The Power of Early Diversity Efforts - Building a Inclusive Workforce with Asana's CEO

Name: The Power of Early Diversity Efforts - Building a Inclusive Workforce with Asana's CEO
Uploaded: 2023-11-13T15:30:11+00:00
Duration: 53 s
Channel: Jason M. Lemkin
Description: In this segment, Asana’s CEO explains why initiating diversity initiatives early in a company’s growth dramatically simplifies scaling inclusion later…

13 Nov 2023 · 1 min

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In this segment, Asana’s CEO explains why initiating diversity initiatives early in a company’s growth dramatically simplifies scaling inclusion later. He notes that underrepresented candidates are drawn to workplaces that already have representation, so early hires create a virtuous cycle that compounds over time. Small early gains help surface hidden biases, improve hiring processes, and foster greater mindfulness. The CEO recommends concrete, proactive actions: unconscious‑bias training, redesigning interview processes to set candidates up for success, and appointing a dedicated person to own diversity work. He emphasizes that these steps require sustained effort but yield long‑term benefits for building an inclusive workforce.

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So a lot of our attitude about it is just if you start early, it will be a lot easier later on. You know, when you're starting and you're already Facebook or Google or Amazon sized, and you say, oh, you have a diversity problem, you have to hire thousands of people to, like, move the needle. And, you know, I think one of the things that's clearest about diversity is, you know, people from underrepresented groups want to work at a place that already has people like them. They don't want to be the first person in the door representing that group. And so if you just make a little bit of progress, again, that's something that will compound and build over time. They'll help teach you about your biases and help you fix your processes and become more mindful about it. And then, of course, there are just some proactive things you can do, like, you know, unconscious bias training, thinking about your interview processes and how to set candidates up for success. And, you know, again, a lot of that is just the hard work. And I highly recommend having a person who's sort of, you know, fully focused on that.