We are the same people at work that we are outside of work, and at LinkedIn, we want all employees to know they can be their complete, authentic selves at work and feel that they belong. We know we are better when we have a diversity of opinions, values and experiences shared in an open, inclusive way. By striving toward this ideal, we’re constantly pushing ourselves to live up to our full potential. At LinkedIn, we do this in three ways:
We encourage authenticity. Our employees are inspired to transform themselves, their company and the world, and when we empower them, great things happen. We see this with our eight employee resource groups, groups like the Black Inclusion Group (BIG), Hispanics of LinkedIn Alliance (HOLA), Out@In and Veterans & Allies. They are organized and led by passionate employees, with full support of our executive leadership, and are instrumental in engaging employees around the world in open, honest and constructive conversations to help build understanding among colleagues. They regularly host community events and town halls covering a range of issues touching on race relations, government policy issues and the experiences of a modern family. These events have become an indispensable forum where people of different perspectives and experiences can share, ask questions and learn from each other. These safe spaces for difficult conversations help create common ground and are a critical part of our strategy to ensure everyone feels a sense of belonging at work.
We invest in talent. LinkedIn sponsors robust leadership programs focused on developing the next generation of leadership talent among women and under-represented groups. Women’s Initiative (WiN), Women in Tech (WIT) and Leadership Development program (LEAD) are programs across our sales, technology, marketing & communications teams designed to attract and invest in women, black and Latino talent. In addition, we are expanding our programming for all managers to coach them on how to powerfully lead diverse teams and develop people of different backgrounds and perspectives.
We think differently about hiring. We’ve fundamentally transformed the way we think about attracting, engaging and hiring top talent. In 2017, we piloted two programs to better identify and value sources of talent that are typically ignored or undervalued. With AccelerateU, we’re supplementing the traditional university-recruiting hiring model with a program to reach a much broader range of smart, capable students who have the potential to thrive at LinkedIn. In 2018, the program will expand to more cities. REACHbrings software engineers from non-traditional tech backgrounds to apprentice at LinkedIn for six months. Our first REACH cohort was made up of people from diverse career paths, including an Army veteran, a professional poker player, a recruiter, a nonprofit founder, a dietician, a teacher and a call center account manager.