New Survey from theBoardlist and Felicis Ventures Illustrates a Strong Desire for a Culture of Psychological Safety and Increased Workplace Diversity Efforts Among Executives

The survey findings indicate significant support for DEI endeavors, pointing to progress as the Great Reshuffle unfolds

SAN FRANCISCO, May 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, theBoardlist and Felicis Ventures released the findings of a new survey about actions, attitudes, and values of executives around the subject of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). The survey was created to gain a better understanding of how executives are valuing diversity and work culture during the recruiting process. Over 200 executives at public and private companies and non-profit organizations responded to the survey.

The survey found a significant majority (84%) of respondents believe it's incredibly important that any company they work for has a commitment to DEI.

"Our approach is to back companies and founders that will make a positive impact in the world and then invest directly in their growth. To that effect, we wanted to do this survey with theBoardlist to discover and share with our portfolio companies what diverse executives are prioritizing when looking for new positions," said Michelle Delcambre, Partner Felicis Ventures.

When deciding to join a company, over one-third (36%) of these executives reported declining an offer because the organization lacked diverse representation at the leadership level. Over three-fourths (78%) of executives believe having a diverse board is an important factor in their decision to join a company. Additionally, over half (55%) of executives say it's very unlikely for them to join an organization without a female in a VP level or above role.

"These results indicate we are moving beyond company culture as a nebulous term; executives are looking for tangible DEI practices, work culture policies and diverse representation before deciding to join a company. This thinking permeates throughout the organization, emphasizing the importance that companies at all stages need to consider their DEI practices and the type of work environment they want to create. We can no longer talk about 'trends.' It's time to see real 'action'," said Megan Wang, COO of theBoardlist.

Additional survey findings of note: 

• The top three factors to consider when deciding to join a company include: 73% ranked company culture as the most important, 72% ranking compensation next, followed by 41% that ranked diversity & representation in leadership.
• 85% of executives believe psychological safety within a company's culture is either very important or extremely important.
• Executives shared how willing they would be to join a company that has historically had any of the following issues or bad press regarding:
• 70% said they would not be willing to join a company under any circumstances if there was a history of bullying, retaliatory behavior or a culture of silence.

About the theBoardlist
theBoardlist is the premier leadership community that connects exceptional diverse talent with global board opportunities. We serve companies of early-stage startups to the Fortune 100, across all industries, to accelerate access to opportunities for women and historically marginalized people to achieve at the highest levels. For more information visit www.theboardlist.com.

About Felicis Ventures
Felicis Ventures is a venture capital firm investing in companies reinventing core markets, as well as those creating frontier technologies. The firm is an early backer of more than 41 companies valued at $1B+. More than 91 of its portfolio companies have been acquired or gone public, including Adyen (IPO), Credit Karma (acq by Intuit), Cruise (acq by General Motors), Fitbit (IPO), Guardant Health (IPO), Meraki (acq by Cisco), Ring (acq by Amazon), and Shopify (IPO). Learn more at www.felicis.com. 

Press contact:
Kristen Marion
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SOURCE theBoardlist