When a company prioritizes equitable hiring and promotion practices, the impact goes far beyond the interview process.
Entire organizations benefit when everyone has an equal chance at landing a role. Not only does a sense of belonging lead to a 56 percent increase in job performance, according to a Forrester study, but it can boost business success as well. A study conducted by McKinsey & Company revealed that companies in the top 25 percent for ethnic and cultural diversity were 36 percent more profitable than those in the bottom quarter, and when there was a high representation of women at the C-suite level, profitability rose to almost 50 percent.
That’s why Benchling has made diversity and inclusion much more than just a single program. According to Head of DE&I Roni McGee, the biotech platform provider has embedded equity into the systems that shape employees’ everyday experiences, such as compensation, internal mobility and professional development.
“The goal is to reduce bias, expand access to opportunity for underrepresented talent, and create a more equitable experience for everyone,” she said.
Meanwhile, firsthand Health Inc ensures diverse talent has an equal chance to thrive from the very beginning. Chief People Officer Amy Forrester said that the company’s people partners are present during applicants’ final interview to push for different perspectives, uncover possible flags and ensure the organization is holding a high bar for talent.
“This rigor and thorough inspection of each candidacy has improved our overall quality of hire,” she said.
Below, McGee and Forrester share more about how their companies have made measurable progress with diversity and inclusion, how this is reflected in the hiring and promotion processes and how belonging is cultivated through consistent rituals.
Benchling’s cloud-based platform is designed to accelerate how biotech companies discover, develop, and scale life-changing products by bringing together scientific workflows, structured data and collaboration tools in one place.
What measurable progress have you made on diversity and inclusion — and which program drove it?
At Benchling, our diversity and inclusion progress hasn’t come from a single program — it’s come from embedding equity into the systems that shape everyday employee experience. We’ve integrated inclusive practices across hiring, development, pay, promotions and internal mobility, with tools like structured interviews, clearer performance frameworks and pay equity reviews. The goal is to reduce bias, expand access to opportunity for underrepresented talent, and create a more equitable experience for everyone. We’ve also made this a leadership expectation. Leaders are accountable for how equity shows up on their teams through opportunity distribution and inclusive environments.
“Leaders are accountable for how equity shows up on their teams through opportunity distribution and inclusive environments.”
We measure progress through outcomes that reflect real experience: retention of underrepresented employees, belonging scores and ERG feedback. These signals show not just who joins, but who stays, grows, and feels they belong. Our shift has been from standalone programs to embedding equity into how we operate, making progress both measurable and sustainable.
Which practice increased fairness in hiring or promotions — and what metric improved as a result?
The practice that’s most meaningfully increased fairness in our hiring process is having evaluations anchored in leadership principles. Each interviewer assesses a specific competency using a shared question bank and structured scorecards, creating consistent standards across candidates and interviewers. This reduces individual interpretation and aligns how we evaluate skills like collaboration, problem-solving and impact. We’ve paired this with strong accountability.
Through our quality of hire framework, leaders reflect on hiring decisions at 45, 90 and 180 days, with HR business partners reviewing patterns and identifying opportunities to improve. This ensures we’re continuously learning from outcomes, not just making thoughtful decisions in the moment. As a result, we’ve seen greater consistency, stronger alignment across interviewers and increased confidence in the fairness of the process. Today, 98 percent of new hires meet or exceed expectations within their first 180 days at Benchling.
What ritual consistently builds belonging — and how do you know it’s working?
Belonging doesn’t begin months into the job; it starts the moment someone says “yes.” At Benchling, we’ve intentionally designed onboarding to create connection from day one. One of the most impactful rituals is our “First 45 Conversations.”
Within their first 45 days, every new hire has a structured set of connection points not just with their manager, but with cross-functional partners, ERG members and peers outside their immediate team. These aren’t performance-driven meetings; they’re designed to help people understand how work gets done, build early trust, and see where they fit in the broader organization. Managers play an active role by curating these connections and helping new hires reflect on what they’re learning: what’s clicking, where they feel included, and where they may still feel like an outsider. This makes belonging a shared responsibility, not something left to chance.
We measure the impact through our 45-day quality of hire check-ins and engagement data, looking specifically at early indicators of connection and clarity. The signal is clear: Employees who build strong networks early ramp faster, stay longer, and report a stronger sense of belonging.
Established in 2021, firsthand Health Inc supports individuals living with serious mental and physical illnesses by helping them connect with peer support, social benefits and community resources, and care providers.
What measurable progress have you made on diversity and inclusion, and which practice increased fairness in hiring or promotions — and what metric improved as a result?
It’s simple, but we debrief every candidate who makes it to the “onsite stage,” and we ensure one of our people partners is present for the discussion. Our people partners are there to push for different perspectives, to uncover possible red flags and to ensure that we’re holding a high bar for talent. They also have an ear out for unintended bias and are empowered to check that during the debrief. This rigor and thorough inspection of each candidacy has improved our overall quality of hire.
“Our people partners are there to push for different perspectives, to uncover possible red flags and to ensure that we’re holding a high bar for talent.”
What ritual consistently builds belonging — and how do you know it’s working?
In our most recent engagement survey, 91 percent of firsthand team members report feeling that they belong here. It’s not an accident; we are explicit that we want people to bring their lived experience to work. We have many rituals, both big and small, that help strengthen the culture and community within firsthand. Whether it’s our monthly all-team meeting, daily huddles or fun Slack channels to connect with colleagues across the organization (my favorites are #kidsandplantsandpets and #firsthandchefs), we are intentional about creating space and celebrating our team members.
