2023 Transparency Report
In 2020, we shared our representation data internally and established specific, measurable goals in the areas below to track our progress annually. In 2021, we published our first external transparency report and committed to sharing our representation data yearly as part of a foundational goal to prioritize equity, diversity, and inclusion (ED&I) throughout our entire organization. Publishing this data each year not only allows us to track progress on our goals, but it holds us accountable to our commitments and ensures that we’re applying an ED&I lens to everything we do.
Our annual transparency report shows our representation data along with the programs, policies, and actions we’ve taken to support systemic change within our organization and the communities we serve. This year, we’ve included the latest numbers we track against our organizational goals along with status updates on initiatives we implemented in 2023.
It’s important to note, these goals are guidelines we implemented to track accountability and progress as it relates to our ED&I initiatives. We publish this information for full transparency into the actions, status, and results of our efforts, and it in no way represents the extent of care, respect, and value we have for our people. Our employees are some of the most talented in the industry, and we care deeply about them as individuals, as experts in their craft, and as human beings outside of Instrument; our transparency report simply provides current data as we track our goals.
*Please note that all percentage points have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
As part of our vision for a diverse workplace, these goals were created in 2020 to support systemic change within our organization and evaluate progress through measurable objectives. Our percentages mirror the data sets that make up the U.S. Census population, and our goal is for our organization to be of equivalent or higher diverse representation by the end of 2025.
Instrument representation data was sourced from internal equal employment opportunity (EEO) reports or confidentially via Instrument People Operations (People Ops). It’s important to note that there is a percentage (7%) of employees who wish not to specify race and ethnicity data.
Though the data sets we use are vital to our ED&I efforts, we acknowledge that demographic figures don’t always provide a full picture. Despite questioning the fairness, accuracy, and inclusivity of the U.S. Census data, it continues to be the best data source as a foundational baseline for us to use. For more details, please review the Data & Definitions section below.
Additional Measurement
In addition to these goals, we are measuring other important employee data points at a granular level to help us paint a clearer picture. These include:
- Employee career advancement (promotional velocity) by race, ethnicity, and gender
- Employee attrition by race, ethnicity, and gender
- Personal identity attributes like sexual orientation, abilities, neurodiversity, military status, immigration status, gender identity, and/or identifying as transgender
- Qualitative employee experience survey data across 12 categories
Career Advancement
We monitor employee career advancement (promotional velocity) by race, ethnicity, and gender through several avenues:
- Monitoring all anticipated raises and promotions, including ways they impact our representation goals among leadership
- Monitoring our team loan and borrow data to ensure the impact of this strategy (meant to ensure business efficiency) doesn’t disproportionately impact members of historically underrepresented groups
- Conducting an internal equity audit of 2023 performance reviews to scan for sentiment and spot check for potential bias in reviews
We understand that no company can foster inclusion and innovation without addressing bias and understanding how it appears and impacts employees. We intentionally approached our 2023 performance reviews to address and reduce bias. This began with a multi-part learning series intended to equip employees and managers with the information and skills needed to ensure a successful review process, including guidance on self-reviews and equitable, culturally competent feedback. We offered optional career development consultations for all employees and optional 1:1 coaching sessions for affinity group members to help employees from all backgrounds feel supported and empowered throughout the review process.
Personal Identity Attributes
Please note that personal identity attributes are voluntarily and confidentially shared by employees. See Data & Definitions below for more on how we’re collecting and tracking this data.
In 2023, prompted by an inquiry from our LGBTQ+ and Disability affinity groups, we conducted a representation goal analysis to better understand these stakeholders’ needs and develop accountability metrics to ensure their visibility within the company. Through meaningful dialogue, we created an option for employees to self-identify as disabled and/or LGBTQ+ to be included in our 2024 anonymous employee engagement survey. We will then disaggregate the data to better understand the sentiments of these groups and provide more focused interventions where needed to ensure an equitable and improved employee experience for all. We’ve also identified tools, the Corporate Equality Index Criteria, and The Disability Equality Index to provide a roadmap for objective benchmarking to advance equity for LGBTQ+ employees and disabled employees at Instrument.
The Data
Equity & Inclusion Score
We use results from our annual employee engagement survey to track how inclusive and equitable employees find Instrument, and it continues to be a valuable metric. Our ongoing goal is to maintain or exceed an 80% favorability score, meaning at least 80% of employees answer this question with agreement (agree, somewhat agree, strongly agree). It’s important to note that we review the data collectively (AllCo) and through the lens of our BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) employee responses to track both views for any disparities.
It’s encouraging to see that we’re exceeding our goals in these metrics, and we’re always looking for ways to continue improving. In 2023, Sam Hosein, Associate Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, joined our team and we look forward to implementing new policies, processes, and training to provide an ongoing environment of equity and inclusion.
Race & Ethnicity - Overview & Detail
We’ve achieved our BIPOC representation goals across the organization, but we’re still behind the U.S. Census population in leadership representation. Though hiring decreased last year, we’re evaluating open roles and promotion opportunities as we track this goal in 2024.
Race & Ethnicity Detail
Though we’ve achieved our BIPOC representation goals at the company level, this data shows that our biggest areas of opportunity remain with LatinX or Hispanic and Black or African American-identifying employees.
Gender Representation Overview & Detail
Our goal for gender representation is to achieve 55% female representation in correlation to the U.S. Census female population, tracked both at the company and leadership levels. These results show that we’re ahead of our all-company goal and on track to achieve our leadership goal by the end of 2025.
