Study: Businesses Can Do More to Attract, Retain Black Employees

ANN ARBOR, Mich.

More minorities than ever are joining the U.S. work force and American businesses can do more to accommodate them — especially African Americans, say researchers at the University of Michigan Business School and Florida A&M University.

Compared with their White counterparts, African American workers have lower levels of job satisfaction and commitment to their employers, the researchers say. Despite demographic changes in the work force and intense competition for recruiting and retaining the best workers, companies have little understanding of workplace practices valued by minority employees, they say.

"Managing an ethnically diverse work force effectively is a necessity today," says Dr. Lynn Perry Wooten, assistant professor of corporate strategy at the University of Michigan Business School. "Understanding the human resource management preferences of African American employees and their relationship to job satisfaction and commitment can help with this challenge."

In a new report appearing in an upcoming issue of "African American Research Perspectives," Wooten and colleague Dr. Joycelyn Finley-Hervey of Florida A&M analyzed data on more than 3,500 employed adults (minorities and Whites) in the National Study of the Changing Workforce. Sponsored by the Family and Work Institute and funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the study includes data on employee demographics, personal well-being, workplace characteristics, job traits and employee outcomes on the job.

The researchers found that in addition to economic incentives — income and benefits — the most important reasons for African Americans in choosing and remaining on a job include learning opportunities, meaningful work and family-friendly workplace policies. Other factors include convenient work location, supportive culture and job security.