Q&A: Michael McGarry, Chairman and CEO, PPG

CW. Why did PPG decide to publish a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion report?
McGarry:  I started my PPG career 40 years ago as an engineer at our Lake Charles, Louisiana facility. Throughout my career, I have seen PPG evolve and become even more reflective of the people we employ… and the customers and communities that we serve. I have seen, firsthand, how a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion is good for our people and good for our business. Simply put, I learned early on that diverse teams perform better. Events throughout the past two years have shone a brighter light on economic and social inequalities around the world. As a company and as individuals, we realized that we need to listen and learn from underrepresented employees first – and act in a purposeful way.

CW: What does this report tell your employees, customers and other stakeholders?
McGarry: First, PPG is committed to its DE&I journey. As a nearly 140-year-old company, publishing a transparent report like this is a huge step forward in making DE&I progress and holding ourselves accountable for action and change. Second, PPG is establishing itself as a transparency leader within the coatings industry. It is not common in our market for companies to publish a report like this with transparent data and public commitments. We are proud of our progress over the last few years, but we know there is more work to be done.

CW: Where is PPG excelling and where does PPG still have opportunity to improve?
McGarry: We are making strong progress in diversifying our employee population, making steady progress against our goals for increased female, Black, Asian and Latinx representation in the U.S. We are doing a better job listening to and empowering our underrepresented colleagues around the globe. That said, we know there is work to be done to ensure every employee feels heard and valued, to increase our employee participation in Employee Resource Networks, to continue to increase the diversity of our workforce in the U.S.

CW:  What’s next on PPG’s DE&I journey?
McGarry: We will continue to invest with purpose and intention, cultivating key relationships with organizations and institutions that are progressing toward racial and societal justice and equality. In addition to investing thoughtfully, we are committing to speaking up and publicly supporting historically excluded populations across the globe. Global events over the last two years have shown how much work there is to do to create long-lasting, true equity. Working as a united team, we will condition our empathy muscles, build a more inclusive organization and make DE&I a more integral part of how we do business.