At Pipefy, we understand that diversity is not just a goal to achieve, but a permanent business strategy to benefit all our people. We are a global company that celebrates the uniqueness of all our collaborators and values the multiplicity of identity.
In early 2022, Michelle Antonio joined the Pipefy team as a Culture and Diversity Specialist to consolidate these efforts. This was a relevant step in our diversity and inclusion journey, but not the first nor the last.
Since 2018, when the Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Committee (DIB) was created, Pipefy has made concrete steps toward embracing diverse hiring practices and providing ample conditions for employees to thrive. Our Culture and Diversity Specialist Michelle says Pipefy “finds its values are the key to bursting bubbles, diversifying, and including people.”
“Transforming Pipefy means changing the face of the tech environment as a whole,” says Michelle. “Thinking with ‘People First’ means, for example, investing time and resources to increase the number of black people in all positions and women in leadership positions. We know that we also have a great challenge changing the referential of our black people.”
2022 Goals
Pipefy has set two main goals for 2022: first, reaching 40% of leadership positions occupied by women and second, 20% of its workforce composed by black people.
According to Michelle Antonio, Pipefy aims to continue “focusing on retaining black collaborators and expanding female leadership, while also being concerned with accessibility and increasing the psychological safety of our environments. Change starts with intentional and genuine efforts — like facing difficult topics and conversations,” she points out.
Pipefy has made recent progress on the path toward increasing representation: in the first quarter of 2022, 37% of new hires were black people, 45% were women, and 15% were people from the LGBTQIA+ community. Also, the Pipefy Representa program focuses on training and acquiring talent among transgender people and was a source for many new hires and an important action taken in 2021.
Other diversity and inclusion actions
In addition to the goals set for 2022, Pipefy is always looking for ways to increase diversity and become a more inclusive company. Here are just a few of the steps we’ve taken:
ERGs
Employee Resource Groups, or ERGs, are groups of our employees that voluntarily bring together professionals to discuss the inclusion and wellbeing of people who share similar characteristics. These represent a space where individuals can exchange experiences, plan educational actions within the company, and much more. At Pipefy, we have the following multicultural ERGs: Women at Pipefy, Pipeparents (for people with children), Piperainbow (for LGBTQIA+ people), Black Pride (for black people), PipeInclusions (for people with disabilities), and Pipefy for Good (for voluntary social actions).
Diversity & Inclusion consulting and strategy
In 2021, Pipefy established a partnership with Diverse: a consultancy specializing in diversity and inclusion strategies. They first performed a diagnosis to help structure and review all our goals and outline new strategies to increase the representation of all professional profiles, expanding opportunities for all people.
The scope of this work also involved revising all current guidelines by the People team to facilitate the achievement of the initial goals of inclusion and diversity. Besides this, we have also built a diversity congress focused on training our leadership for inclusion, fostering dialogue about pluralities, and team intersections.
Remote-first culture
Our remote first culture (which prioritizes remote work) has been embraced by Pipefy since the Covid-19 pandemic started. It allows professionals from anywhere in the world to join our company. This facilitates hiring outside solely urban centers and aids in ensuring multiculturalism in our company.
This work environment can also enhance the experience of professional mothers, fathers, and caregivers, who are able to work from their own homes.
Benefits
Hiring is not enough to increase diversity. It’s also necessary to invest in welcoming and providing working conditions for all people at Pipefy. Michelle says, “Companies need to understand that work benefits are a relevant component of a professional experience, especially for those who belong to minority groups.”
Therefore, several benefits offered by Pipefy seek to better integrate professionals, support their well-being and provide equal conditions for development in the company.
At Pipefy, we offer reimbursements for psychological care (therapy expenses), education, training and development expenses, nutrition assistance, plus a budget for ergonomic furniture and home office comfort supplies. Our team also receives a monthly allowance to cover work-from-home expenses (such as electricity and internet) and can choose to work from a co-working space covered by Pipefy.
“Some people already have a proper work space set up at home. But for many others, it was a challenge. Where would they sit and work eight hours a day?” recalls Michelle Antonio.
Other benefits offered by Pipefy aim to combat stigma and gender inequalities, such as extended paternity leave (three months) and maternity leave (six months), which cover heterosexual and same-sex couples, including adopters.
Accessibility
Some accessibility features and strategies adopted at Pipefy also contribute to a diverse and more equitable environment. Even though we are a global company with English as “official language,” fluency in English is not required for some positions — so our larger events and meetings have interpreters in Portuguese and English, so people can choose the language they are most comfortable with.
Sign language interpreters are also available on these occasions, and we usually adopt self-descriptions (such as, what the speaker is wearing and what screen background they are using).
Diversity and Inclusion at Pipefy: our numbers
Find below important numbers for our Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (DIB) journey until April 2022. At Pipefy, our daily effort is to improve them.
