This major food manufacturer earns employees’ loyalty by investing in programs that support their long-term satisfaction. Its recent great Manager initiative, for example, used training courses, mentoring circles and town halls to teach officers and directors how to inspire and motivate their workers. To help people make more time for family, the company promotes flexible schedules, grants 26 job-guaranteed weeks off for a birth or adoption (with $10,000 in adoption aid) and allows employees to take three weeks of vacation in their first year. At the Minneapolis headquarters, an on-site center looks after infants ages 6 weeks to 16 months; everyone else has access to discounts at 63 near-site child-care facilities and may request backup-care subsidies.

Chairman & CEO Ken Powell 

Senior VP, Global HR Mike Davis

Women managers/execs 41% 

Women among top earners 40% 

Women hires in 2010 37% 

Average weeks of fully paid maternity leave offered 2 

Allows new moms to “phase back” into work with reduced hours? Yes

Offers affinity group for new mothers? No

Offers backup childcare? Yes

Employees working flexibly 57%

Looking to get a leg up on the competition? Dozens of coaching and mentoring programs help multicultural women advance at this major food-manufacturing company, as does an executive diversity council with satellites in ten functions and divisions. To maintain a level playing field, the company has sent more than 10,000 employees to its understanding and modeling inclusion training course, and continued support is crucial: According to its latest data, 55% of all recent hires are female, and one third are women of color. Six affinity groups provide women of similar racial and ethnic backgrounds with a place to commune: “it was an instant group of friends,” says Mansi Bhandari, a supply-chain buyer, of her introduction to the South Asian American network. “We had the opportunity to interface with senior leaders, and I was given a buddy right away.”

Chairman & CEO Ken Powell
VP, Diversity & Inclusion Kenneth Charles

At General Mills, multicultural women represent…
7% multicultural women
4% of corporate executives
5% of senior managers
7% of the top earners
11% of the company hires
10% of the company promotions
10% of the company losses
16% of participants in mentoring programs
15% of participants in affinity groups

40% of top earners are women

With more than 12 mentoring groups and women’s networks to choose from, the female professionals who work at this food manufacturing company make valuable connections. New employees establish long-term career strategies with management and may choose to pursue their goals by tapping up to $6,000 in annual tuition aid or studying leadership at the General Mills Institute. Women also lead 71% of the company’s major retail divisions.

Chairman & Ceo Ken Powell 

Senior VP, Global HR Mike Davis

40% of employees are women

43% of managers are women

36% of senior managers are women

34% of corporate executives are women

46% of recent promotions to manager, senior manager or corporate executive have gone to women

40% of top earners are women

10% of women participate in mentoring

57% of women participate in networking

1% of women participate in sponsorship programs

4% of women participate in leadership development programs

Offers women’s task force? Yes

In 2009, General Mills offered free career counseling to its employees’ unemployed family members.

Moms head five of the seven U.S. retail divisions of this food manufacturing company, with Yoplait president Becky O'Grady added in 2009. More than half of the company's 48 female officers have worked here at least 20 years, and a third have marked 25 years. Women are now hired for 54% of professional positions and have their own dedicated mentoring circles in marketing, manufacturing and engineering, along with an 18-month co-mentoring program for female directors. Even 40% of manufacturing plants have a women's task force. While 91% of employees used summer hours last year and 57% flexed their schedules, the company still appointed a flexibility manager to enhance work-life balance.

Chairman & CEO Ken Powell

SVP, Global HR Mike Davis

Women managers, senior managers and corporate execs 41%

Women among top earners 40%

Women on board of directors 36%

Women corporate executive hires in 2009 50%

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year* 4%

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year* 13%

Women promoted last year who utilized a formal flexible work arrangement 27%

Do formal compensation policies reward managers who help women advance? No

*Percentages reflect number of women participants versus company’s total female workforce.

90% of multicultural women who work at General Mills say the company supports diversity.

