DiversityInc, a publication dedicated to corporate diversity, announced this week that Verizon is No. 1 on its list of the 2008 Top 50 Companies for Diversity.
The annual DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity competition, now in its eighth year, is an editorial process driven by metrics obtained in a detailed survey, according to a spokesperson for the publication. Companies are named to the list by demonstrating consistent strength in four areas — CEO commitment, human capital, corporate and organizational communications and supplier diversity — the spokesperson said.
Luke Visconti, partner and cofounder of DiversityInc, said those companies that make the list "have clarity of their absolute values of human dignity, demonstrating a global adherence to these core beliefs. These sustainable values drive margin."
The DiversityInc Top 50 list is increasingly competitive, Visconti said: A total of 352 companies participated this year, up 10 percent from 2007, and up 100 percent since 2003.
Thirteen companies appeared on the list for the first time this year, and 16 companies moved up in the rankings compared to last year.
Key findings from the Top 50 Companies included:
• In the United States, the Top 50 hire 44 percent blacks, Latinos, Asians and Native Americans, compared with the U.S. work force, which is 29 percent Black, Latino, Asian and Native American.
• 25 percent of Top 50 companies management are black, Latino, Asian or Native American, compared with only 15 percent nationwide.
• The Top 50 boards of directors are 23 percent black, Latino, Asian and Native American, compared with 13 percent nationally.
• Top 50 boards are 22 percent female, compared with 15 percent nationally.
• Although Top 50 companies employ only 5 percent of the U.S. work force, they employ 17 percent of the college-educated black, Latino, Asian and Native American workers.
• Top 50 companies average 48 percent of their revenue outside the United States, compared with 38.5 percent five years ago.
• Forty percent of the Top 50 have employee-resource groups outside the United States.
• One hundred percent of the Top 50 offer domestic-partner health benefits for same-sex couples, compared with 53 percent of Fortune 500 companies.
• Top 50 companies spend 9 percent of their procurement budgets with minority- and women-owned suppliers, compared with just 2 percent nationally.
Comparisons are based on information from the DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the National Center for Education Statistics.
The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list is determined by a statistical analysis of responses to a 200-question survey sent to any company requesting it that has more than 1,000 employees.
There is no fee to enter and no requirement to advertise.
The complete list of the 2008 Top 50 Companies for Diversity is available online at www.DiversityInc.com/top50.
DiversityInc also compiles 11 specialty lists: "The Top 10 Companies for Recruitment & Retention," "The Top 10 Companies for Supplier Diversity," "The Top 10 Companies for African-Americans," "The Top 10 Companies for Latinos," "The Top 10 Companies for Asian-Americans," "The Top 10 Companies for Executive Women," "The Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees," "The Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities," "The Top 5 Global-Diversity Companies," "The Top 5 Regional Utilities and "The 25 Noteworthy Companies."
The "Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees" list will be available on May 26.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition April 18, 2008.