Culture Champions: How Sailpoint Continues to Rally Employees in This New Virtual World
For the second installment of the Culture Champions blog series, we are checking in with Sailpoint, an Austin-based company, that is dedicated to giving back no matter the circumstances. Check out the conversation below with Becky Harmonson, Sailpoint’s Culture Program Manager, for the second installment of our Culture Champions blog series.
Your CEO, Mark McClain, said in a recent virtual panel that, “Crisis has been said to reveal character for humans; in businesses, crisis reveals culture.” What has this pandemic and coronavirus crisis revealed about the SailPoint culture?
Great question. The pandemic revealed our resiliency and revealed our preparedness. Many of our roles can be done remotely and done well. We had every tool in our toolbox to make this happen. In short, we had all the technology in place already to go 100% remote, and we look forward to teaching others how they can work remotely, productively, and securely. From a company culture perspective, we rallied together. We adopted our #SAILon mantra to get us through tough times. This idea is a rallying cry to each other where we share stories of inspiration, lend a helping hand, or listen to one another. We also love sharing pictures and lives with fellow crew members. Additionally, our philanthropic efforts are more critical than ever as we navigate this virtual world.
2. SailPoint has consistently been a supporter of and encouraged employee engagement with local nonprofits; how have you done that pre-pandemic?
We have many longstanding partnerships in the Austin community that we continue to support year after year. However, we also encourage crew members to bring new opportunities to us each year. We believe that if a specific charity is near and dear to an individual's heart, the ripple effect will be felt across the org. Each year, we hold our annual Sailanthropitch event! Crew members are allowed to nominate their favorite charity. Five charities are chosen, and crew members then hear a pitch from each charity. We then vote and, based on the percentage of votes, each charity receives a donation! All five charities receive something, and no one walks away empty-handed! The remarkable thing about this event, our remote employees can participate as well!
3. During the city’s stay-at-home orders, how have you found ways to continue to engage meaningfully and safely with these local NPOs?
This has been the highlight of my job. Seeing how we can pivot to virtual philanthropic organizations has been remarkable. I have also been amazed how so many of our philanthropic partners have continued to adjust and jumped right in and created virtual events for supporters to participate in! As an event planner, I recognize that this is no easy task, and now virtual games look to be the norm for a while. We have made several lunches and learns where we have invited a specific charity to join us on zoom and share their mission, tell us their needs, and recruit volunteers. For example, Code2College joined us for a meeting this past summer to share with the crew their volunteer opportunities for the 2020-2021 school year, and we had several crew members sign up to volunteer before the lunch and learn was over.
4. How do you anticipate the changes that we’ve seen during this global pandemic having a lasting impact on SailPoint’s culture? How about the way that you give back philanthropically and engage with the community?
Our philanthropic efforts will not change. The SailPoint Gives Back Foundation will continue to look for ways to create meaningful and impactful opportunities to give back in their communities. We will lean into what our partners are doing on their side and adjust on our side to accommodate their efforts.