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| HR VP Norma Lane: starting early to make a difference in the future of diversity. |
Our employees are our biggest asset and will continue to be the reason why we are successful,” says Norma Lane, VP of human resources at Foundry Networks.
Foundry Networks provides high-performance switching and routing network solutions to enterprises and service providers. Its 5,500-plus customers worldwide include China Telecom, Deutsche Bank, Merck and the U.S. Armed Forces.
The day after Foundry went public in September 1999, it broke the NASDAQ record for the highest value gross, Lane reveals. Since then, the company has been profitable for sixteen quarters in a row despite the diving economy. “We credit the profitability not only to our awesome cutting- edge products and customer service, but also to our people,” Lane declares.
Foundry is a global company with customers and staff in eighteen different countries worldwide. Its workforce is diverse: Lane reports that more than half of Foundry’s employees are of minority descent.
“We are expanding our presence internationally,” she explains. “It makes good sense to maintain an environment that is highly diverse. We consider diversity a business imperative and a competitive advantage.”
Although the company has done a good job in terms of race, ethnicity and religion, Lane says she would like to see more women represented in the technical areas and in management at Foundry. To accomplish this, Foundry is involved with Women in Technology International, the Women of Color Action Network and more.
The company is also involved with local middle and high schools, hoping to interest minority kids in technical careers. “We believe that we need to start early to make a difference in the future of diversity in high tech,” says Lane.
Foundry Networks
www.foundrynetworks.com
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Headquarters:
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San Jose, CA
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Employees:
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600
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Revenues:
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$300.7 billion
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Business:
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High-performance enterprise and service-provider switching, routing and Web traffic management solutions
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Currently Foundry has about forty job openings for qualified engineers. The company looks for experience in high performance LAN and WAN switching environments, and especially for technically skilled employees who have built or designed the backbone of switches and routers. Of course the pool of applicants with these rarified skills is somewhat limited.
About half the company’s new hires come from employee referrals. “That says a lot about our work environment,” Lane observes. “Employees are proud to refer their friends, and we support that. Anyone who refers someone that we hire receives a $3,000 finder’s fee.”
In terms of benefits, employees pay nothing for health insurance, which Lane claims is almost unheard of in this market. And all employees get significant stock options on being hired. “Foundry has the highest employee ownership of any company in the network industry,” boasts Lane. “We want our employees to become truly vested in the success of the company.”
After four years of service, employees hired before January 2003 get a bonus – two extra weeks of vacation time plus 5 percent of their annual salary. “People who have been here that long have given so much of themselves to make the company the success that it is today and we want to show we appreciate them,” says Lane.
A Foundry workday is somewhat flexible, and many folks like to come in late and leave late. To accommodate them, the company brings in a catered hot supper every day. The menu is intentionally diverse, varying from Japanese and Mexican to Thai and Indian food.
It’s obvious that the CEO does everything he can to support his employees, and in return, “We look for high levels of commitment from our staff, a renewed focus and an ‘all hands on deck’ attitude,” Lane emphasizes.
New products will continue rolling out this spring and summer, and everyone is buzzing with anticipation. “There’s a lot of energy in the organization right now, a lot of commitment to bringing in the highest performing products ever to hit the market. We can and we will!” Lane concludes.
D/C
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