Fostering growth, diversity, and wellbeing at Rokt
Here at Rokt we launched into 2023 with the ambition of having our Best Year Yet. That was a high bar set on the back of unprecedented momentum and commercial success the business experienced in 2022 with 46% growth year over year. In the face of unforeseen market downturns, restructuring and fiscal tightening, we’re excited to share that Rokt is successfully living up to its ambition and we’re on our way to unleashing our full potential.
We’ve launched new solutions like Payments Marketplace, entered new markets with our Seattle office, invested in giving back to the community with our 1% Pledge — a global movement designed to make a positive social impact, launched a partnership with Teach for Australia to help break the cycle of disadvantage in education and announced a partnership with Red Bull Racing to inspire the next generation of leaders by creating more access for women within F1 racing and engineering.
As we forge through to meet our ambitious business goals, we remain steadfast in investing in our team and new talent. We continue to actively promote diversity and invest in employee experiences, learning and development, employee resource groups, and programs to celebrate our Rokt’stars so they can enjoy the ride.
To foster open communication and transparency, we share quarterly pulse surveys and an annual deep dive engagement survey aimed at amplifying the voices of our Rokt’stars and the diverse communities they’ve built within our organization. Over the years, our participation rate has continued to increase (currently at 97% participation) showcasing the power of our collective voice and the actions we take to support employee growth and wellbeing.
Here are a few of the ways we are maintaining our people-first culture.
Raising the bar on diversity
As Rokt continues on its hyper-growth journey, keeping diversity at our forefront is essential and remains a priority. As our company grows we take pride in the work we put into creating a culture where all employees feel comfortable in being their authentic selves. So far in 2023 we’ve:
- Run 18 live unconscious bias training sessions in New York and Sydney
- 100% of Rokt’stars attended a session
- 80% of attendees said they would recommend the training to others
- 70% of attendees said they learned something practical and useful they could apply to their professional and personal lives
- Set up new diversity employee resource groups for our Asian’stars and Blak’stars to uplift the voices of our Black and Asian and Pacific Islander community and create a more inclusive workplace
- Introduced new opt-in candidate processes to increase the sense of belonging for prospective Rokt’stars during the recruiting process
As we venture into the second half of the year (Rokt’s fiscal year runs from Feb-Jan), we’re committed to expanding the breadth of our candidate pool and creating more opportunities in the world of STEM. To achieve this, we’ve engaged in strategic partnerships including Lesbians Who Tech & Jopwell to improve our representation in interviews and identify areas for growth. We’ve also increased our presence at events like the LGBTQIA+ Inclusion Summit and Lesbians Who Tech to attract a diverse range of Rokt’stars and provide opportunities for our team members to connect with like-minded communities.
Our commitment to diversity in 2023 has led to significant milestones, including the appointment of our first female Chief Product Officer, Srishti Gupta. Through our partnership with Oracle Red Bull Racing, we’ve introduced key initiatives including “Rokt the rig”, a global talent search for the next female sim racer, aimed at bringing more diversity to the world of Formula 1 and sim racing. Our most recent deep dive engagement survey results show our commitment to diversity and the progress we’ve made over the years.
Prioritizing employee wellbeing
According to a recent Gallup study, only one in four US employees feel strongly that their company cares about their wellbeing. As we strive to collectively have our best year yet, we’ve doubled down on supporting our Rokt’stars’ health, wellbeing and vitality.
In the pursuit of ensuring the overall employee wellbeing, we’ve introduced various in-office sessions such as guided journaling, yoga, sound bath meditations and movement and mobility classes. Our main highlight has been ongoing training sessions with internationally acclaimed nutritional biochemist, Dr. Libby Weaver on “Fuels of Performance.” During these sessions Dr. Weaver helps our Rokt’stars learn healthy ways to manage stress and implement positive habits in their daily lives both in and outside of the office.
We recognize the significance of nurturing a healthy work-life balance for our team members, and we’re glad to see they feel cared for based on our survey results. In our most recent (Q3’23) engagement survey, Over 80% of our employees expressed that they feel ‘their manager cares about their wellbeing’, ‘respects their work life balance’ and ‘takes the time to get to know what matters to them’.
Unleashing the potential of every Rokt’star
Unleashing Potential – two words that are the backbone of our learning & development (L&D) program – because we believe the only way we can sustainably and systemically unlock the potential of our business, is by unlocking the potential of every Rokt’star that works with us.
The release of our annual deep dive engagement survey results provides an opportunity to both look back on some recent highlights from our L&D activity and a look ahead to what we have planned for the rest of 2023 and beyond.
At Rokt we believe everyone deserves access to the best training and resources in order to access the best version of themselves. It’s for that reason at the beginning of 2023 we announced an increase in our annual Level Up, L&D budget, allowing every Rokt’star to invest time in relevant courses, conferences, or materials to help them grow in their role. Since then we have seen some extraordinary uptake:
- 71 Rokt’stars working with Executive coaches across all levels of the business
- 43 working with acclaimed author Steven Kotler’s Flow Institute
- 3 pilot programs running on presentation skills across Sydney and New York
To support the growth of our emerging leaders, we launched a new leadership development program called Leadership Is For Everyone (LIFE) and in addition have provided numerous live training sessions for our senior and people leaders on topics like the art of feedback, managing difficult conversations, landing top talent, building a culture of belonging, and the transformative power of trust within teams.
Meet Simon from Rokt on Vimeo.
Enjoying the Ride
At Rokt we love what we do and thrive on the journey together. One of the many ways we come together to “Enjoy the Ride,” is our annual Global Kick Off (GKO), an annual Rokt’star gathering that provides an opportunity for our global offices to come together to celebrate our accomplishments and plan for our future. This year we’re planning our biggest GKO yet in Sydney in January 2024, where Rokt’s journey began.
With the second half of the year upon us, we’re excited to create lasting impacts for our Rokt’stars from the results of our Q2’23 survey. Our quarterly survey will continue to serve as a catalyst for improving our leadership, career development, and transparency. It allows us to foster an atmosphere where everyone can thrive. Our goal is not only to have our best year but also to set the foundation for our best decade yet!
Learn more about how we’re aiming to create a positive environment for our hyper-growth community of curious explorers here.