Pat Esser, President at Cox Communications (No. 17 in The 2009 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity^®), accepted the award for Top Company for Talent Pipeline at DiversityInc’s November event, “How Leadership Expresses Diversity Commitment.” Listen as Esser shares his thoughts on talent development and his personal role in diversity and inclusion at the corporation.

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Also, to learn more about Esser’s career, read the bio below the video.

Patrick Esser is President of Cox Communications, Inc., a multi-service broadband communications and entertainment company with more than 6 million residential and commercial customers.

Esser brings 30 years of experience in cable and telecommunications to bear on his role as Cox’s top executive, a position he’s held since 2006. He joined Cox in 1979 as Director of Programming in Hampton Roads, Va., and was part of the original management team that pioneered Cox’s advertising sales division now known as Cox Media. Named corporate Vice President of Advertising Sales in 1991, Esser was presented with the Cable television Advertising Bureau President’s Award just three years later. Esser became Vice President of Operations for Cox’s Western Division in 1999, and a year later was promoted to Senior Vice President of Operations. In 2004, Esser was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

Cox has earned numerous accolades during Esser’s tenure as President. In 2006, Cox debuted in DiversityInc’s listing of the Top 50 Companies for Diversity, and in three years, the company scaled the list from its initial ranking at number 32 to its’ ranking at number 6 in 2008. In 2008, DiversityInc also ranked Cox within the Top 10 Workplaces for African Americans and the Women in Cable Television (WICT) Foundation named Cox the Best Operator for Women in Cable for the sixth straight year. In 2006, Cox was named the top employer in cable by CableWorld, and in 2007 Esser was personally distinguished with recognition as Multichannel News’ “first ‘Executive of the Year.’”

Customer service excellence remains a Cox hallmark under Esser’s leadership. Cox ranks highly in annual J.D. Power and Associates studies of consumer satisfaction. In 2008, for the sixth consecutive year, Cox received highest honors for Residential Telephone Customer Satisfaction StudySM; in the West and ranked highest among small/midsize business data providers in their Major Provider Business Telecommunications StudySM. To-date, Cox is the only telecommunications and entertainment company to receive top honors recognition from J.D. Power in studies of video, telephone and high-speed Internet satisfaction. In 2007, Cox also received PC Magazine‘s Readers’ Choice Award for Cox High Speed Internet Service.