We wish all our team members who celebrate Independence Day a happy and safe holiday!
Happy Independence Day!
We wish all our team members who celebrate Independence Day a happy and safe holiday!
At Leggett & Platt, our mission is to enhance lives – by delivering quality products, offering empowering and rewarding careers, and doing our part to bring about a better future. Our commitment to corporate sustainability reflects and reinforces our culture and our values.
We recently published our 2024 Sustainability Report, which details our approach, commitment, and progress towards environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters that are most important to our business.
We’d like to share a few key enhancements to this year’s report:
Thank you for your ongoing dedication and support as we continue to build on our sustainability practices. Read our full Sustainability Report here.
Celebrated every July, Disability Pride Month reminds us that disabilities are a part of who we are and our diversity. It’s also a chance to learn more about the unique perspectives of the disability community and advocate for them.
At L&P, we’re always learning, especially from one another. Here are some valuable resources around disability etiquette, allyship, and accessibility with lessons we can apply throughout the year:
June is National Safety Month. At L&P, we are committed to the safety and welfare of all employees through education, awareness, and prevention. We promote a culture where employees protect employees every day and strive for zero injuries.
Our L&P Aerospace team at Specitubes in Nanterre, France, recently achieved a significant safety milestone – 365 days without generating an accident with sick leave! The team celebrated this accomplishment with a party to recognize their collective effort.
Congratulations to our team in Nanterre for living out our value of putting people first and prioritizing the safety and care of each other!
Each quarter, the Women’s ERG focuses on a theme as an opportunity for learning, collaboration, and raising awareness. This quarter, the group explored allyship. Allyship refers to the actions, behaviors, and practices that individuals take to support and advocate for others, particularly those who don’t share the same social identities.
During their monthly meetings, the group invited guests, including David Brown, President of L&P Hydraulics, John Dowdell, President – Hanes Geo Components, and Tammy Trent, Senior Vice President – Chief Accounting Officer, to speak on their personal experiences of allyship and what it means to be an ally. They encouraged members to invite an ally to the monthly meetings. In addition, the group surveyed its members and shared moving testimonials of when they needed or proved to be an ally to someone.
“Needing an ally, having an ally, and being an ally go full circle and include small, daily actions to make everyone feel included and welcome,” says Sarah Peterson, Program Manager. “Now more than ever, we need each other, and what better reason to celebrate allyship.”
Throughout their sessions, the group showcased that allyship is not just about bridging the gap between education and action. It’s a journey of personal growth, teaching us about emotional intelligence and the profound importance of human connection to be more effective in work and life.
“Allyship offers and promotes productivity, creates a sense of belonging, and ensures inclusivity in the workplace,” says Isabel Perez Infante, National Category Sales Manager. “Everybody has the opportunity to be an ally and have an ally.”
Breanna Wagster, Director of Human Resources, agrees, “Allyship opportunities exist all around us, some in the smallest of forms and others with greater magnitude, but it is up to us to intentionally seek, recognize, and act on these opportunities to be better allies for others and ourselves.”
Tips for Being an Ally
Roxanne Willard, Demand/Office Manager, shares some tips for being an ally at work and in our Leggett & Platt communities.
Thank you to Sarah, Isabel, Breanna, Roxanne, and the Women’s ERG leadership team for promoting allyship and doing their part to make Leggett & Platt a more inclusive, compassionate workplace.
If you are interested in joining the Women’s ERG, please reach out to a member to get started!
Our work furniture team at Trio Line in Poland recently organized internal biodiversity actions with their building management company. Due to a planned sustainability building certification, Trio Line had a visit from an ecologist who recommended implementing sustainable practices.
The team’s efforts have already started to bear fruit. They helped to plant 10 trees around the building and ivy to cover the entryway’s acoustic wall, enhancing the property’s aesthetics and contributing to a healthier environment. Additionally, Trio Line found other solutions for biodiversity, including birdhouses and hotels for insects.
Thank you to Trio Line for your commitment to sustainability and your care for our planet!
Today, we celebrate and remember Juneteenth, which marks the day in 1865 that federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to ensure that all enslaved African American people be freed, ending slavery in the United States.
