Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

GoDaddy 2023 Sustainability Report: Our Employees | Employee Experience

Jun 17, 2024 10:00 AM ET
Campaign: GoDaddy Sustainability News & Reports
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Originally published in GoDaddy's 2023 Sustainability Report

Employee Experience

We’re fostering a culture of learning and engagement.

Everything we do rests upon GoDaddy’s incredible people who devote their time, talent, and energy to working here. That’s why we take a human-centered approach that focuses on individual needs. We facilitate the growth and success of our employees by creating an engaging and meaningful employee experience, providing career development opportunities, and offering competitive compensation and benefits. We continuously work to improve our talent management approach to better serve our employees and be an employer of choice.

Inclusive Recruitment 

Our commitment to inclusion and equity starts at the beginning of a potential employee’s journey with us. We strive to attract diverse and talented candidates by showcasing our inclusive culture and principles to the world. We carry this through to different policies, benefits, products, resources, and other efforts that help create an inclusive environment for us and our customers. These include:

  • Expanding candidate eligibility to include those with nonlinear or nontraditional backgrounds in early career talent positions, including university and early career partnerships with diversity and equityrelated organizations and groups. We focused on partnerships with organizations like Rewriting the Code and their Black Wings group and ColorStack.
  • Highlighting our employer brand and culture to attract diverse talent by attending events like Pride and Veteran’s Day Parades, Black Tech Fest, and Conferences for Women; featuring employees from employee resource groups (ERGs) with diverse backgrounds to spotlight personal and professional journeys; and running gender diversity ads on social media focused on representation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)-based roles.
  • Writing job descriptions to reduce gendered language bias and developing inclusive language across job descriptions.
  • Posting nonconfidential job opportunities on internal job boards to encourage and enable mobility within the organization.
  • Utilizing a virtual interview platform allowing applicants the opportunity to specify their pronouns, preferred names, and name pronunciation during the interview.
  • Offering interviewer training on best practices for an inclusive candidate experience and to mitigate bias in the interview process.

Performance Reviews 

We value transparency in all areas of our company, and that extends to both feedback and introspection. Our performance review process includes formal mid-year and year-end reviews for employees with appropriate tenure. At these reviews, employees and managers discuss goal setting, career development, performance insights, and peer feedback. Employees can evaluate their own performance via self-evaluations. Through our annual GoDaddy Voice employee survey, we ask employees to share their feedback and their perspectives on their career development.

  • 85/100: Achieved average scores of 85 out of 100 (scores converted to 100-point scale) on the questions, “My manager helps me stay focused on our top priorities” and "My manager provides me with feedback that helps me improve my performance.

Our performance management processes are also designed to be fair and equitable. We implement company-wide processes to help reduce variance in performance assessments between groups with different genders, ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds, ages, and other factors. This involves ensuring that we assess both the work that people complete and how they complete it in alignment with our values. It also includes focusing on action and outcomes as opposed to style and personality to ensure consistency in feedback and providing equal evaluation time.

Promotion Parity 

We partnered with Stanford University’s VMware Women's Leadership Innovation Lab to create company-wide processes that reduce variance in performance assessments between demographic groups. 

As part of that effort, when we shared our first pay parity analysis in 2015, it showed that while women and men were paid at parity for similar roles, women weren’t advancing in all positions at the same rate as their male counterparts. This finding led us to create an ongoing process to proactively identify qualified employees who should be considered for promotion. This proactive promotion flagging process identifies potential eligible employees who could be reviewed for promotion, rather than relying on subjective criteria and identification. The initiative immediately impacted and continues to enable our ability to support the career advancement of all employees, while mitigating the potential effects of bias through the process.

Employee Engagement 

GoDaddy is a global company with employees around the world. We operate a hybrid workplace model, with employees working both in offices and remotely. While this allows GoDaddy to best serve our diverse global customer base, it can create distance between teams. To narrow this distance, we strive to foster communication and collaboration among employees, create meaningful opportunities for engagement, and cultivate an inclusive community. 

We do this through multiple employee engagement programs. The GoDaddy Fun Fund provides resources for employees to engage in important team building activities — either in-person or virtually. Everyday Champions is our global employee recognition program that connects our global workforce, allowing employees to recognize and celebrate each other’s successes, from going above and beyond at work to simply stepping in to lend a hand where needed. Employees can give recognition, and managers and people leaders can give points-based recognition to their coworkers. Recognized employees can redeem accrued points for items in our Everyday Champions catalog.

