Becoming a truly diverse and inclusive organisation doesn’t happen overnight.
Working closely with 60+ organisations that are dedicated to advancing workforce diversity, Google stated ‘we care deeply about hiring, retaining, and progressing a workforce that reflects the billions of users we serve’.
As an organisation, Google has also been recognised as a Disability Equality Index (DEI) “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion” each year since 2019.
But how exactly is Google working to build a more diverse workforce and become an inclusive employer?
Roman I. Matla, APAC Director of Diversity and Employee Engagement at Google, based in Singapore, describes how a diverse workforce makes good business sense due to the countless studies showing diversity improves commercial performance, whilst also helping to provide different viewpoints and ideas that can combine to build better products and processes, also stating:
“We recognise that building a diverse and inclusive workforce isn’t a one-off effort but an ongoing process.”
At the heart of the workplace culture Google continues to build is a sense of belonging, in which colleagues can feel seen, connected, and supported.
One of the most important elements of Google’s approach to diversity and inclusion is the concept of a culture ‘add’ rather than a culture ‘fit’ – when adding a candidate to an organisation, it is with the intention to add perspectives and experiences that are missing.
More than 2,500 employees in 150 offices have taken ‘culture add’ training, with nearly 90% agreeing that the workshop inspired them to think about how a candidate would enhance Google’s culture.
Feedback helps us to improve, and an organisation’s diversity and inclusion data is no different – recording such data allows greater transparency and also highlights gaps that need to be filled.
For example, Google’s 2021 Diversity Annual Report gave key insights into areas of success and areas to work on, such as:
- Hiring changes drove the best year yet for women in tech globally and Black+ and Latinx+ people in the U.S.
- Tailoring retention efforts is necessary to address the root causes of higher attrition among Black+, Native American+, and Latinx+ Googlers
- Applying a systemic approach to racial equity is necessary to build sustainable change for Black Googlers and users
- Strengthening the focus on people with disabilities helped to better recruit, hire, and build for this community
- Supporting those most impacted by COVID-19 highlighted a universal need for wellbeing solutions
These insights shape Google’s diversity and inclusion efforts moving into 2022, and are pivotal in understanding what is and isn’t working with their current approach and initiatives.
It’s not just a case of diversifying the workplace, it’s a case of ensuring that this environment is inclusive.
Google’s Prajakta Joshi gave advice around implementing programs to support women in the workplace at a Women in Telecommunications Workshop, including:
- Metrics are essential, such as knowing how many women are in the C-suite, in order to track the success of internal programs
- Looking at existing data about how many women are currently in leadership roles or on boards at an organisation can show the need for such programs to senior executives
- Working with HR departments can ensure that sensitive employee data is protected when conducting surveys
- When building supportive programs, start with formal programs that have buy-in from top executives, as the commitment of senior leadership is the most critical part in the success of the programs that are put together
Joshi shared the example of a leadership program she had participated in through Google to help her own career, the Leadership Consortium, whereby Google partners with Harvard Business school to broaden people’s experience, their ability to manage teams, and address facets of leadership.
An example of an internal program utilised by Google is the grassroots programs backed by Google Cloud to help employees develop further leadership skills.
By implementing supportive programs on both an informal and formal, and an internal basis, Google can support the development of soft and technical skills whilst supporting inclusivity.
A method for fostering innovation for their employees, 20% time is the idea that about 20% of an employee’s focus can be on pursuing projects or initiatives that can benefit Google, even if this isn’t tied directly to their core job.
These projects can have a significant impact, such as the Black Business Outreach Project, aimed at bridging the digital divide and driving economic equity in Black communities.
The success of such projects has inspired multiple groups of Google employees to create their own projects for various communities, formalising a network of Google employees that are advancing equity across products and locations.
Such projects mean that Google employees’ efforts can drive economic impact to marginalised communities and ensure that tech is open to everyone, which is only possible due to Google employees across the company helping to make such an impact.
The growth in inclusion is primarily down to the fact that ‘culture work’ is not left solely to those who are in the communities that require attention, but instead, employee engagement efforts are enacted from the top-down, with members of Google’s executive team serving as sponsors to various community groups.
Google is becoming an inclusive employer through a range of long-term strategies, and an overall commitment to positive change.
Rather than viewing diversity and inclusion as a one-off effort, Google continues to implement initiatives and programs that promote a sense of belonging for employees and Google users.
Most importantly, however, Google evolves its approach to inclusion by making a consistent effort to record data and use it to inform future efforts and improvements, rather than simply upholding the same strategy when it may no longer be suitable.
From recruitment that revolves around the concept of a ‘culture add’ rather than a ‘culture fit’, to programs supporting the development of soft and hard skills for employees, Google has taken a multi-level approach to inclusion that continues to develop positively year-on-year.