Industry Continues to Struggle with Retention

NEW YORK, NY, US, September 17, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Hire rates for women and people of color exceed those for men and whites, according to findings from the 2019 NAMIC AIM / WICT PAR Diversity Survey, released today in conjunction with the WICT Leadership Conference and the 33rd Annual NAMIC Conference. However, that same survey also found that companies are not retaining women or people of color at the same pace as men or whites, creating a critical retention issue.

The biennial survey, last conducted in 2017, is administered by Mercer and funded by the Walter Kaitz Foundation. Results below compare 2019 data to 2017.

Survey Highlights for People of Color:
• Among companies that participated in both the 2017 and 2019 surveys, representation of people of color in the industry has increased at all levels, including at the board of directors (from 15.3% to 16.8%) and executive/senior managers levels (from 25.1% to 28.4%).
• The overall industry hire rate for people of color is 15.4 percentage points higher than for whites (36% vs. 20.6%), while the total turnover rate for people of color is 11.4 percentage points higher than for whites (32.7% vs. 21.3%).
• The overall promotion rate for people of color is lower than whites (1.4% vs. 1.9%).
• The patterns for hires and turnovers among young professionals (those born on or after Jan. 1, 1983) are similar. The exception: promotions. Young professionals who are white are promoted at more than two times the rate of young professionals of color (2.9% vs. 1.4%).
• In the next 10 years, if current workforce dynamics persist, the number of people of color at the manager level and above is projected to remain flat at 32%, while the number of young professionals of color at the manager level and above is projected to decrease from 38% to 36%.
• This outcome could be improved if organizations are able to retain and promote people of color at the same rates as their white counterparts.

Survey Highlights for Women:
• Among companies that participated in both the 2017 and 2019 surveys, representation of women has increased at the board of directors (from 16.8% to 25.2%), executive/senior management (from 32.7% to 34.9%), and professional levels (from 35.6% to 36.8%).
• The overall industry hire rate for women is 9.1 percentage points higher than for men (33.2% vs. 24.1%), while the total turnover rate for women is 7.3 percentage points higher than for men (30.8% vs. 23.5%).
• The overall promotion rate is higher for women than for men (1.8% vs. 1.6%).
• The patterns (hire, turnover, and promotion) for young professionals are similar.
• In the next 10 years, if current workforce dynamics persist, the number of women at the manager level and above is expected to increase from 34% to 37%, while the number of young female professionals at the manager level and above is expected to remain relatively flat.
• This outcome could be improved if organizations are able to hire and retain women at the same rates as their male counterparts.

“It’s encouraging to see that people of color are making advancements in the industry,” says NAMIC President and CEO A. Shuanise Washington. “But clearly more needs to be done, particularly in the area of retaining and promoting people of color. Companies need to shift from focusing solely on diversity to also focusing on inclusion. That’s where you are going to start to see real progress because diversity without inclusion is not effective in the long term.”

“We are grateful that we work in an industry that allows WICT and NAMIC to measure workforce diversity and inclusion,” said WICT President & CEO Maria E. Brennan, CAE. “Knowing where women and people of color stand is step-one in ensuring progress. As the survey results show, for women, closing the gaps in hiring and employee retention are central to achieving parity with men. Like our partners at NAMIC and The Walter Kaitz Foundation, we will use this data to help companies strengthen their practices and policies to improve recruitment and retention of women within their workforce.”

Launched in 1999, the NAMIC employment survey, formerly titled “A Look Toward Advancement: Multi-ethnic Employment in the Communications Industry,” provided a baseline of statistics and perceptions about the state of multi-ethnic diversity in the cable and communications industry. Today, the employment survey — now titled “NAMIC AIM” (Advancement Investment Measurement) — provides data that is used by companies to support goals for sustaining a robust pipeline of diverse talent.

Since 2003, the “WICT PAR” (Pay Equity, Advancement Opportunities, and Resources for Work/Life Integration) has measured the status of women in the cable industry. Combined with a comprehensive advocacy program, the PAR Initiative helps companies set goals, institutionalize practices, measure progress, and achieve results.

The two surveys have been jointly administered since 2011.

A total of 21 organizations participated in the online survey of cable and communications companies and employ more than 245,000 people. These organizations represent 75.5% of the industry workforce, suggesting results are representative of the industry. The executive summary can be found on www.namic.com.

About NAMIC
NAMIC (National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications) is the premier organization focusing on cultural diversity, equity, and inclusion in the communications industry. More than 4,000 professionals belong to a network of 18 chapters nationwide. Through initiatives that target leadership development, advocacy, and empowerment, NAMIC collaborates with industry partners to expand and nurture a workforce that reflects the cultural richness of the populations served. For more information, please visit www.namic.com or follow @NAMICNational on Twitter.

About WICT
WICT is a global organization whose mission is to create women leaders who transform our industry. We do this by providing unparalleled professional development programs, commissioning original gender research, and supporting a B2B network that helps advance women. For 40 years, WICT has partnered with cable and technology companies to help build a more robust pipeline of women leaders. Founded in 1979, and now over 10,500 members strong, WICT is the largest and oldest professional association serving women in cable media. Charter Communications and Comcast NBCUniversal are WICT’s Strategic Touchstone Partners. For more information, please visit www.wict.org or follow @WICTHQ on Twitter.

About the Walter Kaitz Foundation
The Walter Kaitz Foundation advances diversity, equity and inclusion in the media and entertainment industries. The Foundation provides targeted grants to organizations, supports vital industry research initiatives that promote diversity and inclusion in the workforce and collaborates with key stakeholders on the curation and presentation of diverse content. The Foundation also develops unique programs and initiatives designed to educate and facilitate collaboration between partners and benefactors that align with our mission. For more information, please visit www.walterkaitz.org or follow us @WalterKaitz on Twitter.
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Karen Addis
Succession Communications
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