Ask DiversityInc: What Makes a Company Rise in the DiversityInc Top 50

All four areas measured (CEO Commitment, Human Capital, Corporate Communications and Supplier Diversity) are equally important, each contributing 25 percent to the total score of the DiversityInc Top 50.

CEO Commitment

Strategies include:

• CEOs personally holding executives accountable for diversity results (supplier diversity included)
• Meeting with resource groups
• Chairing the executive diversity council

Human Capital

We measure race/ethnicity and gender representation of the workforce and management in this section. Strategies include:

• Top levels contain a small number of people, so year-to-year improvements in representation are very beneficial.

Corporate Communications

Companies that rise in the DiversityInc Top 50 make the most year-to-year improvements in this section.Strategies include:

• Mentoring and resource-group participation are critical areas.Companies that rose in the ranking from one year ago averaged increases in mentoring and resource-group participation of 21 percent and 27 percent, respectively.Companies that dropped in the ranking saw average declines in mentoring and resource-group participation of 24 percent and 32 percent, respectively.
• The availability of mentoring and resource-groups company-wide, and having measurable goals and executive participation in each program.
• The percentage of total philanthropy allocated to multicultural groups is also important

Supplier Diversity

• Companies rank higher as procurement spend with Tier I and II women and minority-business enterprises increases.

–Shane Nelson, Director of Benchmarking, DiversityInc