As makers of League of Legends, the most played PC game in the world, Riot Games knows a thing or two about building great communities. So when coronavirus forced its closely-knit group of employees, affectionately known as “Rioters”, into isolated, virtual work conditions, the company knew it had to power up its Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) efforts to keep anxiety low and productivity high.
Enter Angela Roseboro, Chief Diversity Officer for Riot Games whose mission is to not only attract and retain talent but create a culture that allows its Rioters to focus on being the most player-focused game company in the world.
League of Legends
RIOT GAMES“We consider ourselves a community that works best together so having to leave a place that was our community was tough for our Rioters,” said Roseboro during the recent Qualtrics “Work Different” event.
This begs the question: how do you even create a sense of equality and eliminate some of the unevenness from the work-from-home experience during a pandemic?
A good first step is to give Rioters $1,000 to set up their own workstations and get comfortable. “We knew it was going to be a transition,” said Roseboro. In addition, contract workers, such as cafeteria staff, remained on Riot payroll as the company recognized the economic toll the pandemic would cause.
Roseboro also paid close attention to high anxiety and wellness early on. Resilience workshops and at-home yoga sessions were created, not just to deal with anxiety but to also keep Rioters connected.
Playing up performance
Early feedback from Rioters revealed they were nervous about how the pandemic would affect their performance as working from home brings additional responsibilities and stress. An Expectation Setting Tool for managers and Rioters allowed them to discuss schedules and expectations.
Giving Rioters the opportunity to say, ‘Here’s how I am going to work best’ and then have conversations to create a clear set of goals and agreements on how to work during this challenging time made all the difference, according to Roseboro. It’s one of many strategies to build trust.
“Our goal was to be very transparent and we have been doing that throughout the year,” said Roseboro. “I think transparency and authenticity are so important; just telling people what the real deal is and being authentic with your answers even if it’s unpopular.”
A bi-weekly “Ask Anything” Slack meeting where Rioters can convene and ask leaders anything they want also helps build trust.
We know those questions, we prepare for those questions and we answer them as honestly and authentically as we can, even if it’s not the popular thing to say or what people want to hear,” said Roseboro. “But I think that builds trust. We have honest conversations and it has been instrumental in understanding the challenges and opportunities not only in this time but to rebuild our culture as well.”
So how can someone in a similar position take that first step to make meaningful D&I changes in their organizations?
“D & I should be a part of your company’s DNA,” said Roseboro. “It should be embedded in every process, policy and business strategy. It’s not just about outside forces it’s about how you’re going to grow, how you’re going to be competitive and innovate. Making sure leaders are aware of this is hugely important.”
This year, Riot introduced an executive scorecard based on three things:
Representation: What is it, what is your hiring practice, what is your turnover?
Quantitative metrics: Riot moved to Qualtrics this year allowing Roseboro and team to comb through every question and look at different demographics, race, gender and tenure to see where the gaps are.
“It’s not just the D&I questions themselves, it’s every question where I get to see where the opportunities are and where we can engage and start to build plans,” said Roseboro. “We look at the average rate of diversity and what the conversion is. It’s all about bringing in a diversified group of talent”.
Have leaders share progress: Proclaiming D&I plans publicly makes leaders accountable for their own progress. According to Roseboro, it needs be done on a regular cadence. For Riot, that’s every two weeks. Meeting goals is important but not the entire point.
“It’s more about being authentic, staying true to what we said we were going to do and measuring our progress even if we have to pivot,” said Roseboro. “And we have to pivot a lot.”
