General Mills Honored for 10th Consecutive Year in "Best Companies for Multicultural Women" list from Working Mother

15 May 2013 --- Working Mother has selected General Mills as one of 25 "Best Companies for Multicultural Women" in the U.S. for its ability to hire, retain and advance women of color.

"Each of us comes to work with a uniquely different perspective that is born from our experience," said Ken Charles, vice president of Global Diversity and Inclusion for General Mills. "We find that a genuinely inclusive environment that acknowledges, respects and values those differences drives greater employee engagement and innovation. Supporting and valuing the talents and perspectives of working moms is critical to our workplace environment, contributing immensely to our success."

This year marks General Mills' tenth consecutive year on the annual list, and the company received special recognition by ranking among the Top 5 "Best Companies" along with Deloitte, KPMG, PwC and State Farm. The full list appears in the June/July issue of Working Mother magazine and online at WorkingMother.com. 

"The Best Companies for Multicultural Women know that a truly diverse workforce makes for an effective team, one that's plugged into the needs and desires of its customers," said Carol Evans, president of Working Mother Media. "Grooming female leaders has become a crucial mandate, and great companies are simultaneously weaving diversity into their culture. However, many challenges lie ahead for all U.S. companies to build a pipeline of diverse talent to represent them at every level of decision-making and management."

In this month's Working Mother magazine, Eliana Wahnon, Global Consumer Insights manager for General Mills, details how her multicultural upbringing has provided inspiration for her current role at General Mills.  Wahnon also participated in a Q&A feature discussing the award and her personal experience as a multicultural mom on General Mills' corporate blog, A Taste of General Mills.

The current issue of Working Mother also includes a company profile of General Mills, which highlights the company's success in advancing women of color and its comprehensive employee resources including employee networks and mentoring programs.

Methodology
The Working Mother Best Companies for Multicultural Women requires candidates to have at least 500 employees. The winners were selected based on responses to an extensive questionnaire on representation; hiring, attrition and promotion rates; recruitment, retention and advancement programs; and company culture. The Working Mother Research Institute created a scoring algorithm based on the previous year's benchmark results to determine the winners.