NAMIC: Industry Needs Greater Focus On Diversity

[Commentary] Executives at the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) said recent industry survey results, which combine WICT’s PAR (Pay Equity, Advancement Opportunities and Resources for Work/Life Integration) Initiative and NAMIC’s AIM (Advancement Investment Measurement) employment survey, showed that the industry needs to remain committed to hiring and promoting women and people of color across all levels.

The overall percentage of women in the cable fell 5% over the last decade, but women increased their numbers within the executive and senior management levels, according to Gale Greenfield, principal for global HR consulting firm Mercer, which helped facilitate the surveys. While the number of people of color in the cable workforce increased by 5%, the group’s representation in upper management levels dropped since NAMIC’s last AIM report two years ago, she added. Adria Alpert-Romm, senior executive vice president of human resources and global diversity for Discovery Communications, said the first steps to improving diversity within cable’s employment ranks is to make sure companies are successfully recruiting people of color and women and then promoting them from within. The industry needs to continually measure its diversity efforts to know where it needs to improve, according to Jacqueline Hernandez COO Telemundo Media. Rhonda Taylor, executive vice president and chief people officer for Cox Communications, added that you have to be willing to take chances and adequately train women and people of color for upper management positions even if they don’t initially have managerial experience. Alpert-Romm said ad sales are one area that women and people of color are underrepresented. Another area for diversity growth is business services, according to Cohen, as well as the sports field for women and the tech sector for women, Hispanics and African-Americans.