DHL Group

A sense of belonging can’t be rolled out from the top. It has to be built from the ground up – by people who care, lead and show up for each other every day. That belief sits at the heart of DHL Group’s Alliances initiative: a global framework to support employee-led inclusion groups built around identity, experience and shared purpose.

But to grow that ambition, DHL needed more than belief. They needed something that could turn ideas into action – with consistency and confidence across every market. The Alliance Playbook was created to help any DHL employee start or grow an employee-led inclusion group – known as an Alliance – under one of six core DEIB pillars. It had to strike the right balance: clear enough to ensure consistency, flexible enough to reflect local culture and needs, and inspiring enough to get people moving.

While the first version was designed to secure HR Board approval, the ultimate goal was much wider: to become the go-to resource for anyone, anywhere in the business, who wants to lead on inclusion.

We worked closely with DHL’s global DEIB team – and, crucially, with the people already doing this work on the ground. Insights from 15 current Alliance Leads and Co-Leads helped shape the Playbook’s structure and tone, highlighting what mattered most: practical support, clear examples and encouragement to act.

The content follows a natural journey – starting, running and growing an Alliance – and includes toolkits, editable templates and prompts to help Alliance Leads take action confidently, while staying aligned to the wider framework. Throughout, we focused on creating a single, accessible voice that brought everyone together without losing the richness of experience and perspective that makes each Alliance unique.

The visual identity is rooted in trust and authenticity, using real DHL people and settings throughout. The distinctive ‘A’ from the Alliances logo is a key graphic device – framing stories, guiding structure and celebrating the people behind the movement.

We kept layouts clean and interactive, knowing this Playbook would evolve into different formats over time. Space to reflect, editable tools and personalised prompts helped make it feel like something to use, not just read.