BET founder Bob Johnson wants a Rooney Rule for business
Bob Johnson, the first black billionaire and founder of BET, has an idea for how to diversify the workplace: use the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which requires interviewing minorities for football production jobs.
Don’t most big companies already have best-practice rules to encourage diversity? “The companies say they do it, they have a commitment to do it,” Johnson says, “but unfortunately, the results don’t turn up in terms of the numbers yet.”
Johnson believes that there are countless talented, qualified minority Americans who aren’t getting a door opened to them. “If the minority meets the qualifications, they should be given every opportunity to be hired,” he says.
But how do companies get managers to broaden the applicant pool? According to Johnson, the boss has to be on board.
“It takes a commitment from the top, and the top being the CEO … and then of course the members of the board of directors.”
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