At Bunny Studio, we couldn’t be prouder of our business services and the work we do with our clients. However, we are also just as proud of our company culture. Our diverse team consists of 18 nationalities spanning five continents, multiple sexual orientations, different races, a variety of age groups, multiple languages, and diverse educational backgrounds. We know that to do our global best, we need a global perspective. And while we are so proud of our culture, we also know it still has room to grow, thrive, and become the best version it can be. Read on for more about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at Bunny Studio.
Let’s define Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
First things first. It’s important to have working definitions of the terms that make up DEI: diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Diversity – the presence of differences that can include race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic status, language, (dis)ability, age, religious commitment, or political perspective.
Equity – Organizations that promote justice, impartiality, and fairness within their procedures, processes, and distribution of resources practice equity.
Inclusion – An outcome to ensure those who are diverse actually feel welcomed and are welcomed. When a business is truly inviting to ALL, they are inclusive. Diverse individuals are able to participate fully in the decision-making processes and development opportunities within an organization or group when it is inclusive.
Why are diversity, equity, and inclusion so vital to an organization?
In our world today, our borders and boundaries are slowly but surely disintegrating. It’s easy to create a global organization, but it takes a little more effort to create an internally global organization. However, to meet the needs and goals we’ve set forth at Bunny Studio, there’s no doubt that a company made up of diversity, equity, and inclusion is what will complete us.
In Bunny Studio we are tackling global problems and those big problems are better solved by diverse groups of people rather than homogeneous groups of people. In Bunny Studio specifically, we try to be scientific in the way we build our platform and the way we build our culture. The more insights, data, stories, and perspectives you bring to problems that you are trying to solve, the more complete your solutions will be.
The perspectives our team members and freelancers can bring can only enrich our company, our individuals, and the brand we are striving for. At Bunny Studio, we believe that thriving communities, economies, and workplaces should be diverse and inclusive spaces.
We also know that it’s not just who fills our space, but how we create that space. We aren’t talking about an office here, but a global, virtual space where we meet, connect, and collaborate. It’s important that the space is one where we create opportunities and a space that is not just productive, but respectful, safe, and welcoming to many rather than a few.
Some numbers at Bunny Studio
While it’s important to talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion we’d also like to share a few numbers that show who Bunny Studio is made up of. Take a look:
- Our team members work across 18 countries and five continents including the Americas, EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa), and APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation)
- Of all of our team members including board members and freelancers, we have 73 who self-identify as female and 69 who self-identify as male
- We have a diverse age range
- Our leadership track consists of eight women and ten men
Bunny Studio is made up of multiple nationalities, different sexual orientations, and a variety of races, ages, languages, and educational backgrounds. We strive for this diversity and inclusion and feel that Bunny Studio offers a diverse team and company culture.
Why do we do it?
We already touched on why diversity, equity, and inclusion are so vital to an organization, but now let’s talk about why it’s so vital to us at Bunny Studio. We also mentioned some of our current diversity, including gender/sexual orientation, race, age, and nationality. However, we know there is so much more we can do.
When a workplace is accepting, team members are more comfortable to be themselves and invest themselves in the work as well as the company. We love mutual respect, and a company can’t expect to have that respect if they don’t offer it in return. We also know life happens. It doesn’t wait until a team member is off work so we strive to work with our team to make days easier. In fact, we often get to see kids and pets on calls, and we welcome that. This culture helps us feel connected though we are across the oceans and continents from one another.
It’s important to us to make the commitment to our team and let them know that through the thick and thin that we now know this world offers, we are here to support, respect, and build up our team.
What we do
We know there is so much to do to create this workplace we so strive for. Though we still have a long way to go before it’s completely ideal, we feel pretty proud of some of the things we already do to make Bunny Studio a comfortable, safe place to be.
One of our topmost priorities is our value of trust, assertiveness, and empathy, along with critical thinking. We hold the guiding principle of respect and dignity for the diversity of life. At Bunny Studio,
…we don’t hesitate to call each other out whenever {someone makes} a discriminatory remark. Let’s face it we don’t want to, but all of us have made remarks that were discriminatory, and we should have a culture of honest and transparent communication where we teach and learn from each other of the mistakes we make.
Whether it’s a comment related to mental health, nationality, race, or gender, Bunny Studio is not the place for derogatory comments, judgment, or negativity. And one way to get past this is to learn and to teach in a compassionate, yet assertive, manner.
Holidays
With our 18 nationalities, we don’t have a company-wide policy on national or religious holidays. Our team members live around the world and have different national and religious holidays. We want to hear from our team about what they need and coordinate with them so they can celebrate what is meaningful to them.
Mental health
Most companies offer sick days, but do they offer mental sick days? We understand the need to regenerate, regroup, and replenish. It’s been a tough few years on everyone, and while some things may be related to the state of the world, others are just related to oneself. We look at mental health as any other health condition and want to provide the best support and space for all of our team and their mental health.
Zero tolerance
There is no place here for discrimination of any kind, whether it’s directed at race, ethnicity, mental health, (dis)abilities, or any factor whatsoever. We are a zero-tolerance workplace and will continue education and development of awareness and recognition of microaggressions and unconscious biases. Accepting and inclusive communication is our goal.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion goals for the future
Yes, we do a lot here at Bunny Studio to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. But there is so much more to do. We plan on continuing on this DEI path and becoming stronger, more accepting, and sharing an interdependent trust with our teams. We have designed some goals for the coming future and in 2020 some of the things we plan on doing are as follows:
- Improve our equitable hiring practices
- Continue to implement an Open Salary Policy so that everyone regardless of gender and minority status can earn the same in the same position without negotiation
- Continue and strengthen our Zero Tolerance policy
- Understand how culture affects business
Culture
Our culture at Bunny Studio is one of the most important things to us. In fact, we list it as number one in the article, Top 10 reasons to work at Bunny Studio. Collaboration and diversity are in our blood. Our positive culture of leadership, collaboration, and mentorship is what makes us the successful company that we are. We are a human-centered workplace and are proud of our diversity and our compassion.
It’s also not enough to only practice diversity, though. Sure, you can show this with numbers and statistics, but there also has to be equity and inclusivity. We strive for a culture at Bunny Studio that makes everyone feel welcome, valued, and safe. At Bunny Studio, we value everything that makes each team member who they are. We don’t expect conformity; we expect individuality. In fact, we thrive on the individuality each of our team members and freelancers brings.
Striving for the best we can be
We are proud of what we do and how we do it at Bunny Studio. The success of our company aside, we can say we feel good about our company culture. If we learned. nothing else over the past couple of years, it’s that the people of an organization make the organization. Companies can’t just focus on numbers and output, but they have to see who is creating these numbers and successes. We also have to look at underrepresented groups and help them find footing and a place of equity. While we do think we do a pretty good job here, we know we can do better.
Let’s look at this quote from Nellie Borrero. She is an executive and highly respected leader recognized for her passion for inclusion and diversity.
Diversity is a fact, but inclusion is a choice we make every day. As leaders, we have to put out the message that we embrace and not just tolerate diversity.
We plan to continue to grow at Bunny Studio, embracing our global perspective and global team, honoring our different insights, and learning from one another. We also hope to see more companies do the same.
