Omar Munoz

Diversity: More Than a Metric

As he sought out and engaged job candidates, Omar was looking for “drivers and builders” who could take Nutanix to new heights. “When you provide them with a wealth of knowledge and all of the tools to be successful, you get a company like Nutanix.” To foster diversity and inclusion in the company, Omar emphasizes that these concepts must be ingrained in our culture instead of being just a metric in hiring practices.

Omar has brought that cultural principle into the recruiting process by focusing on the idea of “hire often, hire diverse,” and the proof of that success can be seen in our products. Omar explains, “When you bring in people from various backgrounds, you get a diversity of thought. We want people to come in with fresh ideas and really start thinking outside the box of what they know. You end up building a better product, bringing new ideas to the fold, questioning each other and really trying to figure out what’s the best way to move forward.”

Creating Opportunities

“At the end of the day, when you start peeling back the layers, what’s made this place so amazing is the people. We have some really incredible people that work here.” When it comes to the process of finding great people to join the team at Nutanix, Omar mentions some initiatives that have brought a focus of diversity and inclusion to hiring.

One successful initiative has been the Returnship Program built for people who have been in the industry in the past but had to step away from their primary job for any reason. As these people are looking to get back to the workforce, they are overlooked by many hiring managers due to the gap in their résumé. The team created the Returnship Program to give candidates in this situation an opportunity to rejoin the workforce and get up to speed on new developments within the industry. Ultimately, this program has helped convert many participants to full-time Nutants.

There is also an externship program to help new college graduates enter the workforce. This initiative offers training and hands-on experience. It has resulted in many new college grads becoming full-time employees.

Instead of a “spray and pray” approach at university career fairs, Omar discusses a refined approach of targeting and engaging candidates at diverse associations. “We want smart people who will move the needle forward.”

Focusing on career development and fostering employees keep our team working at peak performance. Omar explains the importance of this idea: “Imagine a CFO says to the CEO, ‘What if we train all of our people and they leave?’ And the CEO responds, ‘What if we don’t train them and they stay?’” Nutanix helps people reach their potential by offering speed coaching for career development and sponsoring employee certifications. This investment in people is the backbone of our culture.

Great Culture = Great Growth

Omar attributes the growth and success of the company to the culture of transparency and communication that has been evident since day one. In the face of adversity, the first instinct for many is to point fingers or give up. Here at Nutanix, we take the time to identify the problem and work together to find a solution. “We have a really nice feedback cycle so we can understand what’s wrong, address it and move forward quickly. And it’s really worked out for us because it lends for an amazing dialogue between two or three folks or a large team when you can let them see the vulnerable side of the business as well.” Omar believes our resilience comes from the idea of “fail fast, fail quickly, and course-correct.”

Omar encourages his team to try new things to outpace the expectation of what is currently working. This mentality of never settling for good enough is what can help us innovate as technology develops and becomes more sophisticated.

Omar ensures that we are continuously asking, “Are we doing right by the community that’s out there? What else could we be doing and what is Nutanix’s social responsibility in the world?” Other initiatives Omar highlights are .heart and partnering with Girls Who Code. In our partnership with the nonprofit Girls Who Code, we will invite budding female tech enthusiasts to meet female engineers. Young women get a chance to see themselves represented and can then become the tech pioneers of tomorrow. .heart is the community outreach branch of Nutanix, originating from the cultural principle: “We’re hungry, humble, and honest, but with heart.”

Omar has helped to keep the heart of Nutanix alive by bringing in great people to the company and keeping diversity, inclusion and growth as top priorities.