Wal-mart recognized as a top company for executive women

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., has been recognized as one of the "2007 Top 35 Companies for Executive Women" by the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE). Wal-Mart was selected for this honor because of its corporate initiatives that are designed to promote female participation and leadership in the workplace.

In naming its list of the top 35 companies for executive women, NAFE not only examined corporate programs and policies dedicated to advancing women, but it also examined the results of these programs. NAFE looked at the number of women in each company overall, in senior management, and on its board of directors.

Companies with a minimum of two women on the board completed a comprehensive application that focused on the number of women in its senior ranks, compared them to men in similar positions and to the company population, and examined corporate programs and policies which support women's advancement.

Wal-Mart currently has three women serving on its fourteen member Board of Directors, which accounts for just over 21 percent of the board. It is by far the largest private employer in the United States and views workplace diversity and a multicultural workforce as a top priority at all levels.

Sixty one percent of Wal-Mart associates are women, forty percent of the company’s management is female, and at least one hundred of the company’s store managers are female. To help demonstrate its commitment to workplace diversity and to provide a network for its female executives, Wal-Mart created an Executive Women’s Caucus which offers mentoring opportunities and a forum in which to discuss issues that women face in today’s workplace.

Though the purpose of this post isn’t to shower Wal-Mart with endless praise for its diversity efforts, I must say that Wal-Mart has come a long way in the arena of workplace diversity and equality for women. It was just a short eight years ago in 1999 that Wal-Mart ranked well below its retailing peers in equal opportunities for women and workplace diversity.

These inequities led to a large gender discrimination lawsuit, which was affirmed as a class action suit by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in February 2007. Plaintiffs in this mammoth case estimate that up to 1.6 million women may be included in the lawsuit against Wal-Mart. The suit stems from claims made in 2000 that the company violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against women in promotions, pay, and job assignments.

Though it may appear that Wal-Mart reluctantly chose to accept diversity and equality in the workplace, many other factors may contribute to Wal-Mart’s gradual progress in the arena of workplace diversity. Perhaps one reason is that the retailing giant found it difficult to implement effective diversity policies across its massive US workforce.

Regardless of the reason, the company solidified its position on workplace diversity in January 2006 when it announced that its "diversity efforts include new groups of minority, female and gay employees that have started meeting at Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville to advise the company on marketing and internal promotion." It identified seven "Business Resource Groups": Women, African-Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, Native Americans, Gays and Lesbians, and people with disabilities.

The mere fact that Wal-Mart has such a high percentage of female executives is extremely important because it sets an example to its workforce that it is serious about promoting workplace diversity.

Hopefully, Wal-Mart will continue to demonstrate its commitment to workplace diversity by working to make their US workforce reflect the communities they serve.