Zipwhip, the leading provider of Texting for Business™, has been ranked the 9th Most Equitable Workplace in Washington state by the Puget Sound Business Journal in their inaugural special report conducted by GEN (Gender Equity Now). The inclusion recognizes Zipwhip’s mission of creating an equitable workplace for all of its employees and its ongoing commitment to promote diversity both within its walls and in the larger local technology community.
“I’m proud of this recognition for Zipwhip because it comes from our employees. It is encouraging to know that the diverse and equitable workplace we strive to create is what our employees actually feel when they walk in the door,” said John Lauer, CEO and co-founder of Zipwhip. “Our programs and practices are a key foundational piece to creating a positive culture like ours, but the bigger factor is the people we are fortunate to have on our team and the commitment to respect that we share.”
For the company evaluations, Puget Sound Business Journal leveraged The GEN Index, which provides a standardized measurement of workplace equity. Employees at each company were given an anonymous survey asking them to rate their employer’s commitment to a fair and equitable workplace. GEN then evaluated the companies according to standards of excellence across five tenets of workplace culture: bias neutrality, employee resonance, accessibility, gender perception gap and visible advocacy. GEN’s metrics quantify to what extent each organization:
- Embraces practices that counter the impact of bias;
- Provides programs and opportunities that increase job satisfaction for all genders; and
- Visibly communicates their commitment to gender equity.
Zipwhip will take the GEN Index report findings and identify opportunities where the company can continue to improve in these key areas.
“We have made positive strides, but we know we can always do more to enhance our culture and improve equity and diversity in our workforce,” said Kirsten Spoljaric, SVP, People at Zipwhip. “The data we get from this report and through research projects with other partners like Paradigm will help us continue to build upon our progress. We have high aspirations, with this team and our commitment, we’ll get there.”
This ranking adds to a growing list of recognitions for the company in 2019, including awards celebrating Zipwhip’s culture, leadership and work environment:
- Puget Sound Business Journal ranked Zipwhip no. 6 on Washington’s best workplaces list this year
- Seattle Business Magazine named Zipwhip the sixth-best company to work for in Washington (and first in employee benefits) based on employee survey results
- Comparably named Zipwhip one of the best places to work in the Seattle region based on employee reviews
- John Lauer, CEO of Zipwhip, was ranked among the nation’s top 30 CEOs for women by Comparably based on female employee reviews
- Lauer was named a finalist in EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year in the Pacific Northwest
- Zipwhip is ranked 26 on the GeekWire 200 list, an index of the most popular Pacific Northwest startups
Zipwhip pioneered the texting-for-business industry when it text-enabled the first landline phone number in 2014. Today, over 35,000 businesses rely on Zipwhip’s technology to communicate with their customers. As the industry leader, Zipwhip continues to prioritize inclusivity in every aspect of its business practice and ensures employees have a chance to voice their concerns and thoughts in comfortable settings like their Women of Zipwhip forum, Diversity & Inclusion council, and employee engagement surveys. The company uses these outlets for insights and discussions as a way to source suggestions from its employees on how Zipwhip can improve its policies.
Last year Zipwhip also partnered with The Riveter to launch a campaign celebrating women in the workplace. The #WMNWORK campaign debuted a career-advice text line that encouraged women and their supporters of all genders to text questions on how to expand and elevate their careers and get advice from local business leaders. Zipwhip also hosted a female-driven panel focused on “The Power of Women at Work” for their employees and the community. Zipwhip pays for employees to have access to The Riveter’s coworking spaces, diversity programming and learning and development opportunities.
For more information on the Puget Sound Business Journal’s Most Equitable Workplaces, please visit: https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/subscriber-only/2019/11/15/washingtons-most-equitable-workplaces.html?iana=hpt_hp2018_03_promo_list.
About Zipwhip
Zipwhip empowers companies to communicate with their customers in the most effective and preferred way possible – text messaging. As the pioneer of Texting for Business, Zipwhip first enabled text messaging to and from existing landline, VoIP and toll-free phone numbers in 2014. Zipwhip’s direct network connectivity, intuitive cloud-based software and an enterprise-grade API mean businesses can use any computer or mobile device to securely and reliably reach their customers, every time. Your customers are only a text away: https://www.zipwhip.com.
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