Cisco’s leadership team is all about cultivating diverse skill sets among employees, and cross-collaboration between departments is strongly encouraged. “We take pride in understanding the many facets of Cisco’s business,” say one employee. “Sixty-three percent of employees’ time is spent communicating and collaborating.”
In the same vein, here are a few other compelling statistics:
• 56% of employees’ work is accomplished away from their desks;
• 35% of collaborative work is done virtually;
• 40% of Cisco employees report to a manager located in another city; and,
• 85% telecommute at least part of the week.
One of Cisco’s most distinguishing characteristics is its diversity. According to an employee, “Diversity, the collective mix of who we are as individuals, is central to Cisco’s culture and way of doing business. Cisco actively seeks to hire people of diverse backgrounds, cultures, skills and points of view.”
The company also supports diversity in other ways, offering tax true-ups for gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered (GLBT) employee dependents, and founding a Diversity Council in 2007 “to integrate inclusion and diversity into our business processes and operations at all levels.” PRN