Pay Equity
Equity is embedded in everything we do at Instrument, and visibility, accessibility, and adherence to our pay bands are essential in ensuring pay equity throughout the organization. Consequently, we monitor salary across career levels and in gender identity, race, and ethnicity to safeguard fair pay across the business.
Figure 8 below shows the percentage variance from the average salary per level across female and male-identifying employees.
Figure 9 shows the variance from the average salary across White and BIPOC-identifying employees. Variance within these levels is attributed to the placement within a pay band as it relates to leveling from our career progression framework. As of today, salaries across the company are 100% compliant with our pay bands.
When analyzing this data, we examine every variance and compare numbers year over year to account for each change in percentage point. After conducting an extensive review, our findings show that all variations from the average can be explained by attrition or promotional movement for individuals within their grouping or into new groups.
Figure 10 shows the variance from the average salary per level for each race and ethnicity. To protect individual privacy, we are not displaying data for groups with less than three individuals in the level, and the figure displays N/A in those cases. Although that makes the figure less meaningful in some ways, it is helpful in that it highlights our representation opportunities.
- Note that to protect individual privacy, we do not display data where less than three individuals comprise the related population; this is why nonbinary data is omitted from this table. Instrument deeply respects that gender is not binary, and reporting in this manner does not represent our position on the issue.
Instrument has achieved 100% compliance with pay bands for two years now. We are ready to continue leading in equity by launching an internal velocity metric in 2024. This new tool will allow us to track employee progression through the pay bands, identify contributing factors, and ensure equitable practices and opportunities for all employees across the organization.
Representation
Our Progress & Focus Areas
We’re pleased to have made progress in many of our goal areas throughout 2023, and we remain as committed as ever to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion. In 2022, we implemented two policies to ensure that all employees had equitable access to healthcare in response to the overturning of Roe v Wade. This year, we updated those policies to include inclusive language in response to an unprecedented and dangerous spike in anti-LGBTQ+ legislative proposals across the United States. The updated policies ensure that all employees can access these benefits if needed.
- Instrument’s Equitable Healthcare Access Relocation Policy is intended to provide financial support for employees who decide to permanently relocate based on state laws or restrictions that limit equitable access to healthcare.
- Instrument's Equitable Healthcare Access Time Off is intended to provide support for regular full-time employees and dependents who require time off for out-of-state travel to access care covered in our medical benefits plan.
To demystify and destigmatize the process of requesting work accommodations, we created an ADA Accommodations resource deck and corresponding ADA Accommodation request process that was shared with all employees with the updated employee handbook. Our goal is to offer more direct training and education on this process for managers in 2024.
In 2023, we also piloted a new training class for all employees entitled “Embrace Allyship in Your Organization.” Our goal was to provide skills and resources so all employees could be stronger collaborators in promoting equity in the workplace. Along with ongoing training, we hope to combat injustice through supportive personal relationships and public acts of advocacy.
As we continue tracking our goals, our focus areas for 2024 include increasing BIPOC and female representation in leadership, increasing representation of Black and Latinx employees, and developing additional inclusivity metrics to measure sentiments of LGBTQ+ employees and employees with disabilities. We’ve developed new initiatives to support these efforts, including internal upskilling and mentorship for leadership roles, additional team and discipline audits, increased presence at industry events and recruitment opportunities, and more.
Publishing this data annually helps us remain accountable. We will continue analyzing this data and evolve our efforts as we meet the changing needs of our organization while keeping equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging at the forefront of everything we do.
Data & Definitions
U.S. Census data was sourced from https://www.census.gov.
Instrument representation data has been sourced from internal EEO reports or confidentially via Instrument People Ops. There is a small percentage (7%) of employees who wish not to specify race and ethnicity data. Percentages are rounded to the nearest full percentage point.
We acknowledge that while demographic figures are vital to our ED&I efforts, they don’t always provide a full picture. While we have concerns about the fairness, accuracy, and lack of inclusivity in U.S. Census data, it remains the best data source as a foundational baseline for us to use. Race & Ethnicity reflect the EEO-1 categories required by the U.S. government reports; we understand that these are imperfect categorizations of both race and ethnicity.
Employees can voluntarily and confidentially share personal attributes like sexual orientation, disability status, military status, gender identity, or identifying as transgender. This process helps us understand the diversity of employees and ensures that we are making equitable and inclusive decisions.
Definitions
BIPOC
In the high-level race and ethnicity report, we are using BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) in place of the common “Non-White”.
RACE & ETHNICITY
Defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as, the self-identified categories of race or races and ethnicity chosen by residents, with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether they are of Hispanic or Latinx origin (the only categories for ethnicity).
MULTI-RACIAL
In the U.S. Census, people may choose to provide two or more races in a few different ways. "Two or More Races" refers to combinations of two or more of the following race categories: "White," "Black or African American," American Indian or Alaska Native," "Asian," Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander," or "Some Other Race".
Pay Equity FAQ
What does the % mean?
The percentages you see represent how far above (positive number) and below (negative number) each identity group’s average pay is from the average for their role level.
Why do I see N/A in some places?
To protect individual privacy, we have chosen not to show data for groups that have less than 3 individuals in them.
What is a role level?
To balance between maximizing privacy for individuals and providing meaningful data, we have grouped pay bands into “role levels.” Each level consists of multiple pay bands that fall within a close range of years of experience. Essentially if we didn’t do this, we would have to hide a lot more data to protect individual privacy.
What counts as pay?
For this report, only salaries were included. This means annual bonus amounts are not a factor for this report.
