in 2016 by the global BAT Group and are part of our sustainable agriculture and farmer livelihoods program, which includes all BAT-owned and strategic third-party suppliers worldwide.
Intertek Working Conditions Assessments (WCA) help us manage our supply chains by requiring suppliers to undergo an independent due diligence audit aligned to international standards covering forced labor, child labor, wages and hours, health and safety, and environment and management systems.
