Diversity

Omnibus Project: Q3 2017 results

Last April, we launched our diversity initiative, the Omnibus Project, to promote diversity at Busbud and beyond. Our team selects up to 5 actions per quarter that we can take to help foster diversity, and report publicly every quarter on our progress.

We are thrilled to share the results for Q3 2017, ending September 30th. Here are our 5 actions:

1. Shared leadership training

We decided to offer an opt-in shared leadership training session to team members, given the widespread interest across the company. We gained awareness about different communication and work styles and methods to leverage our differences in order to collaborate towards our goals and mission. The skills acquired range from active listening and establishing credibility and trust in a team setting, to improving verbal communication skills and building shared leadership.

2. New hire buddy program

Busbud is known to be a small, tight-knit crew. That said, in any company, it can be a little intimidating at first for a new hire to come into an unfamiliar office. With the new hire buddy program, we looked to help new recruits adjust to the Busbud environment. We decided to have someone from a different department buddy up with a new hire for one of their first days at work to show them around the office, introduce them to team members and answer any questions they might have about the company. This helps the new hire view the company from a different perspective and thus fosters interdepartmental collaboration.

Dunya, our newest team member (Performance Marketing Intern), was paired with Benoit, a developer, and the feedback was very positive. About one third of the team has already volunteered to become a new hire’s buddy by signing-up to the New Hire Buddy Waiting List.

 

3. Enhance team page with additional information about our team members’ backgrounds and interests

We believe our team’s diversity is our strength. Our team members have lived in other countries, studied different majors, speak multiple languages, and have interesting hobbies. We updated our team page to showcase this distinctiveness and learn about each other a bit more. The data collected is presented in the form of a world map, as well as further information such as languages spoken in the office and hobbies. Here are a few highlights of our findings:

  • We’ve collectively visited 107 countries;
  • 39 countries have been visited by only 1 person each;
  • Paraguay and Kosovo are the only countries in our bus route inventory that none of our team members has visited.

 

4. Create a diversity page on our site with a homemade video

By selling bus tickets all over the world, Busbud helps millions of people travel sustainably. As we are ourselves travel enthusiasts, we know that every trip, long or short, creates unforgettable memories. We wanted to share some of ours and illustrate the diversity of the Busbud team by having employees tell short anecdotes about something surprising they have experienced or accomplished, or something special about their lifestyle. You can watch the video below.

We created a new diversity page on our website to showcase the video and some of our most recent diversity efforts.

 

5. Accessibility for everyone: improve our website and mobile apps for blind people.

By empowering travelers through technology, we aim to create a more accessible world for everyone. With this in mind, our team of developers has worked hard over the last few weeks to adapt our website (both mobile and desktop versions) in order to allow users to book bus tickets without needing visual access. The website’s main pages are screen-reader ready, meaning users can have textual feedback for each step of the booking process, ensuring a seamless booking experience for every bus traveller.