Plaid has released its State of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) report.
In this year’s report, Plaid commented on the progress made from the previous year and their reflections on how their DEIB efforts have “grown at Plaid—including their focus on sustainability and creating a shared responsibility for DEIB across the organization.”
In 2023, their DEIB team continued “moving towards their vision that DEIB is embedded into who they are, how they work, and what they build.”
Plaid says that it deepened partnerships “across their People organization to ensure that DEIB is integral to every team’s roadmap.”
Specifically, PLaid’s Recruiting organization and hiring teams “continue to drive the Pleadership Rule, our initiative aimed at increasing diversity in leadership.”
Their Workplace Experience team has incorporated cultural and community dates of significance.”
And, Plaid’s People and Organizational Development team has “ensured that DEIB principles are reflected in their structured manager development program, creating cohesion between learning and development and DEIB.”
Aligning strategies between their teams is “a tangible example of shared responsibility for DEIB programming.”
Their Plaid Community Groups (PCGs – their name for Employee Resource Groups) curate programming to foster community, create developmental opportunities, and give voice to their communities.”
In 2023, Plaid increased their investment in PCG leaders and curated developmental programming to support them in leading their respective groups.
They partnered with an external vendor “for specific skill development on topics like prioritization and influential communication.”
They also collaborated with another company “to create a space for shared learning and community building between Employee Resource Group leaders at different organizations.”
Plaid’s continued investment in PCGs and their leaders “is a testament to the valuable programming they build and the positive impact they have on employees’ experiences at Plaid.”
Plaid added that they’re pleased about “the continued investment in DEIB at Plaid and know that a focus on creating sustainable practices across their organization and investment in the leaders of our PCGs are important steps.”
However, there is “still progress to be made.”
As they design for the future, they use data, “including representation data, to guide our focus and make informed decisions about our DEIB programming.”
They’re pleased to see the “increase in the representation of women and Hispanic/Latino Plaids overall and the increase in Asian representation in leadership.”
That said, they’re also cognizant of “the dip in representation in leadership.”
Plaid says they know they need “to focus on both attracting and retaining talent to make progress.”
Their company surveys continue “to show career development and belonging are key drivers of engagement at Plaid, particularly for underrepresented groups.”
As a result, they’ve put the following in place and will continue to make investments in these areas:
- Increased investment in the education and development of Plaid Community Group leaders
- Improved their career development systems across the organization by introducing a quarterly cadence for formal feedback to ensure Plaids are aligned on expectations and have what they need to succeed
- Expanded the leadership Rule, their initiative aimed at increasing diverse representation among leadership roles
- Expanded their investment in leadership development across the organization to ensure that all Plaids have the necessary support systems in place to shine
