Brown-Forman Corp. was the only bev/al company among the 98 organizations that earned a score of at least 60% and a place on the index.
This year, 185 organizations participated in the Diversity Best Practices Inclusion Index, a 25% year-over-year increase. Twenty of those listed on the 2020 DBP Inclusion Index are recognized for superior achievement by receiving an 81% or higher score and qualifying as a Top 10 Percent Inclusion Index Company.
Nine of those listed achieved at least 75 percent of the available points to qualify as a Leading Inclusion Index Company. Completed applications were collected online from December 2019 through March 2020. Results reveal opportunities for all organizations to target their diversity and inclusion efforts for greater effectiveness.
Diversity Best Practices (DBP) is a division of Working Mother Media. The index helps organizations understand trends and gaps in demographic representation, creates a road map to drive internal change, and identifies diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) solutions to close the gaps.
Organizations provided data and were measured in three key areas: best practices in the recruitment, retention and advancement of people from underrepresented groups—women, racial/ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ people; inclusive corporate culture, including leadership accountability; and demographic diversity for women and racial/ethnic minorities.
“The DBP index is very important to us at Brown-Forman,” said Ralph de Chabert, senior vice president, chief diversity and global community relations officer. “It not only shows us where we land in relation to other participants, but more importantly, it reflects our efforts to truly understand and to take action on the ever-evolving nature of diversity, equity, and inclusion management as well as our efforts to support our ambition to be an even better place to work.”
Key findings from the 2020 Diversity Best Practices Inclusion Index are:
- Recruitment, retention and advancement: While all of the top 10% require diverse interview slates, requiring diverse panels of interviewers remains less common at 75% of Leading Inclusion Index companies (compared to 45% of companies on the index). One hundred percent of the top 10% and of Leading Inclusion Index organizations, and 97% of those on the index, use employee resource groups to recruit underrepresented talent. Eighty-five percent of the top 10 percent organizations require gender and racial/ethnic diversity in succession planning (compared with 79 percent of Leading Inclusion Index organizations and 59 percent of companies on the index).
- Inclusive corporate culture: Ninety-five percent of the top 10% organizations set percentages goals in diversity (compared with 90% of Leading Inclusion Index companies and 65% of index companies). Sixty-five percent of the top 10% organizations compensate managers for DE&I results (compared with 62% of Leading Inclusion Index companies and 42% of index companies).