EDI TOR’SLE T TER
Rockwell Collins exemplifies what being on The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list is all about. This company started participating five years ago and at first glance had a couple of major strikes against it: It’s a defense contractor, in an industry
that is historically very male and very white; and it’s headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which
has very little racial diversity and isn’t on anyone’s list of cultural hubs. To make it even more
challenging, the company was just getting started with its diversity-management initiatives and
didn’t have a clear focus of what to do.
My Kind of
Company
Rockwell Collins did have two
significant advantages: remarkable
and focused commitment from
Chairman, President and CEO Clay
Jones, and a dedicated group of
employees who wanted to know
what they could do to create a more
inclusive culture and change the
demographics of their workforce
and management.
Both DiversityInc CEO Luke
Visconti and I have gotten to
know this company well through
our benchmarking service and
have seen an extraordinary
transformation. While there
still are plenty of opportunities
for diversity-management
improvement, especially as the
competition inside and outside
of its industry heats up, it’s now a
recognized diversity leader and its
human-capital demographics reflect
its increasing emphasis on diversity.
Clay Jones has been the leader
of this effort. That’s been apparent
every time we’ve presented to their
executive council. He listens attentively—no BlackBerrying or running out of the room—and he asks
probing questions about what other
companies have done and what his
company needs to do. Because he’s
so focused on this, all of his subordinates are equally focused on it.
Rockwell Collins made it onto
the list this year for the first time,
coming in at No. 42, and their joy
was so genuine it made me proud
of what we do and why we do it.
What’s even more gratifying is that
they didn’t rest on their laurels—
they immediately started looking
at their areas of improvement and
what they need to do to move up
the list.
In the 12 years we’ve been doing
this, we have seen many companies,
and many CEOs, come and go. Some
companies have long-term commit-
ment and see diversity management
as vital to their business strategy.
Others dabble in it and then drop
away when it becomes real work to
implement change.
Barbara Frankel
editor@DiversityInc.com
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT,
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
The CEO listens attentively—no Black Berrying or running
out of the room—and he asks probing questions.
