DIAGEO PLC

At Diageo, we believe that our people are critical to our company’s success, and that creating an inclusive culture and an environment

where colleagues can freely express their views and feel listened to is key to sustaining high levels of engagement and performance, as

well as ensuring Diageo remains a great place to work. To understand our colleagues’ experiences, we gather their feedback through

both formal and informal channels. Diageo’s Workforce Engagement programme is an important way for the Board to hear

employees' and other colleagues' insights on key topics, including culture, strategy, and ways of working. It is also a valued

opportunity for teams to have direct access to Board members.

In fiscal 24, Karen Blackett took over accountability as the designated Non-Executive Director for workforce engagement from Javier

Ferrán. Karen, alongside all Non-Executive Directors, held fifteen sessions across the year, engaging with 539 colleagues from all

regions, functions, and organisational levels below senior leadership. Sessions have taken place both virtually and face to face, in line

with Board members’ travel, and have been highly engaging. Board members have valued the openness of conversations and the

opportunity to gather insights on many positive aspects of Diageo’s culture, as well as areas for improvement.

The key themes emerging from these workforce engagement discussions are:

•Diageo’s culture continues to be a source of pride and a strong advantage for the business, characterised as ambitious,

progressive and collaborative, as well as high quality and accessibility of leadership. Diageo’s leading approach to inclusion

and diversity, and the richness and growth this brings, were positive highlights in these discussions.

•Diageo’s unique purpose and values are highlighted frequently as reasons colleagues join and remain at Diageo, as well as

Diageo’s commitment to its 'Spirit of Progress' agenda and embedded approach to doing business the right way.

•Confidence and belief in Diageo’s diverse brand portfolio are key drivers of motivation for employees. Improved consumer

and customer connectivity and high standards of execution in activating on our brands were highlighted as strengths, while

the need to accelerate the speed of innovation to market was frequently cited as an area for improvement.

•The high calibre of talent across the business is also seen as a strength, and colleagues spoke positively about diversity in

leadership and opportunities to further their learning and career development. Colleagues also highlighted the value Diageo’s

Employee Resource Groups bring to the business and expressed an appetite for greater access and visibility of these

important groups.

•While high workloads and complex systems and processes were highlighted as barriers that can at times prevent colleagues

from operating in the most efficient way, improvements in collaboration and connectivity through technology, as well as an

overall cultural shift underway, were praised. Investment being made in digital, data and analytical capabilities is seen

positively, and colleagues look forward to these investments improving workload and liberating burdensome processes.

These themes were also reflected in this year’s engagement results seen in the global employee survey, Your Voice, which remains top

quartile and above external benchmarks with 81% engagement levels and 89% pride in working for Diageo.

Insights gathered from workforce engagement sessions held by the Board, alongside broader listening tools such as the Your Voice

survey, annual employee engagement and pulse surveys, have helped the company to listen and respond to the perspectives of our

employees, as well as identify specific areas to further enhance our employee experience.