Employee Resource Groups 

Even when we’re physically apart, we aim to bring together our employees working across different areas of the company and from different backgrounds. ERGs play a critical part in fostering our culture. They’re employee-led groups formed around common missions, identities, affinities, or interests. Each ERG is open to all employees, including allies and champions. ERGs provide a space for employees to develop relationships, support professional development (both for themselves and others), engage in corporate projects and programs, learn from each other, and have some fun. In addition to the personal benefits, ERGs help empower GoDaddy’s business priorities and goals across talent, learning, business, and community development. 

In 2023, we continued to enhance employee engagement within ERGs and broaden their impact by developing new and refining existing procedures, processes, roles, and events.

Our 11 Global ERGs are:

  • GD Abilities in Tech 
  • GD Asians in Tech 
  • GD Black in Tech 
  • GD Entrepreneurs in Tech 
  • GD Fitness in Tech 
  • GD Green
  • GD LatinX in Tech
  • GD Next in Tech
  • GD United (LGBTQIA+)
  • GD Veterans in Tech
  • GD Women in Tech

Employee Feedback 

Listening to our employees is a critical component of our talent management approach. Through GoDaddy Voice, our annual engagement survey, we learn firsthand from our employees what is working and where we need to improve. In 2023, 80% of our employees participated in the GoDaddy Voice survey, revealing insights such as:

  • 90/100: Achieved an average score of 90 out of 100 (scores converted to 100-point scale) on the question, “Employees on my team treat each other with respect.”
  • 89/100: Achieved average scores of 89 out of 100 (scores converted to 100-point scale) on the questions, “My supervisor/manager supports me” and “My manger models inclusive behavior.”

To address employees’ feedback, we created action plans and aim to share periodic updates to increase transparency.

Learning and Development 

Through our learning and development program, we aim to activate the exponential power of our people. We believe investing in our employees’ growth and skills not only benefits them but also contributes to the overall success of our company and our customers. Through our learning and development initiatives, we aim to achieve three goals:

  • Align employees to GoDaddy’s company strategy and goals.
  • Connect through experiential learning.
  • Grow skill sets for the future.

Our learning experiences help our employees develop their skills, enhance their knowledge, and grow their careers. Some of these experiences include: 

  • The Care and Services Learning Summit: A highly rated summit focused on global leadership, coaching, and change management, offered annually.  
  • GoDaddy Learning Days: Two full days of learning dedicated to professional development, inclusive engagement, and GoDaddy’s business, offered annually. More than 130 employees participated in Learning Days in 2023.  
  • LinkedIn Learning: A digital library offering more than 13,000 courses covering a wide range of technical, business, software, and creative topics. Licenses are available by request to enable employee learning and growth in a wide range of topics, including DEIB. 
  • Decision Lab: A decision-making simulation dedicated to fostering better and faster decision-making, helping to drive better outcomes and contribute to our company goals, offered several times throughout the year. Nearly 230 employees participated in Decision Lab in 2023. 
  • Elevate: A focused, nearly year-long leadership training program that connects GoDaddy Guides in Care and Services with opportunities to develop operational excellence and build leadership skill sets. There were 41 learners that participated in the Elevate Guide program in 2023. 

In 2023, we continued to hold quarterly career workshops and released career spotlight podcasts to showcase the career stories of our own employees.

Leadership Training

We recognize that strong leadership inspires strong teams. In addition to our learning experiences, we offer several pathways for leaders to develop their skills, including:

  • New Manager Onboarding: A required four-week course for new managers to learn about the high standards required for those in GoDaddy management positions and provide resources to help them succeed. More than 120 new or newly promoted managers were assigned and/or completed the curriculum in 2023.
  • GoDaddy Leadership Development Program (GoLD): A manager and leadership development program providing ongoing support through a suite of courses covering topics like leading virtually, leading through change, giving feedback, coaching, and having difficult conversations. Nearly 400 leaders engaged with GoLD content in 2023.
  • Lift Manager Development Program: A multi-month program for Care and Services managers to enhance key leadership traits that enable leaders to achieve great results with their team. Almost 70 employees participated in this training program in 2023.

16 Hours: Employees spent an average of 16 hours on learning and development training in 2023.

We know everyone learns differently. GoDaddy believes conversation is a powerful learning tool to ignite change, help us learn more about each other, introduce new ways of thinking, and create a more inclusive environment. That’s why in 2023, we launched You Belong: A Speaker and Conversation Series. Through this series, we host both external and internal experts, thought leaders, and changemakers to discuss key topics such as DEIB, empathy, allyship, current events, and more. In 2023, we hosted conversations on critical topics including the importance of representation and equity in product design. Through this series, GoDaddy employees can expect fresh perspectives, thought-provoking discussions, and more opportunities to learn and grow. 

