DiversityInc announced the results for its 14th annual Top 50 Companies for Diversity rankings before a gathering of more than 750 attendees last evening at Cipriani Wall Street. More than a thousand public and privately held companies competed for spots on the coveted list.
AT&T claimed the top spot in DiversityInc.’s 2014 Specialty Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation jumped from a sixth-place finish in 2013 to claim this year’s overall top slot. Other companies ranked within the overall top 10 include: Sodexo, EY, Kaiser Permanente, PricewaterhouseCoopers, MasterCard Worldwide, Procter & Gamble, Prudential Financial, Johnson and Johnson and AT&T.
“Earning a spot on the DiversityInc Top 50 proves that management is paying close attention to the needs of their primary constituents—employees, customers and other key stakeholders,” said DiversityInc founder and CEO Luke Visconti. “Companies with great reputations attract the best and most skilled employees who then create and deliver the best products and services. It’s a virtuous cycle that enables public companies on the DiversityInc Top 50 list to consistently outperform the major domestic stock market indices and privately held companies to surpass their peers.”
The overall rankings are determined by an objective methodology that calculates factors such as Talent Pipeline, Equitable Talent Development (including commitment to mentorship and to philanthropy), CEO/Leadership Commitment and Supplier Diversity. The empirical data for the rankings is provided by a 300-question survey filled out by personnel at the participating companies. Survey participation is free to any company with at least 1,000 U.S. workers.
This year’s survey highlights that the technology sector continues to lag behind other sectors in embracing diversity. While IBM and Dell both earned a place on the list (23rd and 32nd, respectively), Microsoft fell off the list from 44th place in 2013, while Apple declined to participate. Apple has made some headlines in recent months for attempting to embrace more diversity, but the DiversityInc Top 50 makes it clear that Silicon Valley has a lot of catching up to do.
With the Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees rankings DiversityInc. looked at best practices that create an inclusive workplace for LGBT employees as well as relationships with LGBT nonprofits and public advocacy of inclusiveness, such as support for same-gender marriage and public statements opposing homophobic actions. The best practices include:
- Whether the company has an active LGBT employee resource group
- Percentage of philanthropic endeavors aimed at LGBT nonprofits
- Whether the company attempts to track the number of LGBT people in the workplace, including voluntary disclosure
- Whether the corporate website features images and text of LGBT employees, customers or vendors
- Whether the company certifies LGBT vendors with the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
- Percentage of procurement spent with certified LGBT vendors
On their Web site DiversityInc. stated, “The No. 1 company on this list, AT&T, has been a role model for other companies this year, both with its internal efforts to promote LGBT inclusion and its external support. From its efforts as the first major corporation to oppose anti-gay policies at the Olympics in Sochi to its fight against Arizona’s anti-gay law, the company has been willing to clearly stand up for its beliefs.”
The 2014 DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees
1. AT&T
2. Wells Fargo
3. MassMutual Financial Group
4. Time Warner
5. Eli Lilly and Company
6. EY
7. KPMG
8. Target
9. IBM
10. Aetna
In addition to the LGBT employees list DiversityInc also released 12 additional lists in the following select specialty areas:
- 25 Noteworthy Companies
- Top 10 Companies for Recruitment (Kaiser Permanente, No. 1)
- Top 10 Companies for Supplier Diversity (AT&T, No. 1)
- Top 10 Companies for Employee Resource Groups (PricewaterhouseCoopers, No. 1)
- Top 10 Companies for Diversity Councils (EY, No. 1)
- Top 10 Companies for Mentoring (KPMG, No. 1)
- Top 10 Companies for Veterans (CSX, No. 1)
- Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities (EY, No. 1)
- Top 10 Companies for Global Diversity (Deloitte, No. 1)
- Top 10 Hospitals and Health Systems (University Hospitals, No. 1)
- Top 10 Regional Companies (MGM Resorts International, No. 1)
- Top 7 Utilities (Pacific Gas and Electric, No. 1).
For the entire Top 50 list, go to http://www.diversityinc.com/top50.
