Black Employee Network (B.E.N.) is ON Semiconductor’s Newest Affinity Network Group

ON Semiconductor’s newest affinity group, the Black Employee Network or B.E.N., launched in July 2019. B.E.N. formed organically by a group of employees in Phoenix, Rochester and Sunnyvale. This group hopes to create an avenue to build relationships with people of similar backgrounds and likeness across the Black community and beyond at ON Semiconductor. We decided to use Black, rather than African American, because of the variation of lineage within the community and as a more inclusive perspective of the collective experiences in the US and across the globe.

The share of Blacks in the labor force has increased from 9.9% in 1976 to 12.3% in 2019. The educational attainment of the Black labor force has increased over the past two decades and the largest increase in educational attainment has been in the number of Blacks attaining a Bachelor’s degree or higher. B.E.N. aims to help with recruitment by working with historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), retention by bringing higher engagement and productivity of Black employees and business development by cultivating relationships with community organizations.

HBCUs make up 3% of colleges but they produce 27% of Black students with bachelor’s degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. HBCUs have implemented proven practices to assist students in STEM fields to obtain rich professional experiences, research opportunities and mentorships, and drive students to post-baccalaureate success.

B.E.N. has developed the following mission, goals and objectives aligned with the company’s Diversity & Inclusion framework of workplace inclusion, workforce diversity and community partnerships.

B.E.N.’s Mission: 

Foster an environment that is conducive to the recruitment, retention and career advancement of Black employees. We are committed to promoting ON Semiconductor’s brand and emerging market penetration in the Black community. 

B.E.N.’s Goals and Objectives:

• Retention and Recruitment: Assist in the identification, recruitment and retention of Black employees
• Development: Cultivate relationships with our surrounding community members
• Motivation: Create an inclusive environment that fosters career development and growth for Black employees
• Collaboration: Network with other affinity network groups to promote group activities and learning

B.E.N. is committed to raising brand awareness inside and outside of the Black community, and will open doors and create opportunities for exposure to ON Semiconductor innovations, products, and services.

“Of the four metrics we’ve identified for success, we’ve met two of them in the first two months of being active,” said Gail Ricketts, B.E.N. Committee Chair and IT Security Manager.

B.E.N. joins ON Semiconductor’s other affinity network groups: Women’s Leadership Initiative, STEM UP (science, technology, engineering and math for underrepresented populations), Cultivate and Employee Activity Committee. The primary goals of our affinity network groups are to focus on recruitment, retention, community partnerships and business development.  Charters for all the affinity groups align seamlessly with our core values of respect, integrity and initiative and D&I framework. 

For more information about the company’s Diversity and Inclusion Initiative or affinity network groups, please refer to our 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Report.