Part of what makes SoFi such a dynamic place to work is our commitment to living our core values, one of which is “embrace diversity”. A diverse workforce enables us to collaborate, create, and ultimately, accomplish our mission of helping more people achieve financial independence.
To showcase our commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I), we have launched a brand new site that features our ambitious goals to improve representation and the programs we have in place to meet and exceed these goals to both hold ourselves accountable and make this information easily accessible to the public.
We sat down with Ana Recio, Senior Vice President of Talent & Diversity at SoFi, to discuss our DE&I strategy in conjunction with the launch of the site.
How do we define DE&I at SoFi?
Ana: We define DE&I at SoFi as creating a culture where every employee feels like they genuinely belong, are respected and valued, and can do their best work. In addition to this being ingrained within our culture, we also see it as a competitive advantage.
Why is a DE&I strategy important for SoFi to succeed?
Ana: Having a working environment with employees of different backgrounds, skills, and experiences increases our ability to innovate and creates a culture where employees can safely put forward their ideas. We also serve a diverse set of members with our products, so our diversity not only allows us to meet their unique needs, but enables us to stand out from other businesses that still function with only one voice.
You’ve stated ambitious goals to improve representation at all levels of the organization. How are we doing so far, and how do we plan to reach our goals?
Ana: As of October 1, 2021, 41% of our global workforce is comprised of employees who identify as female, and 53% of our U.S.-based workforce is comprised of individuals who either identify as underrepresented minorities or are part of an underrepresented group. Women and individuals who identify with underrepresented groups represent 47% of SoFi’s full-time senior leadership positions (defined as people-manager and above) and 50% of our executive workforce.
While we have made great strides, we know there is still work to be done. With this in mind, we are committed to increasing our total population of underrepresented minorities and groups to 60% by the end of 2023. After exceeding our goals of increasing representation of women and underrepresented minorities to 45% of senior leadership roles two years early (having achieved 47% in Q3’21), we are increasing this goal to 50% by the end of 2023.
To help achieve these goals, we will focus on attraction, assessment, engagement, and development at all levels. This means that we will ensure fair and transparent processes in talent assessment and hiring, performance management, career progression and retention across all stages of the employee lifecycle.
As a foundation to this work, we have developed competency-based assessments for roles in marketing, operations, and engineering to reduce unconscious biases in both our hiring and promotion practices. We have also invested in formalizing a university hiring program and a returning military program to ensure we are bringing in talent at all levels of the company.
We are also working to create a stronger sense of inclusion and belonging for SoFi employees in general with a lens on representation. We launched a targeted mentorship program for our URG population (meet two employees who are a part of the program) called SoFi Grow, and are thrilled to see virtually no attrition from this population since the program’s launch in September of 2020. As a global company, we also work with our offices in Mexico City and Hong Kong to ensure our employees have access to our Employee Resource Groups (called SoFi Circles), and that we are taking into consideration local and regional differences as it pertains to DE&I.
We believe that a combination of these approaches will help increase the representation, engagement, and retention of women, Black, Latinx, and all employees who identify as being from an underrepresented group across all levels, roles, and organizations.
How does SoFi hold itself accountable?
Ana: We have expanded accountability metrics for inclusion and diversity to include retention, promotion, and engagement alongside hiring, and we review these practices with each business leader quarterly to ensure progress. We are vigilant in tracking our self-reported URG/URM hiring rates against the total addressable market, the rate of our promotions of this population against their dominant peer group’s rate, as well as the rate of attrition, ensuring we are not disproportionately losing URG/URM at a faster rate than their peer group.
What do you see as remaining challenges?
Ana: Despite significant progress, we have a long way to go before our workforce is as fully diverse as the marketplaces we serve, particularly in our representation in leadership roles. We need to continue to consistently communicate the importance of DE&I throughout our organization and ensure it is included within the entire employee lifecycle, not just in talent acquisition. This means having a DE&I lens in everything that we do–from employee branding to development programs to promotion practices and more. We also need to continue to leverage and support our SoFi Circles in our mission to create belonging and connection.
Why did you decide now is the right time to launch this site?
Ana: We are committed to not just improving DE&I at SoFi, but leading the industry on best practices. We didn’t arrive at our present state overnight, and making lasting change will not be a short-term agenda. The work is complex and requires a long term multi-faceted approach as well as a long-term commitment.
We want to be aspirational, realistic, and transparent and felt it was important to be public about our goals and our journey. We hope that our accountability to our employees, communities, and industry will inspire others to follow our lead.
What can people expect to see on this site and how often will it be updated?
Ana: The site features the current state of workforce diversity at SoFi, our 2023 goals to improve representation, and the programs we have in place to meet and exceed these goals. You’ll also get to meet our Circles and learn about their missions to support the diverse communities represented at our organization.
We will update the site annually to reflect the changing makeup of our employee population.
(Readers – check out the site!)
The individual featured is a SoFi employee. Their personal experiences, obviously, do not take into account your own specific objectives, financial situation, and needs. Results will vary.
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