Asia Society names best employers of Asian Americans

NEW YORK CITY— Asia Society named US employers who are at the forefront of promoting and developing Asian Pacific American talent on June 9, during its annual Diversity Leadership Forum here.

Now in their eighth year, the Best Asian Pacific American Employer Awards honor companies selected based on the quality of their APA workforce initiatives and the results from the Asia Society’s 2016 Asian Pacific Americans Corporate Survey.

The survey is the only published initiative to exclusively measure the leadership success of APAs at Fortune 500-level companies. Over 3,300 APA employees participated in the 2016 survey, a 30-percent increase from 2015.

IBM took home the top honors. “IBM is proud to be recognized by the Asia Society as the Best Employer for Asian Pacific Americans,” said Jon Iwata, senior vice president, marketing and communications. “IBM has a long history of supporting diversity and inclusion — a commitment that we continue to broaden and deepen. It is a distinguishing feature of our corporate character.”

AT&T won “Best Employer for Promoting APA Women,” a new category that acknowledges the critical importance of supporting women’s access to leadership positions.

“We proactively support the success and advancement of women across the company. Our commitment to having a diverse talent pipeline starts at the top, and we ensure that women and all participants in our development programs receive the education, experience and exposure they need to learn and grow outside the classroom,” said Cynt Marshall, AT&T senior vice president and chief diversity officer – Human Resources.

In the category for “Promoting APAs into Senior Leadership Positions,” Freddie Mac came out on top. “Because of the priority we place on developing and supporting the success of our diverse talent, Asian Pacific Americans have strong and growing representation in senior leadership positions across the company,” said Dwight Robinson, senior vice president and chief diversity officer at Freddie Mac.

Other Best Employer winners included Discover for “APA Employee Resource Groups;” General Electric for “Sponsorship;” KPMG for “Developing Workforce Skills;” and Pacific Gas & Electric for “Marketing & Support to the APA Community”

“Asian Pacific Americans have contributed immensely to the success of U.S. businesses. Recognizing and developing these employees is not only the right thing to do, but it is also a prerequisite for attracting and retaining top talent,” said David Whitelaw Reid, executive director for Global Talent Initiatives at Asia Society. “We congratulate all the winning companies, and urge other employers to follow their lead.”

Finalists and winners are chosen based on a combination of employee survey results (80 percent) and scores from a blind panel of expert judges (20 percent). Employees of Asia Society are not involved in the awards decisions. For more information about the awards, visit Asia Society’s Global Talent Initiatives website.

Below is the full list of 2016 award winners and best practice citations:

BEST EMPLOYER AWARDS

Overall Best Employer for Asian Pacific Americans

Winner: IBM

Distinguished Performance: Discover

Noteworthy Performance: KPMG

Best Employer for Asian Pacific Americans to Develop Workforce Skills

Winner: KPMG

Distinguished Performance: Discover

Noteworthy Performance: IBM

Best Employer for Promoting Asian Pacific Americans into Senior Leadership Positions

Winner: Freddie Mac

Distinguished Performance: IBM

Noteworthy Performance: Goldman Sachs

Best Employer for Promoting Asian Pacific American Women

Winner: AT&T

Distinguished Performance: Colgate-Palmolive

Noteworthy Performance: IBM

Best Employer for Asian Pacific American Employee Resource Groups

Winner: Discover

Distinguished Performance: AT&T

Noteworthy Performance: Ingersoll Rand

Best Employer for Marketing & Support to Asian Pacific American Community

Winner: Pacific Gas & Electric

Distinguished Performance: Goldman Sachs

Noteworthy Performance: General Electric

Best Employer for Sponsorship of Asian Pacific Americans

Winner: General Electric

Distinguished Performance: IBM

Noteworthy Performance: KPMG

BEST PRACTICE CITATIONS

Recruitment and Selection

Goldman Sachs; IBM; KPMG

Retention

General Electric; Goldman Sachs; IBM; KPMG; Medtronic; Reed Smith

Employee Growth & Advancement

Chevron; Credit Suisse; Freddie Mac; General Electric; Pacific Gas & Electric

Profit & Loss Leadership Development

AT&T; General Electric; IBM; KPMG; Medtronic

Asian Pacific American Employee Resource Groups

AT&T; BNY Mellon; Discover; Goldman Sachs; IBM; KPMG

Diversity

AT&T; Discover; Goldman Sachs; Marriott

Sponsorship

General Electric; Goldman Sachs; IBM; KPMG

Community Commitment

Chevron; General Electric; Goldman Sachs; KPMG; Pacific Gas & Electric

Market Opportunities

AT&T; Freddie Mac; Goldman Sachs; Marriott

Promoting Asian Pacific American Women

AT&T; Colgate-Palmolive; Goldman Sachs; IBM; KPMG; Marriott