Social

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

We are committed to fostering a company culture that seeks diversity, embodies inclusion, and promotes belonging in our core beliefs and practices. With this foundation, opportunities to grow, utilize talents, and actively participate will create equity across our global organization.

Our focus is to foster a culture of teamwork that upholds diversity and inclusion, and we are dedicated to creating an environment of equity for the people that we employ.

In 2023, we appointed a new Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion to lead this important work, Brent Underwood. Brent is focused on creating company-wide diversity and inclusion plans including a full workplace assessment, comprehensive workplace policy reviews and employee training. We are working diligently to create a more just and equitable workplace and to communicating our progress at Belden over time.

Goal: By 2025, as a first step toward our vision of a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace, we will deliver unconscious bias training to 100% of the Belden team worldwide.

Employee Growth & Development 

We define this topic as the training, development, and career growth opportunities to attract, support, develop and retain skilled talent from around the world. We inspire each other to continuously learn and grow our capabilities to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow, while developing careers that help achieve our personal aspirations.

We believe in the potential of our workforce and the importance of providing career development for those who want to learn and grow with us. Belden is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer and we celebrate diversity and embrace differences to broaden our perspectives and strengthen the work we do.

Our Talent System

We fundamentally believe that highly engaged team members provided with the right tools, working environment, and supportive leadership can deliver fantastic results. We want Belden to be a place people choose to work because they can really make a difference. Our Talent System helps ensure we provide ample opportunity for challenging developmental work, formal and informal skills development, and recognition for achievements. It also ensures that our teams stay focused on the things that will progress our strategy and deliver results for our customers and other stakeholders well into the future.

Key components of our Talent System include,

• The performance of our associates is based on what was delivered and how it was delivered. Living our values every day is as important as delivering the results.
• Hiring, development and succession plans are built around the company's strategic plan and reviewed annually. We utilize global functional teams from across our business units to agree on specific actions that build the capabilities we need now and into the future.
• We hold Employee Pulse surveys twice a year with a representative cut of 50% of the organization. Associated feedback & our overall results have improved year over year for six years and our engagement scores are in line with the very best companies across all industries.

Early Career Leadership Program

The Belden Early Career Leadership Program allows recent college graduates to participate in three 12-month rotations to develop business acumen and participate in an action-based learning curriculum.

Pathways to Employment

Belden’s Pathways to Employment program seeks to address the impacts of the opioid epidemic on individuals seeking employment. With increasing frequency, employment opportunities go unfilled because applicants fail the drug tests requirements.

In partnership with health services and professional development groups in Richmond, Indiana, Belden applicants who fail pre-employment drug testing are offered an opportunity to enroll in a personalized drug rehabilitation program. Upon successful completion, candidates are offered a job at Belden, along with resources and support to maintain a substance-free lifestyle. This program combines our commitment to the safety of our employees and quality of our products as we work towards a solution that address health, safety, wellness, and economic opportunity for all. 

Goal: By 2025, 75% of Belden's top 150 positions will have been filled with talent that has been developed within our company.

Goal: By 2025, over 200 professionals will have graduated from our Early Career Leadership Program and our Intern Program.

Goal: By 2025, over 85% of team members will agree that they have the opportunity for development and growth at Belden.

Employee Well-Being & Engagement

We create a healthy, safe and inspiring workplace that has a positive impact on our colleagues, and the communities in which we live and work.

We believe that engaged employees with the right tools, working in an open and inclusive environment can deliver exceptional business value. Our culture and benefits are designed to meet the professional and personal needs of our employees and their families and are adapted to the various countries in which we operate. To this end, we provide competitive working arrangements and benefits that include:

• Up to 5 days paid leave per year to work on programs in local communities
• Flexible working arrangements, including remote working when in a role where this is feasible
• Competitive benefits programs tailored to local market needs, including retirement programs and wellness plans
• Employee stock ownership and purchase plans   

A People-Centered Safety Culture

Health and safety is fundamental to our culture and is at the forefront of everything we do. Our corporate EHS Policy sets the highest standards in an effort to safeguard human health in all of our operations.

