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Human Interest

Corporate Commitment Can Make A Difference

Posted: 11/12/2010

Diversity is not just a factor when a company hires employees. It also matters when a company chooses suppliers.

(NAPSI) - Now more than ever, businesses are looking for ways to make relevant contributions to their communities while meeting the needs of their customers.

As a result, businesses have accelerated their focus on fostering diversity both through hiring practices and the donations they make to deserving causes.

At the same time, they are adding to the economic vitality of the communities they operate in by creating good-paying jobs and opportunities for professional advancement.

A good example of a company engaging in such practices is Walmart, which works to promote diversity at every level. The company’s board of directors includes two African-Americans and three women, one of whom is Hispanic. The nearly 75 percent of Walmart and Sam’s Club management teams joined the company as hourly associates.

More than 50,000 managers in the company’s U.S. operations are accountable to meet diversity goals that tie 15 percent of officer and senior field manager bonuses to diversity goal achievements. Those achievements account for 10 percent of their annual performance evaluations.

As a result, the company was recognized in 2010 as one of the Top Companies for Executive Women by the National Association for Female Executives, and in 2009 among the top 50 Employers by Careers & The disABLED magazine.

It was also voted among the Best Companies for Asian-Americans in Asian Enterprise magazine; as one of the Top Diversity Employers for African-Americans by the Black EOE Journal; and Top 50 Companies in Supplier Diversity, by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Making donations to diverse causes is one important way the company supports diversity. The company has donated a $1 million grant to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and $1.2 million to the National Council of La Raza, a Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S., for a jobs-training program.

“Diversity is not just a factor when hiring employees. It also matters when choosing suppliers,” says Theresa Barrera, vice president, supplier diversity. Said Barrera, “Walmart continues to make investments that increase and promote the sourcing of products and services through minority- and women-owned businesses.”

Through its supplier diversity efforts, the company spent more than $9.2 billion with minority- and women-owned businesses last year.

Working with minority- and women-owned businesses is a vital part of the company’s overall commitment to inclusion.

“The company that respects individuals, puts the customer first and strives for excellence will win in the future,” says Walmart CEO Mike Duke.

Walmart expects to add an additional 500,000 jobs around the world in the next five years.

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