The year 2005 marked the eighth consecutive year of the LATINA Style 50 Special Report, and proved to be the most competitive year to date for companies. As the 2006 Special Report is upon us, it is vital to ensure that as each year passes, we remain as closely committed to the mission of the survey as possible: recognizing corporate America’s diversity initiatives and commitment to advancing the careers of professional Hispanic women. The Special Report, which evaluates and ranks the Top 50 Companies for Latinas to Work for in the U.S., has served as the most respected source for employment opportunities for Latinas since its inception in 1998. We take that role very seriously and we are continuously gathering valuable feedback from Latinas at our nationwide events. We also use the LATINA Style 50 Awards Ceremony and Best Practices in Diversity Conference as a springboard for many ideas. Many of the changes for this year’s survey, outlined in this article, are a direct result of the input we receive at this conference, as it is a one-of-a-kind gathering of nearly 500 of corporate America’s highest-ranking Latinas.
While this year’s changes do not alter the substantive focus of the survey or digress from its basic structure, they offer a more in-depth analysis of each company. The survey still consists of five parts: Part I-Employee Statistics; Part II-Recruitment and Procurement Policies; Part III-Employee Benefits; Part IV-Advancement Opportunities for Women, Part V-Additional and Optional Materials. This year’s changes most directly impact Parts I & II.
In an effort to find Latinas at the highest levels, we have added an additional echelon of corporate governance. We now consider Chief Marketing Officer as an integral part of the corporate executive board. We are confident that this expansion will further encompass the broad range of duties that talented Latinas perform at the senior executive level.
Additionally, we have restructured our classification of the executive tier. We now classify professional Latinas according to the following: Partner, Senior Executive Level/Senior VP, Executive Level/VP, Director & Manager Level, and Professional Level. This restructuring will allow us to gather data from year to year and better compare the rate of advancement of Latinas within each company.
The majority of the additions and edits to the survey take place in Part II-Recruitment and Procurement Policies. In previous years, we have inquired solely about recruitment efforts for Hispanic women. This year, however, we have broadened our scope and we are requesting information on recruiting efforts for Hispanic women, Hispanics, women, persons with disabilities, and military personnel.
Our goal in expanding this portion of the survey is to ascertain, in a broader sense, the overall commitment to recruiting diverse candidates. While providing opportunities for Latinas remains the focus of the Special Report, it is helpful to see the entire profile of the company, and their strengths in all areas.
In addition to requesting more detailed information as it pertains to recruitment; we are also focusing more heavily on procurement opportunities for minority-owned firms. While the LATINA Style 50 program focuses on recruitment, retention, and promotion programs for Latinas in corporate America, we must also recognize the relationship that corporate America has with Latina business owners.
Lastly, in these days of corporate mergers and downsizing, it is vital to know if a company provides not only job security or severance packages, but also job training and outplacement services to Latinas. In previous years, we focused solely on job security. However, we have shifted the focus of this portion of the survey to services companies offer when downsizing occurs. While job security cannot always be guaranteed, it is necessary to know that a company will provide outplacement services or job training to Latinas.
We are delighted that the 2006 Special Report will appear in the next issue of LATINA Style and we look forward to evaluating corporate America’s commitment to Latinas for years to come!