Qualtrics Raises the Bar for Supporting Women in Tech

Women’s representation in tech is an uphill battle. In fact, the number of women working in tech today is lower than it was in 1984, according to TechHQ. 

There are a myriad of factors that make the climb toward workplace equity a slow one — systemic misogyny, continued pay gaps and even the language used in job postings are just a few. Many organizations have created diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to help take on some of these issues, but some companies have recently divested from those initiatives. In 2021, it was reported by the LA Times that 83 percent of organizations in the United States are currently implementing DEI initiatives, but only 57 percent of those companies indicated that there are metrics in place to measure DEI results. 

At worst, DEI initiatives can lack the necessary bite to make effective change, a paper tiger of what workplace equity should be. At best, DEI initiatives are a continued work in progress, evaluating what’s working and what’s not and progressing toward improvement at a constant pace. 

One of the biggest challenges that most companies face with DEI programs is how to “show instead of tell.” Qualtrics is bringing new life to the idea that actions speak louder than words, which is reflected in its company culture — especially when it comes to supporting women on staff. 

“I appreciate the transparency and reporting that Qualtrics does on pay equity and measuring DEI,” said Regional Sales Manager and Head of the Americas Sales Development Maria Sideris. “I truly believe I am getting paid for my efforts and not being undercut.” 

Sideris is proud of the range of diverse individuals that span their North American enterprise sales, North American corporate sales, financial services, healthcare, public sector, and Latin America and Caribbean sales teams.  

“Qualtrics also offers a great maternity leave, and aids with surrogacy, adoption and IVF fees if needed,” she noted. “While it’s not an official policy, I love that Qualtrics allows our little ones to visit. Every time I go into our HQ, I see families visiting and eating lunch together. This is truly how inclusivity starts at the top.” 

At the Utah headquarters, Qualtrics built a 40,000-square-foot daycare for employees’ children that offers a tech-infused curriculum including STEM education and an age-appropriate coding camp for 5-year-olds. 

 

Gathering Feedback  

Measuring how people feel at work is built into the DNA of Qualtrics. The experience management software company’s bread and butter is an AI-grounded platform providing insights to businesses that allow them to improve the experiences they provide to their customers and employees. 

Qualtrics’ product goes well beyond helping companies ask, “How was your shopping experience?” The company makes a point to showcase the human rights potential that the product can have: Qualtrics customers use the products to understand important topics like political misunderstandings, healthcare, education, gender equality and more — making the Qualtrics team a key part of improving the human experience. 

But it doesn’t stop with their customers. Qualtrics is ‘customer zero’ for all of its products and has a robust employee engagement program that it runs internally. This program includes quarterly engagement pulses, which give each leader the ability to find the gaps in their team’s experiences and make plans to improve those experiences. 

“In our quarterly engagement pulses, we also measure inclusion and belonging for every employee,” said Sideris. “It is important to be straightforward and to not assume that we are meeting the needs of each person.”

“It is important to be straightforward and to not assume that we are meeting the needs of each person.”

Sideris gave the example of seeing a low score on categories like “do you feel like you belong?” 

“I get my leaders together to see how we are doing in these areas and what improvements we can make,” added Sideris. 

In this case, a low score would likely spur her to find ways to be more inclusive at the team level. Maria, and other leaders like her, share those improvement opportunities in their action plans, where their management and team members are able to ensure accountability for making changes. This process rolls straight up to the executive team, with companywide action plans developed each year, which guide major bodies of work in the organization, critical changes to benefits, and optimization of internal processes. 

 

ERGs Making Meaningful Change

Qualtrics currently has six ERGs in place to provide a safe space for: racial and ethnic minorities, veterans, individuals with disabilities, LGBTQ+ people, women, and a Green Team focused on sustainability. The women’s ERG — known as Women’s Leadership Development — has an active goal to help women move up in their career path and to support them in any way possible at work. Last year, Women’s Leadership Development launched a Leadership Shadow Experience to help more women reach senior-level roles.

The ERGs at Qualtrics are an important part of the feedback process, serving both as a place to gather it and as a launch site for new initiatives. Kimberly McMullen, associate manager of Software Engineering, sees that feedback loop as an important step in supporting women in the workplace. 
 

