COMPANIES FOR
DIVERSITY
Unlike many of the companies in the Top
50, Sodexho operates in a business-to-business
market. It sells specialized management.
“Many of our clients are on your Top 50 list
and our clients want to do business with companies with similar values, so we really do see
diversity as a differentiator for us,” says Anand.
Incentive-backed diversity initiatives provide an intellectual rationale for operationaliz-ing diversity commitment. The emotional
incentive—experiencing the benefits of diversity firsthand—often comes later, which
Macedonia knows from experience. In a video
interview with DiversityInc, Macedonia
explains how his personal commitment to
diversity evolved in a mentoring relationship,
and why he now believes Sodexho may have
trouble reaching its 10-year growth objectives
without it. Watch the video at
www.DiversityInc.com/Macedonia.
All of the Top 50 companies tie management compensation to diversity—for direct
reports to the CEO who have bonuses, an
average of 16 percent of that is tied to diversity. “Seeing the business case in one silo is different from understanding how diversity and
inclusion can be part of your group strategy,”
says Anand. “Once you make that linkage over
time, people understand. They see diversity
and inclusion as part of business growth. Then
the other pieces fall into place.”
HUMAN CAPITAL:
Winning the War for Talent
Management-consulting firm Accenture, No.
50 on the 2007 Top 50, estimates that intangible assets such as employee engagement, innovation and relationships are now worth 75 percent of the market cap of companies in the
S&P 500, compared with 20 percent in 1980.
At the same time, annual labor-force growth
rates will slow nearly to a standstill by 2025.
As Bank of America’s Geri Thomas puts it,
“The only differentiator any company can
bring to bear is its people.”
“We’ve never lost focus on that; that’s been
our strength,” says Thomas, global diversity
and inclusion executive and global consumer
and small-business-banking staffing executive,
which accounts for half the bank’s business.
“We’ve been in the forefront of diversity
efforts and willing to include even before it
was the norm.”
It’s no coincidence that Bank of America
(BofA), No. 1 in the 2007 Top 50, also is No.
1 in the Top 10 Companies for Recruitment &
Retention. A longtime diversity leader, BofA
knows its continued success in the marketplace
hinges on its people.
“Our commitment to diversity is a commitment to individuals and to the team. It’s about
all of us—whether individually or collectively—
giving each other the best chance to succeed,”
says Thomas.
With employers planning to hire 17 percent
more college graduates from the class of 2007
than they did from the class of 2006—the
fourth consecutive year they’ve projected double-digit increases, reports the National Association
of Colleges and Employers—there’s not an
unlimited supply of talent to go around. And
BofA wants to ensure it gets the best.
Increasingly, diversity commitment is a
deal-maker when it comes to attracting top
recruits. Among the 25 frequently asked questions on the career section of BofA’s corporate
web site is one that reads, “Is diversity important to Bank of America?”
HUMAN CAPITAL
People of Color
27
Top 10
R&R*
34%
Top 50
24%
31%
Bottom
Quarter
18%
20%
5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
TOTAL MANAGEMENT PROMOTIONS IN MANAGEMENT
Nationally, people of color are 15 percent of managers (BLS)
