Over the past year, VMware’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) journey has been marked by renewed purpose and real progress. We have implemented strategies that are embedded into the rhythm of the business in order to accelerate achieving our DEI goals more consistently.
Our just-releasesd 2022 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Report details these strategies and demonstrates that at VMware, we affect progress in the world by creating it together.
I encourage you to read the full report to understand the important work that is underway at VMware to ensure DEI doesn’t remain limited to well-meaning intentions but show up as actions that each of us take to drive meaningful outcomes for communities both within and beyond VMware.
As a preview, I’m sharing some of the highlights from the report:
GO Hire
The acronym, GO stands for Guided by Outcomes, and GO Hire is focused on bringing greater equity to the hiring process. Rather than hiring from a limited list of qualifications, VMware’s GO Hiring model broadens the search to include people from all walks of life whose unique talents, experiences, and skills are valued. Our interview model assesses past performance in an approach that includes EPIC2 strengths, expertise and motivation.
With this inclusive hiring method, VMware has not only gained 80% more applicants, but we have also doubled the number of applicants that are women and people who identify as part of an underrepresented community.
Going forward, we are expanding the GO Hiring model for all new job requisitions globally. Additionally, we’re creating a consistent job description format for a more inclusive applicant pool as well as a consistent interview format to eliminate bias and create a more positive candidate experience. These changes are important, strategic steps to enhance our culture and strengthen our future.
Our Commitment to a Global, Distributed, and Diverse Workforce
The global pandemic dramatically changed the way we all work. Keeping the health and safety of VMware people in focus, nearly all of our employees worked remotely for the most part of 2020 and 2021.
We recognised the virtue of this necessity: a global increase in the representation of women and people who identify as an underrepresented minority in VMware’s workforce. VMware’s population of remote employees doubled since early 2020 and now make up 1/3 of our workforce. 33% of all remote hires in Fiscal Year 2022 were women and 16% from underrepresented minorities (URM). Remote and distributed work made it easier to build gender, educational, and generational diversity.
By sourcing talent from around the world, we support our goal of building a diverse talent pool with different perspectives and experiences to shape our future. And by giving people the flexibility to choose where they work means we don’t have to grow our real-estate portfolio to match our increasing employee population. At VMware, our mindful, new ways of working are designed to have a positive impact on both our people and our planet.
Reverse Mentorship
A great working relationship is like a conversation where ideas and experiences are honestly exchanged. At VMware, we’re now capturing these ideas and thoughts from employees in two-way dialogues through reverse mentorship. These valuable listening sessions for leaders occur in a 6-month program designed to develop DEI-minded leaders, create an understanding of differences and engage, retain, and grow diverse talent.
Our program is proving to be a win-win scenario. Mentors have gained valuable access to, and insight into leadership while our mentee-leaders increased their awareness and empathy of the challenges faced by a diverse group of employees.
As our CEO, Raghu Raghuram, eloquently states in the report, “Each person is on a journey and their journeys are our story.” Please visit our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion webpage to learn more. This year, we look forward to a new chapter in our VMware story that all 38,000+ employees will create together yet also one to which each of us will uniquely contribute.