(Tiểu luận) assignment report organizational behavior topic slacks success in implementing diversity management strategies

History of formation and development Slack was created as an internal communication tool for a gaming company called Tiny Speck in 2013.. They founded a new company called Slack Technolo

NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF ADVANCED EDUCATION PROGRAMS

ASSIGNMENT REPORT ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

TOPIC: SLACK'S success in implementing diversity management strategies

Nguyễn Thị Thảo Linh - 11213333Đào Minh Phương - 11214734Phạm Thanh Ngọc - 11214378Bùi Ngọc Minh - 11213760Đàm Hải Yến - 11216361

Hanoi, 15 th May 2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

I OVERVIEW OF SLACK 2

1.1 History of formation and development 2

1.2 Slack's mission and vision 2

1.3 Slack’s milestones 3

1.4 Slack’s achievements 3

II ABOUT SLACK CASE 4

2.1 Identify the OB's success in diversity management 4

2.2 Identify the level of diversity 5

2.3 Identify diversity in biographical characteristics 6

2.3.1 Sex range 6

2.3.2 Race and ethnicity 7

2.3.3 Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity 7

2.3.4 Disabilities and hidden disabilities 8

2.3.5 Cultural Identity 8

2.4 Identify diversity in ability 9

2.4.1 Non-technical and Technical Diversity 9

2.4.2 Intellectual Ability Diversity 10

III IMPLEMENTING DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES 11

3.1 How Slack attracts and selects diverse employees 11

3.1.1 Attracting 11

3.1.2 Selecting 11

3.2 How Slack retains, develops and trains diverse employees 12

3.2.1 Training managers how to implement diversity management strategies 12

3.2.2 How Slack eliminates discrimination at the workplace 13

3.2.3 How Slack facilitates creativity and innovation at the workplace 13

3.2.4 Using communication effectively 14

3.2.5 Using empathy effectively 14

3.2.6 Diversity and Inclusion in the technology space 14

3.3 Diversity in Groups 15

3.3.1 Diversity, Engagement and Belonging 15

3.4 Effective program 18

3.4.1 Rising Tides 18

3.4.2 Slack for Good 19

IV EVALUATION OF SLACK’S STRATEGY 20

4.1 Strengths 20

4.2 Opportunities 20

4.3 Weaknesses 21

4.4 Threats 21

V RECOMMENDATIONS 22

VI CONCLUSION 22

REFERENCES 23

TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1: 2020 Women at Slack Global | Gender at Slack– 4

Figure 2: 2020 U.S Overall | Race & Ethnicity at Slack 5

Figure 3: 2019 U.S Overall | Race & Ethnicity at Slack 6

Figure 4: 2020 U.S Non-Technical | Race & Ethnicity at Slack 9

Figure 5: 2020 U.S Technical | Race & Ethnicity at Slack 9

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Many of us were compelled to adapt whole new ways of living, working, and caring for toourselves and our loved ones because of the Covid-19 epidemic But the epidemic was far from the only seismic upheaval in society this year

The atrocities of systemic racism within our policing and justice systems have once again exploded to the forefront of global consciousness, including the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and other blatant acts of hate against underrepresented groups, particularly people of Black and Asian descent For many, these profoundly personal and difficult occurrences demonstrated unequivocally that the old idea that we should somehow separate our "work" from our "real lives" no longer made sense

Slack has long highlighted efforts to make trust and transparency pillars of how they show up for workers In the year 2020, this meant encouraging staff to band together in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder in Minnesota, and to speak openly as the globe focused a long-overdue attention on police abuse With the recent violence against both the Black and Asian American communities, the need to hold space for vulnerability and open talks has only grown

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I OVERVIEW OF SLACK

1.1 History of formation and development

Slack was created as an internal communication tool for a gaming company called Tiny Speck

in 2013 The company was working on a massively multiplayer online game called Glitch The team wanted a better way to communicate and share files, so they developed an internal tool called Slack When Glitch was shut down later that year, the team decided to spin off the Slack tool and turn it into its own standalone product They founded a new company called Slack Technologies and launched the first version of Slack in February 2014 Slack quickly gained popularity among startups and tech companies to improve team communication and collaboration In the years that followed, Slack grew rapidly and expanded its features to include integrations with other tools like Google Drive, Trello, and Salesforce In 2019, Slack went public with a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange The company is now used by millions of people around the world and has become a major player in the enterprise software market

Slack is a cloud-based team collaboration tool that was launched in 2013 It was created to improve communication within teams and increase productivity by providing a platform for messaging, sharing files, and integrating with other tools Slack allows users to create different channels for different topics, projects, or teams, and they can invite team members to join these channels Users can also send direct messages to individuals or groups, make voice and video calls, and share screens One of the key features of Slack is its integration with other tools, such as Google Drive, Trello, and Salesforce, which allows users to access and share files and information from within the app Slack has become increasingly popular, with over 10 million daily active users in more than 150 countries It has been adopted by companies of all sizes, from small startups

to large enterprises, and has been praised for its ease of use and ability to improve team communication and collaboration

