Gender pay equity is a reality at San Francisco-based tech company New Relic, thanks to Tracy Williams, its chief people and diversity officer.
With a background combining legal and HR expertise, Williams has helmed a number of initiatives aimed at increasing diversity and equity in tech at New Relic, including a hiring rule that requires all open roles to have diverse candidates in the applicant pool. She’s also championed employee resource groups to build community and belonging.
These efforts are achieving tangible results. New Relic achieved gender pay equity in 2022 using the data-driven insights and leadership that Williams strongly advocates. She shares her best practices at making DEI the core of an organization.
What does equity mean in the workplace, and how is it achievable?
Systemic barriers in the workplace have long existed, and unfortunately, their effects are still felt today. For many women, people of color, disabled individuals, neurodivergent individuals and members of the LGBTQ community, this can manifest as pay disparities, limited access to leadership opportunities or a fear of being one’s authentic self in the workplace.
In an ideal world, we would strive for equality, where everyone is treated the same and fair opportunities and outcomes are provided to everyone. Instead, we must strive for equity. In reality, we are not all starting from a level playing field.
Some in our varied work environments are subjected to misperceptions and expectations, bias—unconscious and not—and a general lack of understanding. When equity is the primary goal, we acknowledge that different people have different needs and break down the barriers standing in their way.
We are particularly proud of three programs. As part of our efforts to improve the diversity of our candidate pool—and ultimately, the company—we created and implemented the Mikey Rule. Named after Mikey Butler, a former senior vice president of engineering and champion of diversity, the Mikey Rule requires hiring managers to consider candidates from a diverse talent pool for all open roles. We also made a concerted, data-driven effort to close the gender pay gap globally, achieving that goal in 2022.
We also launched our Building a Better New Relic learning and development series. These training series include training courses for managers and individual contributors and have specific courses for transgender employees and people with disabilities.
These training courses are designed to go beyond compliance but share best practices and demonstrate behaviors we believe are critical in creating equity in the workplace. These courses are important because we believe that we all have a role in fostering equitable outcomes for marginalized communities.
Why are ERGs important to build in a workplace, and what makes them successful?
ERGs are invaluable for ensuring all employees feel supported. These groups enable employees to engage and connect in a more meaningful way with people of similar backgrounds and experiences. These aren’t just opportunities to socialize. Our ERGs host unique programming and offer a space for people to be authentic.
New Relic works with our ERGs to advance DEI initiatives, and they play a critical role in our DEI strategy. DEI work can be invisible to some employees, but our strategy utilizes ERGs to highlight diversity and inclusion efforts. We pair this bottom-up approach with our systemic work to achieve a well-rounded DEI program.
New Relic currently has five fully funded ERGs. Each one targeted at the needs of different groups: women and those who identify with this group, people of color, veterans, the LGBTQ community, and people in the neurodiversity and disability communities. Each ERG is built by these communities for these communities and addresses their unique needs. We have found them incredibly successful in creating community and fostering engagement.
How can HR demonstrate its value and the value of change to leadership?
Data is key. New Relic is a data-driven company at all levels, but it is imperative to demonstrate the efficacy of a program. At first, it may seem difficult to quantify the results of a DEI program, but it is not impossible. It just requires some effort and creativity.
When we wanted to close the pay gap, we quantified exactly what that looked like at our company, which enabled us to target our efforts and demonstrate that we had achieved our goal. We can also measure the diversity in our hiring pipeline and the level of employee engagement, such as the number of people participating in leadership programs.
The specific metrics each company’s leadership would like to see will be different. By tailoring your metrics to your program’s goals, you can easily show what is working, what is still in progress and where things need adjustments.
What are trends to pay attention to in the industry?
For practitioners, there is an unfortunate tendency to burn out. Considering the amount of change we’re helping to navigate companies through over the past several years, leading to a high volume, combined with the dedication and personal investment many of us have, it shouldn’t be a surprise. However, to achieve the goals we hope to see, we must care for ourselves and each other to continue the work.
The other trend influencing the industry is AI. According to recent Gartner research, 76 percent of HR leaders believe that if their organization does not adopt and implement AI solutions, such as generative AI, in the next 12 to 24 months, they will be lagging in organizational success compared to those that do.
It is important that HR leaders ensure that they are being thoughtful about how they leverage AI, consider how it will impact roles across an organization and pick an AI strategy that fits into their specific context.
