Walmart, Target Lauded for Diversity Efforts

Walmart, Target and Hershey are tops when it comes to progress on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) commitments.

That’s according to DiversityInc, which has published its Top 50 corporate diversity, equity and inclusion ranking for U.S. employers. Walmart came in at No. 26 on the list, while Target was No. 27, CVS Health No. 28, Walgreens No. 40, Hershey No. 6, Kellogg No. 35, Procter & Gamble No. 48, PepsiCo No. 49 and McCormick was No. 50.

Since 2001, the DiversityInc Top 50 survey has sought to be the most comprehensive, empirically data-driven DEI analysis based on organization-submitted information from some of the largest U.S. employers. The assessment collects data across six key areas: Leadership Accountability, Human Capital Diversity Metrics, Talent Programs, Workplace Practices, Supplier Diversity and Philanthropy.

Hershey’s DEI efforts can be seen through The Pathways Project, the company’s five-year DEI engagement plan, as well as its global #HerforShe campaign, in which the company used its platform to elevate and support women and girls worldwide.

“Being recognized on DiversityInc’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity list amongst such prestigious peers reaffirms that our commitments to DEI go beyond words and promises, and our actions create measurable change,” said Alicia Petross, Chief Diversity Officer, The Hershey Company. “That change is felt in our workplace and communities, and we’re not stopping here.”

Highlights of Hershey’s DEI strategy include:

• Representation and Leadership: Hershey is committed to including diverse perspectives across the organization, with a goal of increasing representation of its employee base to be 30 to 40 percent people of color (POC), and 15 to 22 percent of people leader roles occupied by POC by 2025.
• Recruitment Diversity: Hershey makes it a priority to assemble candidate slates that are 50 percent diverse for every externally sourced role. To that end, it has expanded its relationship with diverse-owned talent search firms to 30 percent of all volume to help ensure this goal is achieved. In 2021, more than 40 percent of all talent acquisition search volume was led by diverse-owned firms.
• Supplier Diversity: By 2030, Hershey will increase spend with diverse suppliers to $400 million, helping to promote economic equality and opportunity for diverse-owned businesses. This is a 4x increase versus its baseline year of 2020.
• Pay Equity: By 2025, Hershey aims to achieve pay equity for similar job categories across its global salaried workforce. In 2019, Hershey achieved 1:1 aggregate gender pay equity, and in 2021, 1:1 aggregate POC pay equity for salaried employees in the U.S.

View the entire Top 50 list and specialty lists here.