Diageo North America has been named one of the “Top 70 Companies for Executive Women” by the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE). As one of the country’s largest associations for female professionals, NAFE releases the list annually to recognize American corporations where women have significant clout to make the decisions that affect their company’s future and its bottom line. This is the eighth year NAFE has named Diageo to its Top Companies list.

“At Diageo, we are passionate about cultivating an inclusive workforce, of which gender equality plays an enormous part,” said Alessandra Ginante, EVP, Human Resources, Diageo North America. “We are proud that women make up a third of our North America Executive Committee, and more than a quarter of our senior leadership team. Diageo congratulates all of the NAFE Top 60 Companies for Executive Women, and we are delighted to be counted alongside such an esteemed group.”

Job share, flextime, compressed hours and opportunities to work from home

Diageo offers a variety of flexible working arrangements including job share, flextime, compressed hours and opportunities to work from home, to name just a few. Pregnant women and new moms can take advantage of nutritional education, smoking cessation programs and access to private pumping rooms for nursing mothers.

Additionally, to attract and retain a diverse workforce, Diageo offers career development programs at every level. These programs provide coaching initiatives to help employees succeed in their careers. To supplement the efforts of such programs, Diageo’s Spirited Women’s Network hosts regular networking events and educational career sessions hosted by a mix of internal and external senior leaders, these help to inspire other employees and ensure our diversity efforts are at the heart of the company.

Advancing women

“NAFE’s annual scrutiny of women’s progress at American companies offers essential data about the movement of women into top leadership in the private sector,” says Betty Spence, President of NAFE. “In this first year of having five NAFE Top Companies with boards of 50% or more women, we point to a synergy between the greater presence of women on the board and an increase in the number of winning companies with women CEOs and with 50%-plus women in the C-suite (10 companies).”

The 2018 NAFE Top Companies application includes some 200 questions on female representation at all levels, especially the corporate officer and profit-and-loss ranks. The vetting process includes tracking access and usage of programs and policies that promote the advancement of women as well as the training and accountability of managers in relation to the number of women who advance. In order to be eligible for the NAFE Top Companies survey, entrants must have a minimum of 1,000 employees, two women on the Board of Directors and be a public or private company.

“NAFE’s Top Companies shows us what progressive organizations are doing to ensure women’s advancement into executive positions,” says Subha V. Barry, Vice President and General Manager of Working Mother Media (WMM). “This year, noting increased enrollment and more companies with high scores, we decided to enlarge the list by 10. Areas such as number of female CEOs and promotions at every level illustrate improvement.”  NAFE is a division of WMM.

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