50
WAL-MART THRIVES WITH
AFRICAN AMERICANS
No. 6 Top 10 Companies for African Americans
Business Type: Retail
Corporate Headquarters: Bentonville, Ark.
Number of U.S. Employees: 1. 8 million
Annual Worldwide Revenues: $312.4 billion
Setting diversity hiring goals and building relationships
with African-American organizations and institutions is
how Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, earned a spot
on DiversityInc’s Top 10 Companies for African
Americans list. Wal-Mart, also one of the DiversityInc 25
Noteworthy Companies this year, promoted 41 percent
Lee Scott
President and CEO
Charlyn Jarrells Porter
Senior Vice President and
Chief Diversity Officer
more African Americans to management ( 14. 3 percent vs. 10. 1 percent)
than the average for The 2006
DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for
Diversity list, and the percentage of
African-American senior managers
(CEO and direct reports) was more
than double ( 14. 3 percent vs. 6. 1)
the Top 50 average.
The retailer’s strong numbers
among African Americans are the
result of its strategy to actively
engage with African-American
institutions, such as the Thurgood
Marshall Foundation (TMF) and
historically black colleges and
universities (HBCUs). These managers are required to work with
diverse organizations and establish
and forge strategic partnerships
and relationships.
For example, TMF’s 47 schools
host a leadership-institute conference in New York, giving Wal-Mart
an incredible talent pool of
African-American students to tap,
says Fenimore Fisher, director of
African-American and Mature
Markets in the Office of Diversity
Relations for Wal-Mart Stores.
“Each year, [TMF] presidents
send 500 students to this leadership
institute. We have an opportunity to
recruit from the best and brightest,”
Fisher says. “There isn’t a focus primarily on GPAs. They also pulled in
individuals who excel in extracurricular activity, such as student government, community-outreach programs, athletics, so you get an
extremely well-rounded associate.”
In addition, Wal-Mart’s stellar
African-American numbers reflect
senior management’s commitment
to hold itself accountable. Up to 15
percent of Wal-Mart’s officers’ and
managers’ bonuses are tied to meeting diversity-placement goals.
Wal-Mart is seeking to duplicate
its African-American-recruitment
success with the Asian-American
and Latino communities. “Just as
we are forging relationships with
African-American organizations, we
are strongly and aggressively forging
relationships in the Latino and
Asian-American communities,”
says Fisher. —By C. Stone Brown