This consumer-brand titan may be famous for its leading cereals, snacks and processed convenience foods, but it hopes to one day be known as a leader in diversity as well. “If a woman of color has a thirst for learning and a focus on results, this is the place for her,” says Kelly Baker, a VP in the HR department, who is African-American. While multicultural women make up just 7% of all U.S. employees, they are on the move, representing 18% of last year’s salaried hires, 16% of management hires and 23% of rehires. Executive coaches have been brought in to work with high-performing Hispanic, African-American and Asian managers, and there’s an 18-month executive comentoring program that pairs senior leaders with director-level women and people of color. To enforce accountability, the Executive Diversity Council sets annual diversity and inclusion objectives, which seem to be paying off: Multicultural employees hold three times as many officer positions, and women more than twice as many, as they did in 1999. Impressively, more than one third of all multicultural female professionals were granted promotions or given lateral assignments to expand their career horizons last year.

Multicultural Women 7%
Chairman & CEO Ken Powell
VP, Diversity & Inclusion Kenneth Charles

At General Mills, multicultural women represent…
3% of corporate executives
5% of senior managers
7% of the top earners
12% of the company hires
9% of the company losses
26% of participants in mentoring programs
9% of participants in career counseling programs

*Denotes a member of the Top 5 Best Companies for Multicultural Women

In 2008, General Mills began offering corporate training on how to create an inclusive workforce and manage a diverse group of employees.

Keeping employees happy is a top priority for this food manufacturing firm. To help Hispanic women better navigate the workplace, the company brought in a career coach to address their specific professional challenges; now other coaches are on deck for African-American and Asian employees. Five very active multicultural employee networks launched new leadership development programs last year, introduced discussions with executives and even created a corporate database to help diverse employees seek each other out. Meanwhile, 13 additional diversity focus groups have since been established to garner feedback on how these initiatives are doing. Such efforts speak well for General Mills, but the numbers alone say volumes: Of the women of color in senior management positions, 42% were promoted last year.

Multicultural Women: 7%

Multicultural Women Managers/Execs: 6%

Chief Diversity Officer: Kenneth Charles

Hires who are multicultural women: 9%

Hires who are multicultural men: 14%

Multicultural women managers/execs: 6%

Multicultural men managers/execs: 9%

Top 20% earners who are multicultural women: 6%

Top 20% earners who are multicultural men: 8%

Multicultural women on board of directors: 15%

Offers formal compensation program to reward managers who specifically help multicultural women advance: YES

Rates managers on the number of multicultural women employees advancing: YES

Uses outside recruiter to focus on finding multicultural women candidates: YES

Offers support groups specifically for multicultural women: NO

Offers mentoring programs specifically geared toward multicultural women early in their careers: YES

Offers sponsorship program specifically geared toward multicultural women early in their careers: NO

78% of all educational and personal leaves at General Mills last year were taken by female employees.

Finding time to direct a child’s school play, pursue an MBA or take a long vacation isn’t hard for moms employed by this Minneapolis-based food manufacturer, which boasts impressive leave policies. Parents can take an unpaid six-month leave of absence with the understanding that the company will try to find them a comparable position on return. Meanwhile, educational leaves of one to two years are 100% job-guaranteed (with tuition reimbursement), as are brand-new unpaid sabbaticals lasting four to 12 weeks, which workers can take for any reason. In research and development, a pilot program offers “innovation sabbaticals” that allow employees to take up to 26 paid weeks off to scout new trends in the field. Anyone can also request an additional one or two weeks of unpaid flex vacation.

Chairman & CEO: Ken Powell

Senior VP, Global Human Resources: Mike Davis

Women managers/execs: 40%

Women among top earners: 33%

Women on board of directors: 38%

Women corporate executive hires in 2008: 0%

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year: 50%

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year: 45%

Women promoted last year who utilized a formal flexible work arrangement: 55%

Formal compensation policies reward managers who help women advance: Yes