Survey says Microsoft, Google CEOs are among top CEOs for diversity, inclusion in 2020

When it comes to job searching, recruiting and retention, diversity has increasingly become part of the conversation.

Amid the recent Black Lives Matter protests, more companies are pledging to diversify workplaces by hiring more people of color, and CEOs can play a vital role in making sure it happens. Chief executives can also set the stage for a safe, supportive and inclusive environment for minority workers after they're hired.

 So, which business leaders do it best? 

The heads of  Microsoft, RingCentral and Google, according to results from a workforce survey completed by the compensation, culture and career-monitoring website Comparably. 

India-born Sataya Nadella is at the helm of software giant Microsoft. Ukraine-born  Vlad Shmunis co-founded the cloud communications company RingCentral. And Sundar Pichai, who was also born in India, leads the search giant Google. 

Comparably unveiled its annual "Best CEOs for Diversity" list on Monday to  underscore leaders who create inclusive work cultures based on ratings from employees of color.

"We need to point out when a company is falling and see what we can change to make better, but we also need to point to great examples of leaders of companies that are fantastic for people of color," Comparably CEO Jason Nazar told USA TODAY. 

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 Each CEO on the list has a top 5% approval rating by employees of color. 

Comparably asked employees of color to  anonymously rate their chief executive officers  over a 12-month period (June 30, 2019, to June 30, 2020). So the results include sentiments held by workers as protests for racial equality gripped the nation. 

Top-Rated CEOs for Diversity in large companies

Ranked highest to lowest

1. Satya Nadella - Microsoft

2. Vlad Shmunis - RingCentral 

3. Sundar Pichai - Google

4. Eric Yuan - Zoom Video Communications 

5. Carlos Rodriguez - ADP

6. Steve Bilt - Smile Brands 

7. Sid Sijbrandij - GitLab 

8. Tim Cook - Apple

9. Mike Walsh - LexisNexis 

10. Chris Caldwell - Concentrix

11. Doug Mack - Fanatics  

12. Shantanu Narayen - Adobe 

13. Vishal Garg - Better.com 

14. Jim Loree - Stanley Black & Decker 

15. Julie Sweet - Accenture (US) 

16. Manny Medina - Outreach 

17. Annette Brüls - Medela 

18. Charles Butt - H-E-B 

19. Brian Niccol - Chipotle 

20. Kenneth Frazier - Merck

21. Hirokazu Hamada - Anritsu 

22. Robert Frist Jr. - HealthStream

23. Apoorva Mehta - Instacart 

24. Jorge Gonzalez - City National Bank of Florida 

25. Mark Mader - Smartsheet 

Top-Rated CEOs for Diversity in small and medium companies

Ranked highest to lowest

1. Gal Rimon - Centrical

2. Robert Sadow - Scoop Technologies  

3. David Cancel - Drift  

4. Giuseppe Incitti - Sitetracker 

5. Ganesh Shankar - RFPIO 

6. Paddy Spence - Zevia  

7. Elizabeth Cholawsky - HG Insights 

8. Mark Faggiano - TaxJar 

9. Pedro Chiamulera - ClearSale  

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10. Chris Bennett - Wonderschool 

11. Neha Sampat - Contentstack  

12. Alex Austin - Branch  

13. Payam Zamani - One Planet Group 

14. Peter McKay - Snyk  

15. Alex Goode - GoSite  

16. Amit Jnagal - Infrrd 

17. Rahul Kashyap - Awake Security 

18. Karl Mehta - EdCast

19. Tim Chen - NerdWallet  

20. Shiv Gaglani - Osmosis

21. Christian Gormsen - Eargo 

22. Cesar Carvalho - Gympass 

23. David Woodhouse - NGM Biopharmaceuticals

24. Brandon Rodman - Weave 

25. Aaron King - Snapdocs