Dive Brief:
- Techcrunch reports that tech-driven companies such as Airbnb, Asana, Autodesk and Dropbox are currently seeking to hire heads of diversity.
- Larger tech companies including Facebook, Twitter, Square, Pinterest, Yelp, Apple and Google already have diversity leads in place, according to Techcrunch.
- Rachel Williams, Head of Diversity at Yelp, said she wonders if leadership actually will support whatever strategies a newly hired head of diversity brings to the table. She told Techcrunch she took the job at Yelp because that’s what it meant.
Dive Insight:
Paradigm CEO Joelle Emerson, the startup founder working with companies like Pinterest, Airbnb and Asana on diversity, told Techcrunch in an email that she believes employers are doing it because now understand that managing diversity and inclusion efforts is a full-time job, not something that they should ask employees to do in their spare time.
When the latter happens, it tends to be employees from underrepresented backgrounds who are tasked with taking time away from their core responsibilities to also focus on diversity efforts, which may not be how they’d like to spend their time, Emerson wrote.
Yelp's Williams told Techcrunch employers should "look outside of the box" when recruiting for and hiring a head of diversity. For example, the should seek out people who didn’t attend Ivy League colleges or obtain a master’s degree. She also recommended potentially hiring from within the company.
Once employers hire a head of diversity, it’s important to make sure that the work isn’t limited to just HR, meaning the person should "the leader should facilitate and support diversity and inclusion efforts throughout the organization," she told Techcrunch.
