LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE Appliances (GEA), a Haier company, has been named one of the 2021 Best Companies for Multicultural Women by Seramount (formerly Working Mother Media)—an honor recognizing companies that create and use best practices in hiring, retaining and promoting multicultural women in the United States. The full list can be found here.
“We’re honored to be recognized for our commitment to inclusion and diversity,” said A.J. Hubbard, global senior director of inclusion and diversity at GE Appliances. “Together, we’re creating a culture that values every voice and encourages people to be their authentic selves at work—and in life. Our differences not only make us stronger, but they also empower us to innovate more meaningfully, bringing us closer to our owners, our communities and each other. We can’t create appliances for people from around the world without a global mindset, and that begins with hiring, developing and retaining talent that’s more representative of the customers and communities we serve.”
Since 2003, Seramount’s Best Companies for Multicultural Women has tracked corporations’ progress in creating cultures that encourage multicultural women to join and rise through the ranks.
Participation in this initiative is up 19 percent year over year, and over the last five years, it has increased by 358 percent. Seramount’s Insights team attributes the uptick to increased interest in hiring and promoting women of color as well as improvement in the types of questions asked, especially the specific evaluation of women at each level by individual race and ethnicity, and the introduction of questions on anti-racism efforts.
“The increased participation in this initiative confirms that the importance of retaining and advancing multicultural women is not lost on corporate America,” said Subha V. Barry, CEO of Seramount. “By offering programs and implementing policies instrumental to their success, whether it’s sponsorship and mentoring programs or tying managers’ compensation to diversity goals, our Top Companies for Multicultural Women continue to demonstrate their commitment to this critical talent pool.”
Highlights of GEA’s initiatives supporting inclusion and diversity in the workplace include:
- Establishing Inclusion & Diversity Talent Councils that help ensure a diverse interview process.
- Affinity Networks that bring employees together—providing safe spaces for people to network and help drive powerful change in the workplace.
- A Women’s Affinity Network that helps advance women in the workplace and works to increase representation and opportunity for women at all levels of the business.
- Holding company leaders accountable for participation in inclusion and diversity activities, including unconscious bias and cultural competency trainings.
- A CEO committed to equity: CEO Kevin Nolan served as Community Investment Chair for Metro United Way—an organization aimed at addressing the gaps that exist in education, income, health, housing and racial equity across the region. Nolan also joined 1,400 of the world’s leading companies to sign the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion and has aligned the company’s corporate giving efforts to support equity and inclusion.
Best Companies Workforce Composition
The 2021 Best Companies for Multicultural Women employ about 2 million people at 29,000 work sites in every state across 17 industries: chemical, consumer products, financial or property and casualty insurance, financial services, health insurance, hospitality, hospitals/healthcare, legal, manufacturing, media, internet and advertising, nonprofit/not-for-profit, pharmaceuticals, professional services/management consulting/accounting, retail and apparel, science/technology/engineering/aerospace/medical devices, telecommunications and utilities.
Methodology
The Best Companies for Multicultural Women application includes more than 250 questions on representation; hiring, attrition and promotion rates; recruitment, retention and advancement programs; and company culture. Our scoring algorithm is based on the previous year’s benchmark results, which then determines the winners.
About GE Appliances
GE Appliances strives to make the world a better place and is committed to leading in the communities where its 14,000 employees live and work. A purpose-rooted and passion-driven organization, GE Appliances believes there is always a better way. Its corporate headquarters is in Louisville, Ky., and it sells products under the Monogram®, Café™, GE Profile™, GE® Appliances, Haier, and Hotpoint brands. Its appliances, which are in half of all U.S. homes., include refrigerators, freezers, cooking products, dishwashers, washers, dryers, air conditioners, water filtration systems, water heaters, wine & beverage centers, and small appliances.
About Seramount
Seramount is a strategic professional services firm dedicated to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Over four decades, partnering with some of the most iconic companies in the world, we’ve built a deep data-driven understanding of the employee experience which lays the groundwork for everything we do. Our comprehensive DE&I toolkit includes actionable research and insights, membership, strategic guidance and consulting, and inspiring events, meeting each client’s needs no matter where they are on their journey, and guiding them along an ever-changing landscape. Seramount has empowered over 450 organizations to realize the business benefits of diversity, equity and inclusion. Learn more at seramount.com.
Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and geappliancesco.com for more news and updates from GE Appliances.