Beauty of Inclusion Awards internal competition

What did you want to achieve? 

The L’Oréal Groupe’s Beauty of Inclusion Awards is a global internal competition held every two years which highlights initiatives led by L’Oréal teams worldwide promoting Diversity, Equity & Inclusion across the four pillars of L’Oréal’s DE&I strategy: Socio-economic & Multicultural Diversity, Physical, Mental & Social Well-being, Gender Equity & LGBTQIA+ inclusion, and Age & Generations. The Beauty of Inclusion Awards give L’Oréal the opportunity to showcase and celebrate impactful initiatives for employees, consumers and communities. This enables the Group to have an overview of global DE&I efforts, identify and amplify successful initiatives and reinforce our DE&I commitments.

What did you do? 

L’Oréal’s approach involved defining the scope of the competition with three categories that mirror our ecosystem (employees, consumers, communities) and establishing evaluation criteria (DE&I relevancy, international potential, results, disruptiveness, long-term commitment, budget & ROI). The DE&I Global Communications team developed a clear roadmap and timeline to guide local teams through the competition, including milestones and jury evaluations (country, zone, global), complemented by a global employee communication plan. A dedicated online platform streamlined submissions, tracking and scoring, and enabled all Group employees to find out more about the projects submitted. Internal engagement was fostered through various communication channels, a “People’s Choice Award”, continued CEO sponsorship, and Executive Committee involvement. Short videos showcased finalists, boosting visibility and scalability. Finally, a three-part event organised in Paris featured pitches, jury voting, and a final awards ceremony co-hosted by the CEO and Chief Global DE&I Officer.

What are the results so far? 

The Beauty of Inclusion Awards competition empowers all teams across the Group to put forward DE&I initiatives. The most rewarding outcome is witnessing the passionate involvement of our teams around the world on DE&I topics. The 2024 edition of the Beauty of Inclusion Awards saw an increase in the number of initiatives submitted by teams across over 50 countries/hubs with external experts participating in the selection process. The 2024 final awards ceremony reached full capacity, demonstrating strong engagement from all employees, and the DE&I Global Communications team created 21 videos to showcase the finalists’ inspiring initiatives which can be rolled out as global best practices.

What have you learned? 

Longstanding commitments to DE&I lead to meaningful and impactful actions. Key takeaways include the significant potential of scaling up local initiatives into global best practices, the importance of clear criteria and processes, and the value of engaged leadership year after year and internal networks. Creating and amplifying content maximizes visibility and impact, while formal recognition and celebration drive enthusiasm. These learnings underscore the importance of a dedicated, structured and engaging approach to DE&I initiatives.