Through our EHSMS, we continuously track health and safety KPI’s, including incident rates which are well below industry average. In the spirit of continuous improvement, we strive toward a zero-incident rate workplace for our employees.

Goal: By 2025, global team members will be encouraged to participate in 16 hours per year of community related activities.

Goal: By 2025, 60% of global team members will participate in company wellness programs.

Community

In our ongoing commitment to building long-term value, we support the communities where we live and work.

Connect with Community Program

In 2020, we launched the Connect with Community to support communities in impacting the lives of disadvantaged groups. Program highlights include:

• Up to 5 days paid leave for employee volunteerism
• Increased company gift matching program amount to 2x the employee contribution—with no contribution ceiling
• Expanded corporate donations to organizations offering STEM programs for youth in diverse groups

Volunteer Spotlight

Kathleen Hutchins, Channel Account Manager, has been volunteering with Families in Transition for more than 15 years. Families in Transition’s mission is to prevent and break the cycle of homelessness through providing dignified housing, developing collaborative relationships with clients and partners, and creating opportunities for donors and volunteers committed to making a difference where they live and work.

In 2021, Families in Transition delivered comprehensive programs and services to several people in need last year. The organization served 1,528 individuals in affordable housing and emergency shelters and served 193,230 meals to program participants. These results could not have been achieved without with help of their generous volunteers, including Kathleen.

Through the Connect with Community program, Kathleen was able to utilize paid leave for employee volunteerism to spend Friday mornings during the summer at the Families in Transition – New Horizons Food Bank sorting fresh vegetables and baked goods donated by local grocery stores and assist individuals with their shopping. Having access to fresh foods as well as pantry staples makes an enormous difference for those in need.

“With the support of Belden, I’m grateful to be able to make this contribution with my time as well as the generous financial contributions over the years with Belden match.” 

Supply Chain Labor Standards

This topic includes labor management in the supply chain, including direct and indirect suppliers. We source responsibly and ensure our suppliers uphold ethical and fundamental labor standards, and that workers’ rights are protected.

We expect our suppliers and business partners to uphold our values and our commitment to ethics, health and safety, and human rights in accordance with our Code of Conduct.

Supplier Code of Conduct

We expect our business partners, including our Suppliers, to follow the laws and regulations and to share our commitment to environmental stewardship, ethics, health and safety, human rights and labor issues. To ensure suppliers meet our expectations with respect to responsible, ethical and legal business practices, we've established the Belden Supplier Code of Conduct.

As such, we seek to maintain a resilient supply chain that includes supplier relationships with like-minded business and economic values, social compliance and corporate sustainability adoption.

Conflict Minerals Policy

Belden is dedicated to ensuring the safety of our stakeholders and as such, performed an analysis of our product components and the role our suppliers play throughout our manufacturing and product delivery chain. We've adopted the standard Conflict Minerals Report established by the Responsible Materials Initiative (“RMI”) and launched our initial conflict minerals due diligence communication survey to these suppliers in 2013. We continue to perform annual due diligence analyses with our 3TG suppliers to ensure the continued integrity of our 3TG supply chain. 

Belden 2022 Conflict Minerals Report

Belden 2022 Conflict Minerals Reporting Template [CMRT 6.22 Form]

Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking Policy

Belden is committed to ethical, legal and socially responsible business practices in its operations across the globe. This includes, but is not limited to, a commitment to ensure that our supply chain is free from slave labor and human trafficking. This statement, made pursuant to the 2010 California Transparency in Supply Chains Act and the 2015 United Kingdom Modern Slavery Act, highlight Belden’s efforts to ensure our supply chain is free from human trafficking and slave labor.

Belden Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Policy 

Goal: By 2025, we will assess the responsible sourcing risks in Belden's supply chain, conduct audits of most at-risk tier 1 direct suppliers and engage 100% of conflict minerals suppliers.