Promoting and nurturing diversity and inclusion in tech takes effort. Since we are all human with our own conscious and unconscious biases, there is always more work to be done. Nonetheless, creating an inclusive culture is a goal worth obsessively pursuing. With diverse teams, we are more creative and produce better products. Diverse talent makes better decisions and builds more successful companies, even more so during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our company culture is also better able to represent the global community at large.
At Couchbase, we always begin with Our Values. Hiring and fostering diverse teams is core to living our value of Being a Good Human, Always. With this in mind, we have taken steps to implement inclusive hiring processes and business practices, including learning & awareness, visual representation, recruiting and interviewing techniques, inclusive language and coding lexicon, and employee-led inclusion groups driving continuous change.
As we continue to grow our team (we now have more than 550 team members!), ensuring an equitable and inclusive work environment for all at Couchbase is more critical than ever. And demonstrating our dedication to the journey is a vital part of fostering an environment that’s safe for people of all backgrounds and underrepresented groups, including those who identify as people of color, LGBTQ+, women, parents, differently-abled and veterans.
In the spirit of transparency and accountability to our community, we’re sharing our progress in true tech fashion as a Public Change Log.
Diversity and Inclusion Public Change Log
Jan 2018: [Added] Our first Employee Satisfaction Survey to gauge employee happiness and give people a safe space to voice their opinions
Nov 2018: [Change] Standardized hiring process across each role
Mar 2018: [Added] Gender Decoder for job descriptions
Oct 2018: [Change] Introduced Interview Techniques Training – removing bias from the interview process
Oct 2018: [Added] Inclusive Communicators Toolkit
July 2019: [Added] Couchbase becomes 20X company to sign the Amici Brief
Spring 2020: [Added] “What are your preferred pronouns” – question in Lever
Spring 2020: [Change] Made an update to the Career page that heavily utilizes the “if you can see it, you can be it” concept, actively making an effort to visually represent a variety of our talent pools
May 2020: [Added] Code of Conduct crafted and disseminated within The Couchbook (our employee handbook), along with a statement of commitment to Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging; Equal Opportunity Policy; and Anti-Harassment Bullying, Discrimination & Retaliation
Spring 2020: [Added] AARM (acknowledge, apologize, reframe, move on) to leadership and lexicon and inclusive communications toolkit
Jun 2020: [Added] Inclusion of diversity data to Quarterly Ops Review metrics
Jul 2020: [Change] Our language in HRIS profile for gender, to include a choice for non-binary
Aug 2020: [Added] Introduced Anonymous/Optional Candidate Diversity Survey in ATS
Aug 2020: [Added] Diversity & Inclusion Section to Quarterly People Analytics Report to Executive Staff and BOD
Aug 2020: [Added] Inclusion of Q “What is your preferred pronoun” to Employee Profile
Aug 2020: [Added] Launched organically-grown Pride and Women @ Couchbase interest groups with business-relevant goals
Aug 2020: [Added] Launched The Collective – a support mechanism and funnel for interest groups, focused on collectively improving Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
Aug 2020: [Change] Updated race descriptors IN HRIS profile with more current and inclusive language
Oct 2020: [Added] Parents, Vets & Faith @ Couchbase interest groups
Dec 2020: [Added] Began Diversity & Inclusion Pulse Surveys
Jan 2021: [Added] Crafted an internal Diversity Data Guidelines to create policy around data privacy, retention, and transparency on how data will and will not be used
Jan 2021: [Added] Published Diversity Data Survey for candidates & employees to baseline data
Jan 2021: [Added] Began certification process with AnitaB for Top Companies for Women Technologists
Jan 2021: [Added] Established partnership with Trevor Project and Pride @ Couchbase, pursuing community impact through service and giving initiatives
Feb 2021: [Added]: Inaugural Black History Month program of initiatives in cooperation with The Collective and Black People of Couchbase interest group
Feb 2021 [Added]: Published this Public Change Log internally on our Couchbase HUB, and externally on the Couchbase Blog page, LinkedinLife & Careers Page
TBD 2021 [Unreleased]: Non-binary philosophy plaque (between the bathrooms): “We believe gender is non-binary. Please use the restroom that feels most comfortable to you.”
TBD 2021 [Unreleased]: Implementation of the Rooney Rule for critical hires
Working at Couchbase
We hope you’ll follow our journey as we continue to foster belonging at Couchbase.
We have amazing team members at Couchbase, read what they have to say on our Linkedin Life page.
Some highlights of 2020 included being recognized as a 2020 Bay Area Best Place to Work. We were also named a Battery Ventures Top Company to Work For and a Deloitte Fast 500 Company.
Join our team where we want everyone to Be Valued for Creating Value!
