Lakeside Software’s DE&I Journey

Lakeside Software’s commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) is a natural extension of several of our core company values: authenticity, curiosity, collaboration, and teamwork. We believe that a diverse workplace — where every employee belongs, has a welcomed voice, and feels safe and supported — is the foundation of our innovative business in the digital employee experience (DEX) market. 

From our forward-thinking R&D to our customer-facing service, Lakeside is enriched by being a global company with 225+ professionals working across nearly 20 countries. We also celebrate the diversity of perspectives and insights of our multigenerational workforce, allowing Lakeside to marry the expertise and vision of our founders and long-time leaders in our market category with the up-to-the-minute skillset and change-making mindset of our early-career contributors. All facets enhance Lakeside Software’s corporate culture, innovation capabilities, differentiated positioning, and growth opportunities.  

Our DE&I Journey

2022: The Foundation for DE&I Actions

In 2022, our People & Culture team launched “Lakeside Lounge” employee affinity groups, which foster belonging and community experience. The goal of these groups is to bring us together while we enjoy the hybrid and remote work culture; new hires can meet existing employees by joining in the conversations and celebrating each other’s shared interests.

In fall 2022, Lakeside Lounge laid the foundation for our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) taskforce. It comprised 28 enthusiastic employee volunteers who began the important work of shaping our goals in this area. Additionally, to ensure accountability, we invested in a partnership with Mathison, a platform for measuring, benchmarking, and taking action on our DE&I goals.

2023: Building Momentum

2023 saw the early stages of maturing our DE&I strategy, where we set the groundwork for identifying and tracking measurable goals and defining our commitment to DE&I. In 2024, we continued to take notable action to attract and retain a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce.

In May 2023, Lakeside established ERGs, including Women’s Leadership Network, PRIDE, and the Parents’ Network.

Lakeside also launched a People Leader Community, which welcomes all people managers to meet monthly for training led by our Chief People Officer and People Success Partners. We use this platform, a dedicated Teams channel, and new leader training to continue discussion and awareness of limiting the effects of unconscious bias throughout the employment journey, including hiring decisions, rewards & recognition programs, performance review cycles, and promotions.

We invested significant resources to ensure our products and new website are intuitive and easy to use, with the belief that technology should be inclusive and available to anyone.

2024: Making Strides in Our DE&I Efforts

Lakeside made great strides in 2023 but focused on improving Talent Acquisition (TA) efforts in early 2024. The TA team launched a Hiring Philosophy, emphasizing diversity in hiring practices and the belief that “…every employee contributes to our collective strength and ongoing success as a business.”

The team followed this effort with a Commitment to Building Diverse Candidate Pipelines, highlighting initiatives such as educating Hiring Managers on the benefits of hiring diverse teams, sharing recruitment metrics, ensuring diverse interview panels, and reducing unconscious bias with structured interview scorecards and feedback cycles.

Lakeside also championed employee-driven community impact, supporting initiatives like Michigan’s Food Gatherers, Cradles to Crayons Boston, and team participation in charitable events such as 5k runs — all reinforcing Lakeside’s dedication to giving back.

2025: Looking Forward

In 2025, Lakeside will continue to work with Hiring Managers to understand what diversity means to their teams and where under-representation is felt most acutely; and we will continue to have Representation goals, recognizing that diverse ideas and perspective significantly enhance the quality of our collective work.

As we expand our DE&I reach, we are particularly interested in receiving candidate applications from a broad spectrum of individuals, including women, historically marginalized groups, individuals with disabilities, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, veterans, and any other legally protected group. Lakeside is dedicated to providing equal access and opportunity, as well as reasonable accommodation, for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, activities, and programs.

Lakeside is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not make hiring or employment decisions on any basis protected by applicable local, state, or federal laws or prohibited by Company policy.