R.R. Donnelley and Sons Company received the Greater Des Moines Partnership’s 2001 Diversity Award at the Partnership’s 112th Annual Dinner on Thursday night, January 11. Finalists for the award included Cigna Health Care, Principal Financial Corporation and R.R. Donnelley.

“Our winner this year is an exemplary company that had no trouble meeting our selection committee’s criteria for inclusion,” said Mike Blouin, President and CEO of the Partnership, as he announced the award winner. “R.R. Donnelley is committed to diversity, and proves its commitment by making every employee at every level responsible for supporting and encouraging inclusion policies.”

Among the policies that set R.R. Donnelley apart is a “Strategic Inclusion Plan” (SIP) that targets key areas of the facility to improve representation of women and minorities. Ten percent of management bonuses depend solely on reaching hiring goals. The goals are communicated to employees via the company website, newsletters and postings on internal bulletin boards. Currently two African-Americans and two women sit on the ten-member Board of Directors, 30 percent of department managers are women, and 37 percent of supervisory or professional staff are made up of women or minorities.

R.R. Donnelley’s diversity policies extend outside the workplace with support for community programs that focus on literacy, youth and families, making Greater Des Moines a better place to live, work or play. R.R. Donnelley has also made a commitment to doing business with women and minority-owned businesses in the community. Since 1997 the company has seen a five-fold increase in the dollars spent with minority or women-owned suppliers.

Through the Diversity Award, the Partnership recognizes businesses in the community that have gone beyond just opening doors to women and minorities… businesses that have strived to create opportunity and embrace a corporate culture that includes diversity from the foundation up.

Click here for some great ideas on how to expand your company’s commitment to diversity.