It is used by companies of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises like IBM, Airbnb, and Target Slack has received numerous awards and recognitions for its innovative approach to communication and collaboration In 2019, it was named the Best Overall Communication Tool

by FinancesOnline and was included in Fast Company's list of the Most Innovative Companies

1.2 Slack's mission and vision

Slack's mission is to make people's working lives simpler, more pleasant, and more productive Their vision is to change the way people work, by helping teams collaborate and communicate more efficiently and effectively They aim to create a platform where people can work together seamlessly, regardless of their location or time zone, and where they can access the information, they need to do their jobs without having to search for it Overall, Slack wants to make work less stressful, more enjoyable, and more productive for everyone involved

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1.3 Slack’s milestones

2009: Slack was established in 2009 and had its US headquarters in San Francisco, California Slack offers services to customers all over the world and is renowned for being the firm to reach a billion-dollar valuation the quickest

2010: Accel Partners and Andreessen Horowitz invested $5 million in Slack as part of its Series

A round of funding At the time, Glitch was only a web-based, massively multiplayer game that was not yet playable It was planned to debut toward the end of 2010 which it did not Slack continued to raise $5 million dollars in Series A round

2011: The launch of Glitch on 27/9/2011

2013: Slack was used to create the famous online game Glitch, but Glitch is no longer active When Slack was just a preview release that launched in August 2013, more than 8000 users signed

up in less than 24 hours

2014: The official debut of Slack in February The business raised more than $120 million in

2014 and was praised as one of the fastest-growing startups

2015: Slack had a market capitalization of around $3 billion in April 2015 One and a half years after its launch, Slack surpassed Akamai Technologies, and Groupon to attain a valuation of $1 billion Just 1.71 years after its initial introduction, Slack had already surpassed businesses like Xiaomi Technology (2.24 years) and Instacart (2.58 years) in terms of valuation, reaching $2 billion At the end of the year, $160 million was raised in its Series E led by Social Capital 2016: Not only Slack introduced a voice calling function – an entirely new category of software but also positioned itself as the headliner of this booming market

2017: The feature that enables users from various enterprises to join shared channels was added

to Slack

2018: Slack hires longtime employee Allen Shim as its first Chief Financial Officer after raising

$790 million in VC capital and reaching a valuation of over $5 billion

2020: Slack was purchased by the software business Salesforce in a deal estimated to be worth

$27 billion As per the agreement, Butterfield remained CEO of Slack and the company continued

to operate

1.4 Slack’s achievements

Slack is regarded as the so-called unicorn ever and has amassed a billion-dollar valuation in just two years, making it the quintessential example of Silicon Valley success From a private messaging service for friends to a business with millions of daily users

Behavior 100% (5)

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Organization Behavior Net ix Case

-Organizational

Behavior 100% (4)

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Organisation Behaviour A1

Organizational

Behavior 100% (3)

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- Between March 2020 and April 2021, Slack made $902 million in revenue, a 43% increase year over year

- Additionally, during the same period, the net loss fell from $567 million to $292 million

- Slack is used by 156,000 organizations and has 18 million active users per day

- Salesforce purchased Slack in December 2020 for $27.7 billion

II ABOUT SLACK CASE

2.1 Identify the OB's success in diversity management

Slack discovered that they needed to rely on one another more than ever before and emphasize their commitment to diversity, engagement, and belonging

“This past year saw the collapse of the personal and the professional, serving as a catalyst for

leaders to broaden how they think about supporting employees and strengthening their internal

cultures,” says Nadia Rawlinson, Slack’s Chief People Officer “This took the form of providing

crucial resources like mental health support, fostering transparency and open dialogue so

employees can truly feel able to bring their ‘full selves’ to work and much more.”

Slack's objective is to hold those ideals responsible, so below are the most recent data about the diversity of Slack's workers and leadership, and information about the individuals and initiatives behind those numbers

From January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020, Slack's global headcount climbed by 516 people, for a total of 2,527 employees Slack has seen a rise in the number of women and underrepresented minorities (URMs) in leadership roles at the director level or higher

Figure 1: 2020 Women at Slack Global | Gender at Slack–

Expectancy theoryOrganizationalBehavior 100% (3)

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Figure 2: 2020 U.S Overall | Race & Ethnicity at Slack

Slack embraces openness, empathy, and responsibility as a company and platform, and it supports Black employees

In the United States, Slack considers workers' LGBTQ, disability, and veteran status

- 6.1% of Slack's US workforce is LGBTQ; 4.6% of Slack's US management are LGBTQ

- 1.5% of Slack's US workforce reports having a handicap

- 1.6% of Slack's US staff is comprised of veterans

Prioritizing diversity, participation, and belonging continues to be an important aspect of developing and sustaining Slack's culture in a digital-first society As Slack creates a flexible future

of work, we believe we must take use of this opportunity to rethink workplace norms and structures that do not assist minority people

2.2 Identify the level of diversity

Deep-level diversity

Deep-level diversity includes non-observable qualities, or traits that are not apparent Attitudes, values, and religious beliefs are examples of these They are comparable to hidden diversity in that they are not visibly discernible

Slack understands not only differences in gender, age, and ethnicity, but also in Slack a diversity

of attitudes, values, and beliefs This program aims to erase the thoughts of young employees and interns that it is exceedingly difficult for them to become leaders in the company

Participating in the primary Rising Tides sponsorship cohort has given Curtis Allen, a staff software engineer, a fresh perspective on himself and his leadership potential

Now that he is one-third of the way through the program, Allen says has changed everything it from how he gets criticism to how he is thinking about his future career path at Slack “I never wanted to be a leader I was just happy to do the work,” Allen says “But now, working with a

professional coach, it has completely widened my horizons Before it felt like ‘climbing the ladder’

was for other people, but now I see my skills can have a greater impact on my team if I focus on

becoming a better leader.”

