No. 37: Cisco Systems

Posted in:
Print   |    Forward   |      |    Tweet    |   
    

Specialty Lists

 

  • No. 7 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees
  • No. 6 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities

 

Why It’s in the DiversityInc Top 50

 

Moving up from the DiversityInc 25 Noteworthy Companies list last year, Cisco Systems demonstrates an increasingly inclusive culture, both in the United States and globally.

Diversity Strengths

 

Chairman and CEO John Chambers meets regularly with employee-resource groups, appoints members of the diversity council, personally reviews and signs off on diversity metrics, and uses the company intranet to communicate his diversity support. Diversity also is measured in every manager’s performance review.

The company has a very strong mentoring program, with 75 percent of managers participating and a cross-cultural component. Chief Diversity Officer Marilyn Nagel is a strong advocate for mentoring as a means of talent development.

Cisco has 12 excellent employee-resource groups that are key to its diversity strategies. These include groups for people with disabilities, people both early in their careers and more experienced, veterans, LGBT employees, women in technology, and more. The company also has mandatory diversity training for its entire U.S. work force.

Thirty-six percent of its philanthropic endeavors go to multicultural charities, including the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, National Society of Hispanic MBAs, National Black MBA Association, National Society of Black Engineers and Society of Women Engineers.

 
John Chambers
Chairman & CEO:

“Our inclusive culture promotes a creative, innovative and collaborative environment that helps fuel our globalization strategy.”

Marilyn Nagel
Chief Diversity Officer:

“Cisco appreciates a culture that recognizes the importance of inclusion and celebrates diversity as a business imperative. Building an inclusive environment is what makes Cisco a best place to work, promotes cross-cultural collaboration, builds customer intimacy, drives innovation and builds a solid foundation for the future.”

 
Company Info

 
Industry
Technology

Main Competitors
Alcatel-Lucent, HP, Juniper Networks

U.S. Headquarters
San Jose, Calif.

Number of U.S. Employees
35,849

% of Operations Outside U.S.
43.5
 

Print   |    Forward   |      |    Tweet    |