Dominion

Research, Diversity and Employer Branding

ASSESS

Dominion, headquartered in Richmond, Va.,is one of the nation's largest producers of energy. They are a leading provider of electricity, natural gas and related services to customers in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the United States. With the imminent approach of a deregulated power industry, Dominion identified the need to position themselves as an employer of choice and vendor of choice with a commitment to diversity in employment, marketing, vendor relations, and community relations.

STRATEGIZE

In order to provide Dominion with an in-depth analysis and understanding of their diversity and employer brand, we implemented a series of intensive research projects with employees, community organizations, philanthropy program recipients, and diverse suppliers.

IMPLEMENT

The first phase included employee research. This entailed primary qualitative research, conducted with a cross section of diverse employees, using a representative sample of the workforce for all business units. Focus groups were based on marketplace data and workforce availability, and included African Americans, women, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans and non-Hispanic White males. In addition, written surveys were implemented to assess media habits and consumption patterns, and determine important employer attributes/benefits for recruitment advertising and employer branding messages.

Phase-two involved community relations, philanthropy and supplier diversity research. Primary qualitative and quantitative research was conducted with community organizations and diverse suppliers within representative markets of Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The research maintained as its main objectives to evaluate perceptions of Dominion's image among selected community affairs and philanthropy organizations serving diverse constituencies; to gain insight into how the organization's supplier diversity programs were viewed across a broad-based coalition of minority businesses and development and purchasing councils; and to benchmark against comparable corporations in order to establish “best in class” guidelines. Individual indepth interviews were conducted with select community, philanthropy and supplier diversity organizations in designated markets. Online research was conducted with community relations, philanthropy, public relations, and supplier diversity managers and executives.

MEASURE

As a result of the research performed in phase one, each executive serving on Dominion's Executive Committee is now responsible for developing an action plan to address the recommendations identified in Dominion's Employee Research Report. Policies and procedures for hiring, performance evaluation and promotion were examined, and management training with a diversity component will be given to all managers and supervisors. Phase two research results were used to develop benchmarks and assess best practice norms for community relations, philanthropy and supplier diversity. Dominion will use “best in class” guidelines to strengthen its own diversity programs.