Snapchat parent company Snap is adding the 1st VP of Diversity & Inclusion to its leadership team. But will this prove to be a meaningful addition or a symbolic gesture?
: having to change an established culture; being overwhelmed by conflicting priorities; lacking authority and influence; lacking budget; lacking leadership support; being asked to prove the business case for diversity; lack of data; and inconsistent prioritization. It is interesting to consider how some of these challenges may have a particular impact on King’s success and, more generally, on Snap’s ability to achieve significant and lasting change.
First off, the company is almost eight years old and was founded at a time when diversity was not yet a significant consideration for most internet startups. Eight years is nearly an eternity for these kinds of companies and it is likely that King will have to deal with some deeply entrenched behaviors.
In spite of her recent experiences at YouTube, owned by Google, King’s background in politics will make it challenging to gain the level of influence that is needed to drive significant change. On the positive side, her international background may be valued, not so much for Snap’s employees who are mostly in the U.S., but because of the global reach of Snap’s flagship product.
While Snap claims to be collecting – albeit not publishing – diversity data, it seems unlikely that they have a disciplined and thorough approach to collecting diversity data, or else they would probably already have published such reports. After all, it’s hard to imagine that they could be in much worse shape than many of their corporate peers so that would probably not be a reason to withhold results.
It is hard to guess whether King will have to do a lot of convincing about the business case for diversity, though one promising aspect of this hire is that she was brought on by Sweet in her role as Chief People Officer. However, it is worth noting that Sweet was only promoted to this role a few days ago from her prior role as interim CFO, which calls into question how influential Sweet might have been in selecting and hiring King.
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