2.3 Identify diversity in biographical characteristics

Overall, despite an increase in employment from 716 employees as of January 31, 2017, to 1,502 employees as of January 31, 2019, the diversity metrics have stayed stable They will continue to invest in these areas, notably in women in leadership roles and URM managers, two areas where they experienced moderate reductions They have made modest improvements in the representation of women and underrepresented minorities (URMs) and will do so

Figure 3: 2019 U.S Overall | Race & Ethnicity at Slack

2.3.1 Sex range

Women have made significant advancements in gender equality both at Slack's Organization and in other contemporary nations In Slack, there are about equal numbers of male and female employees Performance is improved more when there are more women working there Women's

2.3.2 Race and ethnicity

Black talent in America frequently experiences workplace biases and small-scale acts of violence that prevent them from being represented, advanced, and promoted At Slack, everyone should have the chance to realize their full professional potential, regardless of race or background Employers and employees must work together to move beyond simply hiring diverse talent and supporting change in a passive way

- White people make up 63% of the Slack staff People from one or more underrepresented racial and/or ethnic backgrounds make up 14.0% of the workforce in the U.S, an increase from 12.6% (+1.4 points) the year before

- People from underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups make up 14.2% of their U.S technical organization, an increase from 12.8% (+1.4 pts) the previous year

- Their underrepresented racial and/or ethnic managers make for 13.0% of their U.S managers, down from 14.0% (-1.0 points) the previous year

- 8.8% of their U.S leadership team, up from 6.0% (+2.8 pts) the year before, come from underrepresented racial and/or ethnic origins

2.3.3 Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Regardless of their sexual orientation, individuals who work in inclusive environments report higher levels of job satisfaction, and LGBTQ employees tend to be happier, healthier, and more cooperative with one another Slack can promise its support to workers regardless of their race, gender, or sexual orientation, and stands to gain from doing so In the first place, Slack will set an industry norm that could open the door for change in society

Employees that identify as transgender or gender nonconforming make up 0.7% of the Slack workforce Transgender women make up 0.2% of the women at Slack according to their reporting

on gender at the company

- Lower than the 8.3% (-0.5 points) from the previous year, 7.8% of their U.S personnel identified

as LGBTQ

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- Compared to 8.7% (-0.9 percentage points) last year, 7.8% of their U.S managers identify as LGBTQ

- A rise from 1.4% (+0.3 pts) to 1.7% of their U.S personnel now identify as having a disability

- Veterans now make up 1.4% of their U.S workforce, up from 0.9% (+0.5 pts) the year before

2.3.4 Disabilities and hidden disabilities

Black talent in America frequently experiences workplace biases and small-scale acts of violence that prevent them from being represented, advanced, and promoted At Slack, everyone should have the chance to realize their full professional potential, regardless of race or background

In order to do this, the organization has consistently pushed for a willingness to take persistent and significant action to make sure they are inclusive and safe for everyone Employers and employees must work together to move beyond simply hiring diverse talent and supporting change in a passive way

- They also examine veteran and disability status among workers, with 3.1% of the US workforce reporting having a disability, up from 1.4% (+0.3 pts) in 2016

- Veterans now make up 1.4% of their U.S workforce, up from 0.9% (+0.5 pts) the year before

2.3.5 Cultural Identity

Middle Eastern workers, who make up 0.9% of their workforce and that portion of the rise in overall URMs at Slack, are now included in their reporting on URMs Middle Eastern data was previously not reported because they were harmonizing their racial and ethnicity classifications with those of the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), but they are now including those figures

In order to comply with the EEOC, they have replaced the one Asian category they previously had with East Asian, South Asian, and Southeast Asian categories, offering employees more

options for self-identification and better reflecting their population

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2.4 Identify diversity in ability

2.4.1 Non-technical and Technical Diversity

Figure 4: 2020 U.S Non-Technical | Race & Ethnicity at Slack

Figure 5: 2020 U.S Technical | Race & Ethnicity at Slack

It can be seen in the two tables that there is not an enormous difference between technical and non-technical employees in terms of Race and Ethnicity For technical employees, Asians outnumber non-technical employees by 34.3% to 10% White employees make up half of the non-technical workforce and half of the technical workforce

In conclusion, Slack welcomes both non-technical and technical employees when the number

of employees of different ethnicities is distributed equally among two groups of abilities