COMPANIES FOR
DIVERSITY
VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS
No. 6
WHY IT’S ON THE TOP 50: A top 50
mainstay, and last year’s No. 1 company, Verizon is particularly strong
in Human Capital and Corporate
Communications. The company has
mandatory diversity training for its
entire work force, which only 58
percent of the Top 50 have.
DESCRIPTION: Verizon is a top tele-com-services provider, with 49
million access lines in 28 states at
press time.
Specialty Lists: No. 3 on the Top 10
Companies for African Americans and
No. 8 on the Top 10 Companies for
Recruitment & Retention lists
Industry: Telecommunications
Main Competitors: AT&T, Qwest, Sprint Nextel
U.S. Headquarters: New York, N. Y.
Number of U.S. Employees: 242,000
Annual Revenue: $88 billion
of Operations Outside U.S.:
4. 5 percent
Key Personnel: Ivan Seidenberg, chairman
and CEO; Dennis Strigl, president and COO;
Magda Yrizarry, vice president, workplace
culture, diversity and compliance
Ivan Seidenberg,
Chairman and CEO
FROM MAGDA YRIZARRY, VICE
PRESIDENT, WORKPLACE CULTURE,
DIVERSITY AND COMPLIANCE:
“Creating and sustaining a culture
that both values and effectively
manages diversity for better performance doesn’t just happen—it
requires effort and commitment.
You have to be as intentional and
determined about diversity as any
other business imperative.”
Magda Yrizarry,
Vice President,
Workplace Culture,
Diversity and
Compliance
DIVERSITY STRENGTHS: The company has strong work/life benefits and
thorough means to measure diversity
in every area. Human Capital stands
out, with unbiased management
retention, which means it’s equal
across race/ethnicity and gender.
Twenty-seven percent of its board of
directors are people of color, compared with 19 percent for the Top
50. Thirty-nine percent of its managers are people of color, compared
with 24 percent for the Top 50. Of
women managers who receive promotions, 43 percent are women of
color, compared with 31 percent for
the Top 50. Verizon has strong
employee-resource groups, which are
used in marketing, advertising,
branding, sales, strategic planning,
recruitment, sourcing, employee
development, external partnerships
and diversity awareness.
RECENT DIVERSITY SUCCESS:
Last year, Verizon increased its supplier-diversity investment by 14. 4
percent, purchasing nearly $2.6 billion from these suppliers. The
Women’s Business Enterprise
National Council (WBENC) has
named Verizon one of the top
American corporations for women’s
business enterprises.
FROM CHAIRMAN AND CEO IVAN
SEIDENBERG: “At Verizon, everybody plays and everybody wins.”
