TOP 100 DIVERSITY EMPLOYERS OF 2005, THE

Black Collegian, Oct 2005

Understanding Diversity

By Catrine Jonangson

Diversity is a vital business imperative for employers today. To provide clients and customers with the test advice or products available, employers need to nave a workforce as multi-faceted as the global economy they operate in.

"Diversity encompasses so much more than ethnicity and gender, particularly when students evaluate potential employers" said Claudia Tattanelli, CEO for Universum Communications, the leading employer branding research firm based in Philadelphia, PA. In Universum's American Diversity Survey more than 12,300 students at 107 schools answer questions about career expectations, what they look for when they choose employers and who their Ideal Employers are.

BMW tops the overall ideal Employer list, followed, ty Joknson&Joknson, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Microsoft and Citigroup. Goldman Sacks jumped from 6tn to 3rd place in trie overall ranking. Tne investment tanking firm attributes tke rise to successfully making inroads among historically under-represented groups suck as women, African-Americans and Hispanics.

It's gratifying to see that the students are receiving the message we are trying to get out there," said Lance LaVergne, Vice President, Human Capital Management Division ana Manager of Diversity Recruitment in the U.S.

While most companies recruit to their specific firm, Goldman Sachs aims to educate students about the opportunities that exist on Wall Street overall. This way, the students stay closer to Goldman Sachs than if they go into law or medicine instead.

"It's about broadening the pool," LaVergne said. "We don't nave tbe capacity to recruit all talented people at once, but if tbey are in tbe industry we can catck tbem two or tbree years down tbe line." oil companies bad an excellent year, rising in tbe rankings among both undergraduates and MBAs. ExxonMohil aid the test, moving up 10 places to No. 51.

Mildred Carrethers, Corporate Diversity Manager at ExxonMoml, attributes tne success to partnerships with student organizations suck as NSBE, The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and others. Like Goldman Sacks, ExxonMokil kelieves that if the industry is attractive, companies in it will automatically henefit.

"We want to expand the talent pool across the country," Carrethers said. "Then we have the value ot recruiting the test and the brightest from that pool."

Financial services grabs top spot

For the first time, financial services unseats management consulting as the most popular industry among diverse students overall. Financial services is also tke top industry among MBAs closely followed lay management consulting and consumer goods.

Consulting- and investment Banking- companies dominate the top 10 among MBAs. McKinsey is No. 1 followed by Citigroup, Goldman Sacks, Bain&Co and Booz Alien Hamilton.

Engineering/manufacturing is the top industry among undergraduates followed Ly a tie for second place between government/public service and entertainment/media. Consumer companies do particularly well among undergraduates. African-American undergraduates have eight companies with strong consumer brands in their top 10. Johnson&Johnson tops that list followed by Coca-Cola, BMW, Microsoft and Nike. Asian-American/Pacific Islanders list three accounting firms at the top: Ernst&Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte.

One Asian-Indian* student advises companies to keep it simple when they profile themselves to students: "I think for a company to stand out, it's not even really a question of heing unique...they should just make sure they can explain what day-to-day life would he at the joh as well as future educational and advancement opportunities," the student said.

IBM did exceptionally well among undergraduates this year moving up from third to first place among Asian-Indian students. The computer company rose one spot to 4th in the overall ranking. The strategy of combining their strong consumer trend with their employer Brand is working, said Steve Jarrett Vice President, Human Resources Technology and Enterprise on Demand. "Students know our Brand and they see people who look like them in our ads," Jarrett said. IBM goes heyond partnering with professional organizations and sponsoring events to partnering directly with the students.

On some campuses, members or NSBE won a contest to beta-test new IBM products - products they then were able to keep. When IBM heard that a few NSBE students didn't like the t-shirts IBM recruiters wore at their national convention, the company arranged tor a contest where NSBE members designed new ones.

The next challenge tor IBM: staying at the top. "We need to have the test people in the world," Jarrett said. "To get them we have to he the employer of choice."

Defining diversity

Broken down Ly ethnicity, it's notable that financial services does not make the top five among Black/African-American or American Indian/Alaska Native students hut is No. 1 among Asian-American/Pacific Islanders, Asian-Indian, and Caucasian students. Black/ African-American students put Entertainment/ Media at the top followed lay Government/ Public Service. Engineering/ Manufacturing and Government/ Public service are at the top among American Indian/ Alaska Native students.