Questions for Managing Diversity and Inclusion at Yelp

Chloe Bui

1. Give an overview of what is going on in the case.

Issue / Problem
The lack of diversity and inclusion is raising concerns to Yelp’s leaders. This problem is
outstanding in the technology industry because their primary concerns are financial management
and advanced technology development. After scouring demographic approaches and industry
reports, it showed that Yelp had dramatic racial and gender inequalities in the workforce. For
instance, Yelp had only 10% of women and a low representation of Hispanics and black
employees in their technical positions. Thus, their former employee Rachel Williams is working
with Yelp’s leaders on eliminating race and gender imbalances from the rookie engineer hiring
process to the senior management positions. The main goal of Williams is improving diversity
and integrate inclusion through a variety of strategies, including blinding résumés, masking
voices during phone interviews, diversify the senior management positions, etc. Williams’s work
not only creates a more dynamic and inclusive industry but also reduces the labor market
inequalities in significant technology companies.

2. Who is the decision-maker in the case?

· Rachel Williams: Former employee
· Geoff Donaker: COO
· Jeremy Stopelman: CEO

3. Who are the audiences for the decision-maker?

· Employees at Yelp and other technology companies.

4. What are the problems that need to be addressed by the decision-maker?

· Williams suggests that the rookie engineer hiring process at Yelp can be revamped:
- Set explicit diversity targets or hiring quotas
- Blind resumes by removing names and other identifying information.
· Diversify the senior management positions within the scope of the company.
- Promote a more diverse set of candidates from within.
- Look externally for senior hires.
· Provide diversity and bias training for managers.
- Focus on not only a diverse workforce but also inclusion.

5. Why do CEO Jeremy Stoppelman and COO Geoff Donaker want to do something about
the lack of diversity at Yelp?
Diversity is vital and essential within any company. It brings better consumer understanding,
better decision making, richer brainstorming, avoid employee turnover costs, and foster a more
creative and innovative workforce. When the business becomes more globalized, it will eliminate
hidden bias. There were two main reasons that leaders at Yelp wanted to manage diversity and
inclusion. First, a more diverse group of employees will serve a broadly diverse group of
customers. Second, candidates from all backgrounds could bring great employees.