What an exciting and energy-charged year on the diversity front! Diversity and inclusion are business imperatives that not only make us a better company but also deliver significant business advantages. There is no better way to showcase this than in the diversity section of our FY09 Corporate Responsibility Report, that we launched earlier this week.
Here are some highlights. The Global Diversity Council chaired by our CEO Michael Dell, underscores our commitment to diversity at the highest levels of and throughout our company. A global team of senior Dell executives sets and continually revisits our diversity strategy and identifies how we can drive greater diversity across our businesses.
In recognition of Dell's commitment of more than $1 billion in annual supply-chain spending with diverse suppliers, we were inducted into the Billion Dollar Roundtable. It is a great honor to be one of the 16 members of the Billon Dollar Roundtable and will see us continuing to partner with our peer members to provide thought leadership in advancing diverse businesses.
Working Mother magazine included us in its list of Top 100 companies to work for – a list where we hope to see Dell as a 'regular' going forward. For the fifth consecutive year we maintained our perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, signaling our ongoing commitment to diversity, inclusion and fair workplace practices for all.
While we have made great inroads in our programs, we know we can do more . We have aggressive goals for the coming year including:
- Increase the retention of our women and African-American and Hispanic employees in the U.S.
- Double our participation rate in employee networking groups
- Increase our executive-level participation in diversity efforts
- Actively identify flexible work solutions for employees
I hope you take the time to read the diversity section of the report and I welcome your ideas and feedback to make Dell the workplace of choice for many.