Dive Brief:
- EY, formerly Ernst & Young, tops DiversityInc’s list of 50 companies that are committed to workplace diversity and inclusion. EY took the top spot last year and has been among the top 10 companies for eight years.
- DiversityInc selected the top 50 companies that excelled in recruiting, hiring and promoting women, minorities, disabled workers, veterans and LGBT workers.
- DiversityInc rates companies on four equally weighted criteria: Talent Pipeline, Equitable Talent Development, CEO/Leadership Commitment and Supplier Diversity.
Dive Insight:
DiversityInc said it improved this year’s company selection process with survey questions that shifted from numbers-chasing to fairness and more sophisticated data analysis. Companies looking to diversify their ranks often focus on achieving targeted numbers rather than changing their cultures to reflect fairness and inclusion — much to their eventual dismay.
For diversity programs to be successful and sustainable in the long-term, companies must renew their commitment to those priorities in each company initiative, from hiring to benefits offerings to leadership development. It also has to be a key part of the communication from top leadership.
DiversityInc’s selection strategy covers criteria employers can adopt for their own diversity initiatives. Establishing pipelines from which to draw job candidates, creating talent development programs and raising CEO commitment are smart approaches to diversity recruiting and hiring. Some companies have seen success in creating employee resource groups to create a dialogue across company hierarchies.