DiversityInc Names Top 10 Companies For Blacks
By Barbara Frankel, DiversityInc.com
NEWARK, NJ - What makes a company the place where all talent, but in this case especially Black talent, wants to work, stay and fulfill potential, including the ability to innovate? What type of corporate culture is open and inclusive? In general, our data shows that companies that are good for Blacks also are good for women, Latinos, Asians, American Indians, LGBT people, people with disabilities and straight, white men. Those are the companies you'll see on The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity® list and many of our other lists.
The companies on this particular list show consistent progress in their recruitment, retention and promotion of Black employees, have active Black employee-resource groups, have higher-than-average procurement spend with minority-owned suppliers, and have strong cross-cultural mentoring programs. Here are facts about why each of these companies made this list: No. 1: AT&T No. 4 in The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity. Also No. 3 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Recruitment & Retention; No. 2 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Supplier Diversity; No. 6 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Latinos As demonstrated by its support of Project Aspire, which aims to stem the dropout rate of low-income students, many of whom are Black, AT&T is a longtime leader in supporting the current and future workforce. A staggering 59 percent of its philanthropy is aimed at multicultural organizations. AT&T's community support is also evidenced by its strong supplier-diversity program, with 10.5 percent of Tier I procurement spent with minority-owned business enterprises (MBEs). No. 2: Cox Communications No. 20 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 7 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Supplier Diversity With a long history of hiring and promoting Blacks, Cox also makes significant contributions to the community. Forty-three percent of its philanthropy goes to multicultural groups, including Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the National Association of Multi-Ethnicity in Communications. Cox reports 8.4 percent of its Tier I procurement with MBEs. No. 3: Kaiser Permanente No. 1 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 4 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Recruitment & Retention; No. 2 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Latinos; No. 6 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Asian Americans; No. 4 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Executive Women; No. 3 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities No. 4: Northrop Grumman Corp. No. 37 in the DiversityInc Top 50 The defense contractor is one of the few companies whose promotions of Blacks into first-line management positions equals the percentage of Blacks in the workforce, a telling ratio for talent development. Fifty-one percent of its philanthropy goes to multicultural organizations, including the Martin Luther King Memorial, Great Minds in STEM and the Jackie Robinson Foundation. No. 5: Marriott International No. 14 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 10 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Recruitment & Retention; No. 1 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Supplier Diversity With a workforce and management that have strong Black representation, Marriott has made a major effort to reach out to building the community through supplier diversity and philanthropy, including donations to the National Black MBA Association, the Black Executive Exchange Program, National Association of Black Accountants, NAACP and National Society of Minorities in Hospitality. No. 6: Southern Company One of DiversityInc's 25 Noteworthy Companies No. 7: Sodexo No. 2 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 5 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Recruitment & Retention; No. 3 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Supplier Diversity; No. 3 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Latinos; No. 3 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Executive Women; No. 7 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees; No. 9 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities; No. 4 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Global Diversity Sodexo clearly has an inclusive culture that enables Black employees to be promoted and realize their potential. The company's board of directors is 37.5 percent Black. Sodexo excels at mentoring and talent-development programs for everyone, but especially for Blacks and other traditionally underrepresented groups. No. 8: McDonald's Corp. The fast-food giant has strong Black representation in the workforce and at all levels of management. The company has strong supplier diversity and a history of community philanthropy, with 52 percent of philanthropy allocated to multicultural organizations. No. 9: Altria One of DiversityInc's 25 Noteworthy Companies Altria has strong demographics for Blacks in its workforce and shows real improvement at the management level. Its philanthropic efforts include the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, UNCF, Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and numerous scholarships. No. 10: The Coca-Cola Co. No. 12 in the DiversityInc Top 50 A decade after settling the largest racial-discrimination lawsuit in corporate U.S. history, the beverage giant has emerged as a workplace diversity leader, especially for Blacks. The rate of Blacks promoted into their first management job was almost double the current management representation of Blacks, and there is strong representation of Blacks at every management level. In addition, one-third of U.S. employees are members of the Black employee-resource group, the company reports.
Here are some facts about The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Blacks:
The healthcare organization is a clear leader in workforce diversity and talent development. For Blacks, particularly, its demographics are strong overall, including at the top. Its board of directors is 21.4 percent Black. Thirteen percent of its workers are members of its Black employee-resource group.
The utility company has strong workforce and management representation of Blacks as well as a long history of community philanthropy, including the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the UNCF, the NAACP, the National Black Arts Festival, and many local scholarship programs benefiting Black students.
