'The EH way is the EH way': Employment Hero's culture in focus after IWD move
Internal documents reveal the highly valued HR startup was so determined to maintain its "apolitical" culture it cancelled an International Women's Day initiative on fears it risked "unnecessary division".
Highly-valued resources software startup Employment Hero took a novel approach to celebrating International Women's Day this year: cancelling an initiative related to the event and scheduling a talk by its two male co-founders on company values instead.
Last month, Capital Brief reported that Employment Hero CEO Ben Thompson faced criticism from sections of the startup ecosystem for making "schoolboy dick jokes" relating to WiseTech founder Richard White.
Now, internal communications have surfaced revealing the company shut down plans developed by an internal working group called 'Future Leaders' to create videos highlighting some of its women employees for IWD. It cited its "apolitical" workplace policy for the move.
Internal messaging obtained by Capital Brief shows chief-of-staff Zara Tonkin told staff at the time that Employment Hero "does not recognise people based on their gender" and considers "spotlighting talent of a certain gender" as creating "unnecessary division between our teams".
