Aircall

Helen Cheuck is VP of HR and Global DEI Leader at Aircall. She works with key stakeholders within the company to ensure all the departments are aligned to fulfil the company’s DEI vision.An authentic DEI strategyI'm based in New York and I've been in the Human Resources space pretty much my entire career. I’ve always been involved in DEI from a place of passion, being a part of diversity councils and employee resource groups. Recently, I formally took on a DEI role at Aircall. I don't think I would have joined any other company in this capacity, because I truly believe that to them diversity is not just a check off the box. It's really infused into what kind of company they want to be. They're very authentic with it. I work with all of our key stakeholders within the company, leadership team, employee resource groups, our people team and with our managers and allies to ensure that everything we're doing is true to our vision within our DEI Journey.&nbsp;Diversity is important to me because as someone who belongs to two different groups—I'm Asian, I'm a woman—I recognize that not everyone starts off at the same place. We know that underrepresented groups don't begin at the starting line, but a few steps back. It’s also incredibly important that we expand our candidate pipeline and our reach, especially because we have aggressive growth plans within the company. We know that a more diverse organization is not only good for business—it's also the right thing to do. That’s why we’re really focusing on looking outside of the norm of what's historically been standard within the tech world.&nbsp;Leadership buy-inOur executive leaders are very involved in DEI. They’re working closely with me in terms of evaluating our people strategy. More recently, because accountability is one of our core levers, all of our executives also have specific DEI goals which I think is really great.&nbsp; We also have Executive Sponsorship for each of our ERGs acting in a strategic and supporting capacity. We need C-level involvement to succeed because they have the power to impact real change although DEI truly is a collective effort that everyone has a role to play.I also meet with our ERG Leads on a monthly basis who are instrumental to our DEI success. They help to drive positive impact within their groups. They also provide safe spaces, provide feedback for improvement in accountability, equity and inclusion as they have a strong pulse on their communities.&nbsp;A culture of learningOur culture is very people centric. Every opportunity, we try to find a way to get together—though Covid has made that difficult of course. On a personal level, I've really valued connecting and collaborating and learning from my global counterparts, especially during the pandemic where most of us are stuck at home.We’ve also cultivated a culture of learning. For instance by putting a lot of time and effort into our onboarding program. Aircall is the first company I've been with where there is a real, one-month onboarding program for all new hires. It’s called Launchpad, and it’s there to make sure that all of our global employees are aware of how to succeed at the company by teaching them everything there is to know about the Airall product, customers, people and culture.&nbsp;We are very international and very different in terms of our cultural context, how we even talk about DEI, and what we can legally say. Nonetheless, we absolutely believe that no matter who you are, what you look like, or where you come from, everyone at the company deserves equal opportunity to thrive and succeed. That’s why we've created four action levers that are geared towards our DEI strategy: representation, equity, inclusion, and accountability. Everything that we do, no matter what office or country we're in, is rooted in at least one of these levers. That's how we find alignment.Deep learning and self-reflectionWhat I’m most passionate about is having those hard discussions. It's easier to jump into action mode rather than do some real self-reflection. But it’s absolutely vital. That’s why I'm focused on listening, learning and discussing because I recognize that its’ through empathizing, self-reflection &amp; allyship that will lead to sustained growth and change.&nbsp;That’s why for us mentorship is also a priority. We want our employees to grow in their careers, particularly our underrepresented groups. We've piloted a Mentorship Program with Gender Equality Matters,(GEM) geared towards uplifting our women colleagues in their careers and providing them the visibility &amp; resources to grow and succeed. Right now, in the pilot phase, we have five pairs of women mentors and mentees but we're going to expand upon it this year. And then separately, Aircall is exploring other mentorship &amp; coaching resources for the entire organization.Still some way to goIn tech, as elsewhere, there's not enough women representation at the managerial levels. We need to change that, and not just women, but different gender identities, ethnicities, ages, differently abled and so on. I’m happy that at Aircall we’re having those conversations with leadership, partnering with groups such as 50inTech and others within certain regions, to ensure that we're breaking those barriers and holding ourselves accountable by measuring our employee data &amp; feedback.

“Empathy, self-reflection and allyship will lead to sustained change”

Helen Cheuck