It’s hard to make meaningful change without measuring it. This is why so many companies have introduced key performance indicators, also known as KPIs, as ways to analytically look at how projects, initiatives, and employees are succeeding. But while many companies made a renewed commitment to improving racial and ethnic diversity following the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in May, most have failed to report the metrics on how well they are executing on these promises.
The journalism industry is a great example. The American Society of News Editors has been conducting an annual diversity census since 1997, but it was recently paused as the researchers rethought the approach because not enough news organizations were contributing. As pressure has mounted on companies across industries to diversify, many know their numbers won’t cast them in a positive light, and executives are reluctant to participate.
We want to change that. Fortune has teamed up with Refinitiv, one of the world’s largest providers of financial markets data and insights, to launch Measure Up, an initiative to encourage companies to self-report their racial and ethnic diversity data.
This data will be used in a few key ways. After crunching the numbers, Measure Up will give executives access to data-driven insights and in-depth conversations about where they’re at and how they can improve. We will also add a diversity and inclusion filter on our annual Fortune 500 list, along with launching a new list in 2021: the Most Progressive Companies in Racial Inclusion.
The Measure Up program is now live, and we encourage companies of all sizes to participate by inputting your data. You can request access via the ESG section on the website, and reach out to ESGContributorTool-OPSTeam@refinitiv.com with any questions.
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