GE Appliances named one of the best companies for multicultural women

Jun 30th 2021

GEA Logo on blue background

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.

Group of women pose together with smiles

“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.

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