Building Equitable, Balanced Teams and a Sense of Belonging
Atlassian's mission is to unleash the potential in every team—including our own. We know that the highest performing teams include people with diverse perspectives and ways of solving problems. We also know that in order to help those people do their best work, they need to feel like they can be authentic at work and feel that they belong on their team. Research has shown that diverse teams perform better, but how can companies reap these benefits? Diversity starts at the team level, and we must think more deeply than simply top-line representation, embracing the growing complexity of building an equitable company where everyone feels like they can have impact.
"We're building for a wide variety of customers, and thus, our teams need to reflect their perspectives as we create products and practices to address their needs."
We've realized that in order to continue making progress, we've got to go beyond our sometimes limited associations with “diversity.” It's not only about how many people of a specific demographic are represented at the company level. It's about balancing various perspectives--which we know come from our identities and life experiences--across teams, at all levels of the organization. And it’s about how people feel when they come to work.
Balance
We’re on a mission to build balanced teams across our organization. We're trying to build teams where people can bring their unique viewpoints--informed by the identities they hold and the experiences they’ve had--and know that they're valued. Balance allows us to consider the experiences of people who are often left out of the “diversity” conversation: people with disabilities, Indigenous people, caregivers, autistic people, those with intersectional or liminal identities, and many others. We believe that helps everyone feel like they have a stake in the conversation, and helps create greater incentives for everyone support each of their teammates.
Belonging
We’re also thinking beyond “inclusion” as our goal for what it feels like to work at Atlassian. We want to focus on something we all fundamentally need: a sense of belonging. Bringing this concept to the forefront has set our bar higher. We've always said that we want people to be able to do the best work of their lives at Atlassian, and we know that feeling like you belong is crucial in order to fulfill that promise, and for people to feel like they can be authentic at work.
We're building for a wide variety of customers, and thus, our teams need to reflect their perspectives as we create products and practices to address their needs. To ensure that we're reflecting the experiences of our audience, we looked at the balance within our teams for the fourth year in a row.
What we learned
Over the last four years, we’ve learned that while there’s a lot we can do to create a positive, equitable environment for all Atlassians, and it often comes down to doing the basics well. This year, we’ve rolled out process changes and audits to ensure fairness and objectivity, invested in developing our managers so that they can better support their teams, and provided more guidance on how employees can build greater connection across their teams.
Think structural
We know that the systematic exclusion of certain groups--including Black Americans, women, and people with disabilities--from the tech industry is structural, and so we need to develop structural solutions to these problems. This year, we launched our bias-resistant performance review, which included proactive audits to ensure equity in regards to gender, race (for our U.S. offices), and team members working remotely, and categories where possible. We’re excited to report that these changes have improved employees' clarity about our progress and their sense of fairness about their scores, and we’ll be incorporating these learnings into the rest of our People processes over the next year.
Think structural
We know that the systematic exclusion of certain groups--including Black Americans, women, and people with disabilities--from the tech industry is structural, and so we need to develop structural solutions to these problems. This year, we launched our bias-resistant performance review, which included proactive audits to ensure equity in regards to gender, race (for our U.S. offices), and team members working remotely, and categories where possible. We’re excited to report that these changes have improved employees' clarity about our progress and their sense of fairness about their scores, and we’ll be incorporating these learnings into the rest of our People processes over the next year.
Build for scale
As a growing company, we’ve learned that in order to keep making progress, we need to standardize how we recruit to ensure that we connect with the right people for our team, and ensure they can imagine themselves on the TEAM. This year, we’ve built a series of tools and guides to support our global team in identifying and connecting with a broad set of people, audited our processes to ensure all candidates have a positive experience, and provided greater access for interested underrepresented Atlassians to participate in our recruiting processes. These investments have helped us achieve some of our greatest year-over-year gains ever, including improving the representation of women globally, and the representation of Black and Latinx Atlassians in our U.S. offices. We’ll be extending and refining this work in the coming year and building new pathways to Atlassian for people with non-traditional educational and career paths.
Build for scale
As a growing company, we’ve learned that in order to keep making progress, we need to standardize how we recruit to ensure that we connect with the right people for our team, and ensure they can imagine themselves on the TEAM. This year, we’ve built a series of tools and guides to support our global team in identifying and connecting with a broad set of people, audited our processes to ensure all candidates have a positive experience, and provided greater access for interested underrepresented Atlassians to participate in our recruiting processes. These investments have helped us achieve some of our greatest year-over-year gains ever, including improving the representation of women globally, and the representation of Black and Latinx Atlassians in our U.S. offices. We’ll be extending and refining this work in the coming year and building new pathways to Atlassian for people with non-traditional educational and career paths.
