As an HR manager at Varo Bank, Megan Strauss emphasized the need for women to be represented at leadership levels.
“Women in leadership roles bring strength to our organization, and diverse perspectives lead to a stronger company with better services and products,” Strauss said.
However, in many industries, gender parity is often lacking in management (a problem well-documented in fields like tech). Previous reports from McKinsey & Company and Lean In, for example, describe a “broken rung,” in which women’s careers are blunted from a lack of early-career promotions in management.
According to Strauss, women comprise almost half of the managers and 45 percent of the executive team at the mobile banking org. Additionally, Strauss said that half of the fintech company’s board members are women.
“While we don’t have a formal goal for gender diversity in management, we believe that our management and organization should reflect our employees, customers and communities,” Strauss said.
Strauss said that avenues of support include a women’s employee resource group, a dedicated Slack channel “where women can support their fellow colleagues,” and initiatives such as the International Women’s Day event held earlier this year.
“We really want to ensure our female colleagues feel supported in their careers and in their development,” she said.
Below, Strauss shared how the San Francisco-based company endeavors to set an inclusive tone for the women on the team.
How many managers at your company identify as women, and to what extent are you meeting your goals for gender diversity in your management team?
Roughly half — 41 — of the managers at Varo identify as women. While we don’t have a formal goal for gender diversity in management, we believe that our management and organization should reflect our employees, customers and communities. Women in leadership roles bring strength to our organization, and diverse perspectives lead to a stronger company with better services and products.
We really want to ensure our female colleagues feel supported in their careers and in their development.”
What programs and policies are you using to ensure that women have an equal chance at making that “first promotion” to a management position?
Forty-one of our 92 people managers at Varo are women. We really want to ensure our female colleagues feel supported in their careers and in their development. To that end, we have a women’s employee resource group that puts on events both internally and externally; develops women-focused content, supports women in our communities; ensures the next generation of women leaders have strong mentors; and helps recruit women to start — or take the next step in — their career here.
Varo also engages with relevant external speakers and influencers from around the community to talk with our female leaders, share their experiences and offer targeted guidance. Additionally, Varo has a Slack channel where women can support their fellow colleagues, share networking events and relevant articles, and participate in an ongoing dialogue about topics they’d like to share. We also take time as a company to celebrate women: for example, this past March, we hosted lunch and a panel discussion for International Women’s Day.
Describe the results of those policies, and how you have iterated on them over time.
We will continue to look at our diversity numbers and ensure everyone is represented in our leadership — starting with our board members (half of whom are women); executive team (45 percent are women); and managers. We will also continue to foster an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive.