“Listen to your employees,” McMullen noted, commenting on what other companies should do to help bring equitable initiatives to life. “Ask for frequent feedback on what’s working well and what’s not. Talk to a diverse group: women of different backgrounds, different races, trans women and nonbinary people. Employee resource groups are great for this, as well. They can gather feedback from members and pass it along to HR.”

“Listen to your employees. Ask for frequent feedback on what’s working well and what’s not. Talk to a diverse group. ERGs can gather feedback, as well.”

 

Likewise, Director of People Development Nicole Kelley feels similar. 

“Be intentional about creating two-way feedback mechanisms for the women in your organization and make the time to listen far more than you think you’ll need,” she added. 

 

 

Focusing on Intersectionality 

Qualtrics’ hiring team is definitely listening to feedback and making changes.

Megana Balentine, who joined the company in 2020 and has risen the ranks to SVP of customer success, financial services and insurance, noted that, “Representation is critical, and I have actively sought organizations who place an emphasis on underrepresented minorities during recruiting and the day-to-day professional journey.” 

Kelley agreed, pointing to the complexity of the DEI field. “I’ve come to realize that there is not a ‘silver bullet’ that will address the complex matrix of needs and challenges facing the organizations seeking to make progress,” she said. 

“I’ve come to realize that there is not a ‘silver bullet’ that will address the complex matrix of needs and challenges facing the organizations seeking to make progress.” 

Kelley calls out that many companies are making progress around gender and ethnicity. 

“We know that those ERGs are only a small subset of the dimensions of diversity that we need to foster and support,” she emphasized. “We need to be mindful of the intersectionality of diversity dimensions that impact an employee’s experience at work.” 

For Balentine, focusing on data to inform DEI strategies is the way to close the gap in experiences had by team members who identify with protected groups. “Each ERG provides a quarterly report to our executive sponsorship teams to elevate and action feedback,” she said. 

In addition, Qualtrics leans on its expertise in experience management to move the needle on DEI for not only its own team, but for its customers, as well. 

“As the leader in experience management, Qualtrics places great attention to our quarterly employee pulse surveys, where we have the opportunity to understand, analyze and action a host of topic areas, including DEI,” Balentine said. “We have also developed employee experience software to help other organizations engage teams, improve manager effectiveness and make informed people decisions. This includes closing DEI gaps by enabling leaders to easily view the most impactful actions they need to take.”

One impactful action Qualtrics took a few years ago was introducing annual anti-racism and unconscious bias trainings for all employees, as well as inclusive leadership training, an allyship playbook and allyship training that dives into intersectionality and how to support women and other underrepresented groups in the workplace. 

“Anti-racism training was eye opening to me,” McMullen said. “I learned a lot about my own privilege as a white woman and unconscious bias. Now, I focus on using my voice to raise the voices of others that may or may not look like me. I’m still learning a lot about how I can do more, and intersectionality is something I think about more now.” 

“I learned a lot about my own privilege as a white woman and unconscious bias. Now, I focus on using my voice to raise the voices of others that may or may not look like me.”

McMullen added that part of what brought her to Qualtrics was having a female manager during her interview. 

“She really impressed me with her talk about the Women Leadership Development group’s mission to increase the number of women in leadership positions,” said McMullen. “This made me want to come to Qualtrics and grow my career here.”

Kelley added, “Overall, I’m incredibly proud to be a part of an organization that sets a high bar for itself in terms of both diversity and inclusion. One that strives to create an environment where employees feel a sense of belonging while bringing their full and authentic selves to work. Where our most senior leaders are committed to equity and investments at all levels.”

A supportive environment is crucial, but so is self-advocacy, according to Balentine. 

“Make sure you are in the driver’s seat and that you are advocating for yourself.”

“Your professional career advancement and development is yours to nurture and grow,” she said. “Make sure you are in the driver’s seat and that you are advocating for yourself, ensuring your sponsors and mentors understand your story to date as well as your career growth aspirations. In addition, have regular development discussions with your manager and reporting line to ensure you are meeting the goals of your existing role and understand how you can continue to elevate and grow.” 

Sideris concluded, “Being a woman in tech should be exciting and provide you with opportunities to thrive. As a woman in tech, I feel like I have a responsibility to empower those around me by setting a strong example and creating opportunities beyond me.” 

At Qualtrics, a Culture of Empowerment Fosters Strong Team EngagementRead More