Utah tech companies take talent-first road to diversity
In these markets, where top companies are competing against each other to lure the top talent from a limited resource pool, the employment version of the “law of the wild” produces results that are simply more fair.
“When companies recruit on a pure, talent-first basis, it creates the most high-performing team,” Tetro said. “It also creates an employee base that is naturally balanced and diverse.”
Cathy Donahoe, an executive from American Fork business software titan Domo, said her company has embraced the talent-first credo since its inception.
“We are freakishly committed to hiring the best person for the job,” Donahoe said. “And when you do that, diversity will happen.”
And, Donahoe said, Domo offers a lot of incentives to keep the talent they attract, like near-equity pay scales (women at Domo earn 97 percent of what men make), a benefits package that is among the best in the country and schedule flexibility and paid time off that helps accommodate maternity leave.
At Provo’s Chatbooks, Vanessa and Nate Quigley are unabashed about their commitment to their women employees, who comprise 70 percent of their workforce.
“We’re trying to be the best company for all the amazing women in Utah to work for,” Nate Quigley said.
Chatbooks has embraced a unique, work-from-home model for some of its staff that allows for job responsibilities to work alongside at-home responsibilities.
“We call it the Mom Force,” Vanessa Quigley said. “These are mostly stay-at-home moms, more than half of whom have told us they wouldn’t be working if it wasn’t for this opportunity.”
Adobe’s Utah women employees are paid on par with their male counterparts, according to Cindy Sanders. She also noted the company has made a recent overhaul to its recruitment approach.
“We currently have a mandatory requirement that we have women in the pipeline for every open position,” she said.
By Art Raymond, Deseret News