Recognizing Juneteenth and our American history is a commemoration and an opportunity for learning and growth. It exemplifies our values of putting people first, doing great work together, doing the right thing, and taking ownership and raising the bar. It invites us to delve deeper into our shared history to understand the struggles and triumphs that have shaped our nation.
History of Juneteenth
Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863, declaring enslaved people in Confederate states “forever free.” However, its impact didn’t reach Texas until nearly two years later, after General Robert E. Lee surrendered and the Confederate army lost the Civil War. General Gordon Granger read General Order No. 3 declaring, “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”
Formerly enslaved people in Texas organized the first Jubilee Day on June 19, 1866. Jubilee Day began a tradition that would spread nationwide, with Juneteenth celebrations becoming more widespread and significant over time. In 2021, Juneteenth officially became a federal holiday, recognizing its importance in American history.
Learning Resources
Websites:
Books:
Podcasts and Videos:
While June is Safety Month, prioritizing safety and caring for one another is a daily goal at L&P. Our teams make safety a habit, staying up to date on Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations and looking for ways to enhance safety around their facilities.
Recently, our Hanes Companies, Flooring Products, Home Furniture, and Work Furniture businesses came together for an OSHA 30-hour certification class. Many of our colleagues in environmental health and safety (EHS), HR, supervisor, maintenance, and production roles shared best practices and networked with one another to help advance safety across L&P. The event was sponsored by Flooring Products and hosted by Hanes Companies.
“We spent the week educating our partners on OSHA regulations and how SafeGuard – our L&P safety program – can be used to not only comply with OSHA but also drive us towards making safety a habit,” shared Tim Williams, EHS Manager. “We were fortunate to spend the last day of the class on the shop floor, applying what we learned by identifying opportunities for improvement.”
Thank you to our teams for putting people first!
At L&P, we’re on a journey to make meaningful change in our company through inclusion, diversity, and equity (ID&E), and we’re excited for you to meet our ID&E Director – James Millsap (Millsap)!
What brought you to L&P?
I’ve been an ID&E practitioner for many years, and I was in the manufacturing space before my time with Leggett & Platt. However, a desire to grow my career brought me to L&P, and I have received a very warm welcome.
Tell us about your role as ID&E Director. What are you looking forward to, and why is ID&E important to you?
Overall, I look at ID&E as a pretty big contributing factor to employee engagement and the employee experience. I want to work with everyone at L&P to create a company where we can all thrive, and I’m looking forward to helping our company continue this journey and decide what’s the next right move for us.
I am relentlessly optimistic about aiming for a top-tier employee experience for all. I believe we can do this when we live out our values – when we work together to take ownership and raise the bar for what’s possible.
What’s something interesting about you?
I can quote Disney’s Aladdin almost word for word.
Leggett & Platt is committed to employee safety and well-being. Part of that commitment is preparing our team members to act in emergencies. L&P has been on an ongoing mission to equip each facility with an AED machine and train our team members to use the devices.
Since the inception of our global initiative in 2023, we have made progress in equipping each of our facilities with AED devices. At the start, we had 56 AED machines across our branches worldwide. Today, this number has grown to 175, which is a testament to our collective commitment to safety.
The success of this initiative is thanks to our operations, which recognized the importance of AEDs. In emergency situations, the first few minutes are critical. For every minute defibrillation is delayed, the chance of survival reduces by approximately 10 percent. Having an AED and knowing how to use it can mean the difference between life and death. Statistics show that if AEDs are used alongside Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), the probability of survival increases to 75 percent.
“This global initiative aims to protect our employees and train our partners to use these devices anywhere, which could fundamentally save lives, including in our local communities,” says William Wright, Manager, EHS Europe.
Dave Bumpus, Senior Director of EHS, agrees: “This initiative is representative of our values—to put people first, do great work together, do the right thing, take ownership, and raise the bar.”
AED and CPR/Safety Training
Our employees have been working hard to learn how to use AEDs safely and effectively and administer CPR. We want to share pictures from our teams globally.
L&P Brasil
Guadalajara, Mexico
Precision Hydraulic Cylinders (PHC), India
Shanghai, China
LPGS, China
L&P Jiaxing
Chieng Yeng, China
Pacoma Ningbo, China
Corporate Headquarters, US
We are so proud of our teams for putting people first!