NEW YORK (January 23, 2018) – Forbes, in partnership with Statista, released today its first-ever list of America’s Best Employers for Diversity. The list is a ranking of 250 employers across all industries in the United States, based on surveying thousands of employees and examining employer diversity policies, as well as diversity in executive suites and on boards. Chicago-based Northern Trust seizes the top spot as America’s best employer for diversity in 2018, scoring extremely well by all measures.

“Diversity has become a business imperative, because it makes businesses better places and richer in every sense of the word,” said Forbes’ Leadership Editor, Fred Allen. “And so Forbes, working with our data partners at Statista, is proud to be releasing its first annual ranking of the best employers for diversity in America. We surveyed 30,000 employees at companies across the nation and also researched those companies’ workforces and practices, and we hope that by introducing the definitive listing honoring the top performers we will stir discussion of the importance of diversity and inclusion and reinforce employers’ determination to do the best at it they can.”

“Our large survey of employees has shown that diversity is a highly relevant factor when choosing an employer,” said Statista CEO, Dr. Friedrich Schwandt.

                                                    (Download this chart here)

For the complete list and more, visit: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2018/01/23/americas-best-employers-for-diversity/

Methodology

The top 250 "Best Employers for Diversity" have been carefully chosen based on an independent survey from a vast sample of 30,000 American employees working for firms or institutions with 1,000 or more employees.  The employees were not consulted via their employers but anonymously through several online panels. By doing so, the employee could openly state his/her opinion, avoiding any influence from their employer.  The survey was conducted using an online access panel, providing a representative sample of employees.

Moreover, an index of objective and publicly available diversity KPIs (e.g., existence of a department/position responsible for diversity, proactive communication of diverse company culture) was created. These KPIs were then researched through corporate websites for each employer and were subsequently classified and evaluated.