Reflecting on the meaning of Bee Diverse Day at CloudBees
No two Bees are ever the same; and at CloudBees, we wouldn’t want that any other way.
In a world of endless possibilities, diversity in our global teams is a competitive advantage for CloudBees for operating smarter, better, and faster than our competitors. After all, more diverse backgrounds foster fresher perspectives, disparate ideas, and ultimately, extraordinary innovation. Rooted in open source, we believe that an open and inclusive workplace which welcomes and celebrates diverse talent is the key to better solving our customers’ many complex problems. But diversity isn’t just important to the way we run our business, it’s baked into the culture of our company – thanks to our Bees.
As human resources (HR) professionals, my team and I – partnered with our Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Council – are dedicated to promoting principles and practices across our Hive to impact and increase diversity and inclusion, and create more equitable experiences for our Bees. A big DE&I initiative we’ve been working on this year is partnering with Textio, a software application company that scans written documents to ensure inclusive messaging is being used. Between recruiting and marketing, Textio helps ensure our language is inclusive and accessible not just to our team members, but customers too. We also recently created a learning curriculum in Udemy for all Bees to learn more about DE&I and how we can all contribute. In addition, we revamped our company orientation with a modern training on DE&I from CEO for Action.
But we aren’t the only ones involved in this change. The truth is, DE&I initiatives are a shared responsibility, not something exclusively controlled by HR or management teams. Everyone is accountable, and everyone can support diversity in our organization and around the world. But more importantly, everyone has the power to be more involved in DE&I efforts to move the needle in a positive direction faster and more effectively.
But change can only work if we do it together. And this year, our third annual Bee Diverse Day on Friday, May 20, is an excellent place to start.
Bee Diverse Day is an employee-led initiative that started in 2020 thanks to the partnership of our DE&I Council and HR team. This is a special day for all Bees – in over 23 countries around the world – to appreciate and celebrate the diversity that our company is proud to represent. Bee Diverse Day also aligns with the United Nations’ World Day for Cultural Diversity —a day that celebrates diversity and culture, and fosters intercultural conversations to promote a more peaceful existence for everyone. Both days are an opportunity to appreciate, celebrate, and deepen our understanding of cultural diversity in our organization and around the world.
We hope on Friday, and on all days, that we all continue to be open minded and respectful. We hope everyone can prioritize being inclusive and speaking up. And lastly, we hope we can all spend time learning about and talking to people who are different from us.
If you want to take one step today, try taking an implicit bias test developed by Harvard University. There is no right or wrong answer, but understanding our own implicit bias can open the door to learn and better understand the challenges of others. In doing so, we advocate for everyone’s voices to be heard, included, and respected as a valued member of our greater society.