At CodeOp we help companies solve the problem of non-diverse tech teams. We spoke to Andrea Moreno, who runs People Operations & Culture at Bumble, the women-first dating and social-networking app. We talked about hiring and training women+ who transitioned in tech, her role in building the next chapter of women in technology, and what makes the Bumble Tech Academy different.
1. Programmes like the Bumble Tech Academy change the future of recruiting and training in tech as the trainees have economic support from the start.
This starts with being a truly mission-driven company and financially supporting the women we brought on from day one. There are companies that offer scholarships or bootcamps – but we are empowering women to make this transition and to pursue what they want to do through economic support and making that decision a lot easier for them.
It was crucial from the beginning that we were hiring these women with a proper working contract. No intern positions. No study positions. They would have all the same benefits as a regular employee. Of course, they would be studying during the first nine months, but they have been employees since day one.
2. Internal support is key, since building the Bumble Tech Academy has been really cross-functional.
This initiative has been an international effort: initially started at Bumble HQ in the USA by the Director of Social Innovation and Transformative Initiatives, then involved Internal Branding in the UK and also Aideen Farell the Director of Engineering here in Barcelona.
They worked with finance, legal, and all of the different departments and were the main movers making this happen. It’s an important investment for the company. We had to make sure that everything was clear and everyone was on board. It can take eight months to bring the idea through to operation.
3. Those in People & Operation teams help to take the fine print over the line.
As part of the HR team, my role included admin and dealing with the fine print. I’ve also been part of the recruitment process, doing the interviews, which has been amazing. I made sure that the contract that we were producing was in line with the vision for the initiative. My role was to deal with these intricacies and make sure that we got that over the line.
After they joined the engineering team, my role became more like a cheerleader. I make sure that they have anything they need to do their best work, whether equipment, skills or knowledge.
I’ve been very involved because I want to help them grow and have successful careers at Bumble. I try to go to every presentation as I want to learn and see how they evolve.
It has been super gratifying and lovely to see the different women who have these skills and want to make a change in their lives.
4. It’s crucial to ensure that trainees have company-wide support too.
It’s also essential from the company perspective to have the ability to onboard every kind of profile within the different spectrums. Bumble is very fast-paced and has to be dealing with a lot of change. This has made us more organised in making sure that we have the correct content, that it’s available for everyone, and that we can create it if we don’t have it.
We have a lot of people who are volunteering and taking time from their day-to-day work to make sure that any questions that they have are being answered. If they’re struggling with anything, they have the support they need in order for them to succeed inside the company.
All these things help to make a difference in the experience our trainees have. The junior developers have been fantastic. In the office, they’re always super open. They’re always happy. They’re super optimistic. I see them integrated into their roles, which is great.
“For me, from the outside perspective, it’s insane since they were completely different people seven months ago”
5. Welcoming truly diverse talent into a company starts with the company’s values.
There’s a myth that women don’t want to work in tech, but the talent is there. Many issues stem from when the company is not properly mission-oriented and is trying to sell values that do not actually exist in the company’s DNA. As a company, if you eat, breathe and live these values, it’s going to be very easy to welcome people who are diverse in many ways.
At Bumble, we have six main values: growth, make the first move, honesty, kindness, accountability, and inclusivity. All of these values are very clear from the beginning. So any person who is even being considered to start in a position in Bumble, regardless of the department, goes through a really important screening process.
“Absolutely every person who is part of the Bumble company has these values ingrained. So when we talk about diversity and inclusion, it’s already part of the values that the employees hold and live by as well”
For the full scope of the Bumble Tech Academy and key results, download the case study here.
