Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives

Fixing A Team That Management Doesn’t Like

This article discusses a problem-solving approach to fixing teams. The author suggests that the first step is to listen to the team and the company to understand the dynamics of the problem. After listening, the author then takes action to address the issues, such as talking to an executive who was forgetting team members' names. The article emphasizes the importance of understanding both the management and the team's perspectives in order to effectively solve the problem.

How to Be a Great Leader in Times of Crises

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, a leader took several actions to make the transition to remote work easier for their team. These included frequent check-ins, one-on-ones focused on career development, mental health support, and health check-ins. The leader also shared their passion to inspire the team and emphasized the importance of listening with empathy.

Hiring the Right People: Looking Beyond Just Technical Skills

This article discusses the importance of having a holistic hiring process for developers. The author explains how their company initially had a 1-step technical hiring process, which led to many talented individuals who didn't fit into the company culture. To fix this, the author implemented a 3-step vetting process that focused on the candidates as a whole, not just their technical ability. The author also emphasizes the importance of finding people who are team players and who align with the company's goals, rather than just the smartest person for the job. Ultimately, this person-centric approach to hiring will reflect on the company's culture and affect their deliverables.

Diverse Teams Have Greater Customer Empathy

This article outlines the steps taken to build a better mass-market product for an audience of older users. These steps included using personas, advocating for inclusive design principles, and implementing diverse friendly hiring practices. Ultimately, these changes resulted in a more accessible product and helped attract great talent to the team. The article emphasizes the importance of diverse teams in empathizing with diverse audiences and building better products.

Pay Equity Improves Your Company’s Performance

This company implemented a pay equity policy to address discrepancies in salary setting due to unconscious bias. After a year of implementation, all engineers and managers at the same level were paid identically. The policy was well-received internally and externally, and helped to attract more people to the company due to its commitment to equity and inclusion.

Scaling the Company in Multiple Markets

This case study looks at the challenge of ensuring the right information flow from a company's headquarters to its multiple geographies, in the face of cultural and language barriers and different speeds of change. The solution was to place people who had already spent time at the headquarters in India in remote locations as coordination program managers, to bridge the gap and facilitate the information flow. Time zone differences and cultural and language barriers were also addressed. The key lesson learned is to anticipate and address information flow problems before launching and marketing a product.