In 2024, we continue our aim to empower employees, foster a culture of continuous learning, and provide opportunities for personal and professional growth. This includes evaluating the use of AI to facilitate opportunities to learn from each other and help identify what employees are seeking to create detailed, personalized development plans.

Awards and Honors

Benefits 

Our employee total rewards include a range of comprehensive and competitive offerings that support our human-centered approach and allow us to attract and retain top talent. Our global employee assistance provider, Lyra Health/ICAS, provides various confidential support options, including virtual and in-person therapy, coaching, and unlimited access to self-care apps to help navigate difficult topics like stress, anxiety, depression, substance use, and relationship challenges. 

In 2023, to improve our benefits offerings, we provided a new medical plan option, improved network for dental care, increased GoDaddy contributions to the employee Health Savings Account, increased basic life insurance coverage, and added a surrogacy reimbursement, among other efforts. 

Additional benefits available in many of our locations include:

  • A U.S. benefits package offering comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and disability plans. 
  • 401(k) with employer-matching and 401(k) student loan provision (effective January 1, 2024). 
  • An equity plan and employee stock purchase program to promote a sense of company ownership among our employees. 
  • Professional development opportunities and tuition support. 
  • Global wellness days, which are four dedicated days for employees to disconnect from work and prioritize their well-being.
  • Family benefits, like a day care subsidy, paid parental leave, foster care assistance, adoption assistance, and fertility coverage. 
  • Tuition assistance programs, which provide eligible full-time employees with up to $5,000 per year toward approved costs for higher education or professional certifications. 

For more information on our employee benefits, please review our Careers page.

Employee Giving and Volunteerism 

We inspire, enable, and encourage our employees to be a force for good through giving and volunteerism. All GoDaddy employees are eligible for 20 hours of paid time off annually to volunteer. On a first-come, firstserve basis, each GoDaddy employee can access up to $1,500 annually to match their donations to eligible nonprofit organizations and/or to reward eligible nonprofit organizations $35 per every hour the employee volunteers with the organization. Through this program lead by the Corporate Sustainability and ESG team, employees reported over 4,600 volunteer hours in 2023 alone.

  • 4,639: Hours volunteered in 2023.
  • $960,191: Donated through employees, volunteer rewards, corporate funds, and matching donations in 2023.
  • 757: Nonprofits donated to in 2023.
  • $114,050: Lent to small businesses by employees and corporate funds through Kiva in 2023.

GoDaddy Employees Volunteering in their Community 

Since 2017, GoDaddy employees volunteered their time to participate in the U.S. Department of State’s TechWomen Program, aiming to empower, connect, and support women leaders in the STEM field. TechWomen provides participants access to networks, resources, and knowledge to empower them to reach their full potential. During the five-week program, emerging women leaders from Africa, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East come together with GoDaddy employees at our U.S. offices for a projectbased mentorship and exchange program.

Fostering Inclusive Entrepreneurship Through GoDaddy Employees and Kiva

 Since 2015, GoDaddy has partnered with Kiva, an international nonprofit with a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive through crowdfunding loans. This partnership reflects our drive to make entrepreneurship more inclusive for all. In 2023, employees supported this mission by having the opportunity to choose which eco-friendly entrepreneurs received GoDaddy funds in celebration of Earth Day and by supporting the entrepreneurs of their choosing during U.S. Small Business Month. Additionally, GoDaddy publicly matched loans up to four times the giving amount, supporting select U.S. communities where Empower by GoDaddy has had programming. With employee help, in 2023, GoDaddy disbursed $114,050 across 640 loans to small business owners.

Ambitions for 2024 

We’ve come a long way in building an inclusive and equitable employee experience in the past decade, and we are incredibly proud of our achievements. We know, however, there isn’t a finish line and we’re committed to improving our performance on our ongoing journey. The more our people are empowered here at GoDaddy, the more we can empower entrepreneurs around the world to pursue and achieve their dreams.

To learn more, read our 2023 Sustainability Report.

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About this Report 

The GoDaddy 2023 Sustainability Report details our progress toward our corporate sustainability goals, strategies, and initiatives in support of our overarching corporate mission and values. Unless otherwise noted, this report reflects our corporate sustainability performance across our global operations covering the fiscal year period from January 1 to December 31, 2023. To demonstrate our commitment to transparent communication regarding our sustainability progress, we routinely share updates through our website and our annual Sustainability Report. We welcome your questions, comments, and feedback on this report by contacting ESG@GoDaddy.com.

This report references the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards and includes select Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) metrics for the Internet Media and Services sector. We also disclose our contributions and progress toward priority UN SDGs. For additional information on how we align with these frameworks and key indicators demonstrating our sustainability performance, please review the Frameworks and Metrics section.

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