Share what works
Over the last few years, we’ve learned a lot about what effectively builds greater belonging among people, and what data can help to direct resources to the people who benefit most from them. We also know that this challenge is industry-wide, and in order to solve it we all need to do our part. That’s why this year, we’ll be releasing more resources through our Playbook. We’ve productized the analysis and practices that have helped us improve, and hope that the new free assessments and plays help you to create a culture of belonging on your team.
Share what works
Over the last few years, we’ve learned a lot about what effectively builds greater belonging among people, and what data can help to direct resources to the people who benefit most from them. We also know that this challenge is industry-wide, and in order to solve it we all need to do our part. That’s why this year, we’ll be releasing more resources through our Playbook. We’ve productized the analysis and practices that have helped us improve, and hope that the new free assessments and plays help you to create a culture of belonging on your team.
“At Atlassian, we're playing the long game, valuing progress over perfection.”
30%
women in senior leadership roles
increase from 27% to 30%
3%
Black Atlassians in our U.S. offices
increase from 1.9% to 2.6%
20%
women in technical roles
increase from 17% to 20.1%
Looking to the future
We're excited about what we've been able to achieve this past year, but we’re embracing the fact that as we make progress, we’re continuously raising the bar on what we want to achieve. Over the next year, we’ll be continuing to invest in the areas we’ve made progress, and looking more deeply at a broader set of issues, among them accessibility of our spaces, products, and processes; how we can build paths to Atlassian for people with non-traditional education and careers, and how to ensure meetings are psychologically safe and inclusive.
Throughout the year, we’ll be sharing what we’ve discovered and the ways that we’re building a more equitable company. We’ll be productizing our solutions where possible, so we can make progress together.
We hope you’ll join us on the journey.
Balance across teams
| DEPARTMENT | TOTAL TEAMS | 1 OR MORE IN SYDNEY | 1 OR MORE WOMAN | 1 OR MORE PERSON 40+ | 1 OR MORE BLACK / AFRICAN AMERICAN | 1 OR MORE HISPANIC / LATINX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Support | 27 | 29.6% | 92.6% | 81.5% | 14.8% | 25.9% |
| Finance | 4 | 75.0% | 100.0% | 75.0% | 25.0% | 50.0% |
| HR | 14 | 57.1% | 100.0% | 57.1% | 7.1% | 28.6% |
| IT | 17 | 47.1% | 82.4% | 94.1% | 5.9% | 17.6% |
| Legal | 6 | 66.7% | 83.3% | 100.0% | 0.0% | 16.7% |
| Marketing | 21 | 14.3% | 100.0% | 66.7% | 9.5% | 33.3% |
| Software | 128 | 71.1% | 66.4% | 71.9% | 5.5% | 7.8% |
Data excludes “teams” of one. Race data only available for U.S.-based team members.
Have questions about our data? Check out our methodology here.
Balance within teams
Stats represent average number per team within each department.
For example, the average team in IT is composed of 8 people, 2 of whom are women, 2 are 40+, etc.
| DEPARTMENT | TEAM SIZE | SYDNEY | WOMEN | 40s | PEOPLE OF COLOR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Support | 16 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| Finance | 23 | 4 | 16 | 7 | 5 |
| HR | 10 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| IT | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Legal | 8 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Marketing | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Software | 12 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Data excludes “teams” of one. Race data only available for U.S.-based team members.
Have questions about our data? Check out our methodology here.
2018 Company stats
The tabs below contain company-wide statistics. Race data only available for U.S.-based team members.
Have questions about our data? Check out our methodology here.
Women in the workforce
Representation
Total Women
Technical
Non-technical
Leadership
12-month Hiring Rate
Total Women
Technical
Non-technical
Leadership
Race and/or ethnic identity
Race data only available for U.S-based team members.
White
Asian
Hispanic or Latinx
Two or more races
Black or African American
Decline to state
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or other Pacific Islander
White
Asian
Hispanic or Latinx
Two or more races
Black or African American
Decline to state
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or other Pacific Islander
White
Asian
Hispanic or Latinx
Two or more races
Black or African American
Decline to state
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or other Pacific Islander
White
Asian
Hispanic or Latinx
Two or more races
Black or African American
Decline to state
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or other Pacific Islander
Age
Representation
20s
30s
40s
50s+
12-month Hiring Rate
20s
30s
40s
50s+
Join the team
Our team's great, but we've got room for more if you're interested.