With a customer base exceeding 100 million and 15,000 employees around the world, Intuit is one of the biggest names in the world of financial software. People across the globe use Intuit products such as TurboTax, QuickBooks, Mint, Credit Karma and Mailchimp. Given Intuit’s prominence as a global technology platform, it’s not surprising that in 2017, Israel was officially named as Intuit’s second development center outside of the U.S.
Gene Golovinsky, General Manager of Intuit Israel and VP Security R&D, says that Intuit was quick to react to the challenge posed by the pandemic. “I’m proud to say that Intuit was one of the first companies that declared work-from-home mode across all our locations worldwide, long before the government decided to close our offices,” he says.
Fortunately, Intuit was digitally prepared in its employee management and recruitment processes, even before the pandemic hit. Golovinsky says that as the situation worsened, the company took concrete steps to alleviate difficulties. As unavoidable situations rose to the surface, like Zoom fatigue and the humane need to socialize, the company realized that benefits demanded a refresh that would cushion current circumstances. “We offered extra recharge days,” says Golovinsky, “which are paid vacation days on behalf of Intuit, piled on top of existing personal vacation days. We introduced new physical and mental health tools and ran countless sessions to ensure our employees feel that their work-life ratio is well-balanced. We also provided ergonomic equipment to help improve the Work from Home experience, and many more benefits were either added or increased.”
Golovinsky notes that even with the pandemic at a relatively low ebb at the present time, the company’s pre-Covid ecosystem cannot resume fully. He reports that 80% of Intuit employees would prefer a hybrid-workplace model that brings together the power of virtual collaboration with the benefit of opportunistic on-site interaction. Accordingly, the company has defined Intuit’s future work strategy, which came into effect May 16th, 2022:
· Establishing a hybrid working model that brings together the best of virtual work and in-person connections and collaboration.
· Reimagining our workplaces by evolving our offices to be dynamic spaces for co-creating, making social connections and innovating.
· “Widening our net” to attract talent by expanding our presence in new geographies to access more top talent and build an increasingly diverse workforce.
The majority of Intuit’s employees meet, collaborate and work from Intuit sites 2-3 days per week. “We are excited by the possibilities this strategy creates for our employees, our culture, and our ability to continue to deliver for our customers,” says Golovinsky.
Intuit’s head in Israel adds that the company celebrates diversity and inclusion, despite the hi-tech industry’s relatively low female representation. “We aim to be part of a culture that celebrates diversity and inclusion,” says Golovinsky. “Representation isn’t enough – it takes real culture change - creating equal opportunities for men and women can strengthen both teams and organizations, yet a company has to be passionate enough about equality to make it core to their culture. Increasing diversity is a commitment, but ensuring those employees stay at the organization and contribute in an equitable way should become the priority. An inclusive workplace should normalize discussions about careers, including feelings of confusion and the desire to get answers to hard questions.”
Golovinsky suggests that mentorship programs can be part of the solution. Tech Women @ Intuit has launched a global mentorship program that facilitates 1:1 mentoring relationships. He says that the company’s goal is to connect mentees with leaders and champions in the organization to invest, learn and develop.
Intuit Israel has also taken its own steps to encourage greater representation and participation of women in hi-tech, especially now, with the site’s aggressive growth. “For the 5th year in a row,” notes Golovinsky, “Intuit Israel, in cooperation with PyData Tel Aviv, brought and drove the international Women in Data Science (WiDS) Conference to Tel Aviv. The annual technical conference aims to inspire and educate data scientists worldwide and support women in the field by providing a counter to all-male panels. While all genders are invited to participate in the conference, WiDS features exclusively female speakers.
Additionally, our Women’s Network ERG (Employee Resource Group) aims to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace and helps build understanding and empathy in our employees around the world. Through this company supported and funded ERG, we motivate our employees to group together around a common identity to promote and exchange ideas they’re passionate about.”
Today, Intuit Israel has more than 350 employees based at its Petah Tikvah headquarters. Intuit Israel is central to the company’s mission of powering prosperity around the world by developing advanced capabilities and technologies that protect Intuit’s customers and enable the strategic use of data and deep insight.
This article is taken from The Jerusalem Post Israel Technology and Innovation Magazine 2022. To read the entire magazine, click here.
This article was written in cooperation with Intuit Israel