COX COMMUNICATIONS
Achieving Business Success
Through Diversity
The leaders at Cox Communications, a provider of
cable TV, Internet and telephone service serving 6
million customers in 18 states, know that to remain
competitive, its employees, suppliers and services
must reflect the demographics of its customers.
(Cox Communications is No. 17 on The 2009
DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity® list.)
The Atlanta-based company took a strategic
approach to building its diversity brand. Cox man-
dated diversity training for its entire work force
and established a corporate diversity council. Then,
it began forming local diversity councils in each
of its operating units. Recognizing the importance
of senior management commitment to diversity,
Cox President Pat Esser assumed leadership of the
company’s corporate diversity council this year. This
passion and commitment to diversity and inclusion
extends to the leadership of Cox’s operations, as
exemplified in its Kansas/Arkansas region.
“You can tell employees that diversity is important. But when you show them why they should
value it, you capture their hearts—and that’s been
the key to our success,” says Kimberly Edmunds,
senior vice president and general manager for Cox
in Kansas/Arkansas.
Cox also started building a pipeline of Black,
Latino and other underrepresented talent
throughout the company by recruiting at historically
Black colleges and universities. Today, the company’s total national work force is 34. 5 percent Black,
Latino and Asian and, demonstrating continued
progress, 39. 5 percent of all new hires are Black,
Latino and Asian. Additionally, Blacks, Latinos and
Asians account for 25. 8 percent of management.
“Making sure our work force reflects our community has had a profound business impact, especially on sales,” Edmunds says.
Diversity recruiting, hiring and training were just
the start. Cox has retooled its product lineup
to better serve its changing marketplace. In
2006, Cox in Kansas/Arkansas, for example,
introduced its Paquette Latino service, featuring
eight Spanish-language cable channels. The result:
Subscriptions by Latinos within the region climbed
17 percent. Kansas/Arkansas also began using a
multilingual interpretation telephone service when
making in-home service calls, increasing sales and
reducing complaints.
What’s more, Cox has expanded its supply
chain nationally. For instance, last year, Cox partnered with the Kansas Minority Vendor Business
Council to host a minority- and woman-owned
business enterprise (MWBE) vendor fair in its
Kansas/Arkansas region. The company’s regional
procurement decision makers attended the event,
resulting in the addition of 10 new MWBE suppliers locally. Company-wide, Cox has committed to
spending $105 million with MWBEs this year, a 25
percent increase over 2008.
Cox also encourages diverse community
involvement company-wide. In Kansas/Arkansas,
for instance, about half of the company’s vice
presidents sit on the local boards of
organizations, such as the National
Urban League, Rainbow United, Boys
& Girls Clubs of America and others
dedicated to historically underrepre-
sented groups.
“I’m proud of what Cox has
achieved,” says Edmunds. “We’re a
stronger competitor and better community supporter. We’ve delivered
on our diversity goals and our fiscal
performance reflects it.”
diversity is a
business issue.”
