Building a Workplace for All

Creating a workplace for all was top of mind for me as I attended the Catalyst Awards dinner in New York City earlier this week where they celebrated Workplaces that Work for Women. Founded in 1962, Catalyst has been a leader in researching and sharing important findings on women in the workplace.

Despite the impending arrival of another Nor’easter (which came with more media alerts than most of the winter snow storms I experienced growing up in Ottawa, Canada), the large ballroom was filled with attendees representing hundreds of top global brands. I was proud to attend with my Adobe colleagues, and appreciated the opportunity for team reflection on our own diversity and inclusion strides and hearing what other organizations are doing to move the needle. The dinner chair, Arnold Donald, President & CEO of Carnival Corporation PTC, was exceptional and shared insights on his own journey fostering diversity and inclusion, respect for the women role models in both his personal and professional life, and his own challenges of being diverse.

At Adobe, we are focused on a multi part strategy to increase global diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and we’ve made great progress. We have contributed to the pipeline of young people interested in technology and the arts, ensured our practices foster the attraction of diverse candidates, and built experience-based workplaces that emphasizes our employees are our most important asset.

I am very proud of the moves we have made to-date and how they have positively impacted our employees. Some of these include:

• Being one of the first tech companies to expand parental leave policies globally;
• Enhancing paid bereavement leave;
• Enhancing fertility and surrogacy benefits in the US;
• Achieving pay parity in the US and India (representing 80% of our employees) and a focus on global parity by the end of the year; and
• Fostering our employee networks which provide important communities for employees who spend a high percentage of their time at work.

These moves are to the advantage of all; and we have increased our global gender representation and are making moves in our underrepresented minorities in the United States.

But I believe it goes far beyond percentages or programs. We have the opportunity to create an experience and an environment for all – to build company cultures where every employee is encouraged to share their unique perspectives, to actively participate and engage, to feel included and valued, and where they can do their best work and achieve personal growth while contributing to the growth of the organization. This can only take place if everyone within the workplace fundamentally believes that innovation, growth and rewards come from having a team and organization that is for all.

As I reflect on my leadership role and how best to continue driving change, I am focused on the ALL – never to the advantage of one group to the disadvantage of another, but always with a focus on cultivating an environment where everyone can contribute and do their best work. Building on the celebration of women at the Catalyst Awards, striving to build a workplace that will work for all – and win.