Walmart CodeHers Case Study: How A Diversity Hackathon Helped The Company Exceed Its Gender Mandates

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According to the findings of the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2024, the global gender gap has been closed by 68.5%. It stood at 68.1% in 2022. It will still take approximately 134 years to achieve full equality parity if progress continues at its current pace. As per the Index, India stands at the 129th place overall (among 146 countries). 

Various organizations in India have understood that it is imperative to leverage diversity in all aspects, especially gender, to build a strong organization pegged for success. As an example, Walmart Global Tech India, a leading tech company, will be profiled in this case study to reflect how it tweaked its hiring strategy to meet the gender gap.

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The world’s largest company by revenue (according to Fortune Global 500 list 2024), Walmart stands strong in the retail landscape. In an attempt to win over the world of retail technology, Walmart established Walmart Global Tech India in 2002. Since then, it has been delivering innovative solutions to the biggest retailers across the globe. 

Powering more than 11,500 stores, eCommerce in 11 countries, 260 million transactions a week, and empowering 2.2 million associates worldwide, Walmart Global Tech India is going strong in offering unique benefits to its customers that others don’t. 

Great visions are accomplished by bright teams that are diverse and can tackle anything that comes their way. Walmart realized this early in the race and set out a gender mandate. Making this a mandate and not just an idea to decorate their annual reports with, has paved the way for others to follow suit. 

When an idea meets action! 

There is a reason that gender mandates are in place. Historically, females have been denied education and opportunities. Winds of change are abreast, but the ramifications of past injustices are still very apparent. When damage has to be undone, strong mandates need to be put in place. 

Given that the road to success for women is pretty much non-existent, finding talent to meet the gender mandate was a challenge that one cannot even begin to outline. 

Meeting mandates but not at the cost of merit

Unstop (formerly Dare2Compete) steps in, and Walmart CodeHers takes shape! Unstop suggested that an exclusive female hiring hackathon be conceptualized and executed. Many found this intimidating at first, but the Unstop team got to grips with it.

Having meticulously planned out the entire execution strategy, the story of Walmart CodeHers Diversity-led Online Hackathon began in May 2021 with the launch of its first season.

The first innings

The diversity-led online hackathon provided opportunities to female students across all engineering colleges in India to apply for the Software Development Engineering role at a package of up to INR 26 LPA. The coding challenge format had multiple rounds with increasing difficulty. As soon as the announcement was made, everyone was abuzz with excitement!

With a foolproof strategy, the Unstop team (formerly Dare2Compete) handled everything from Registration, Assessment, Marketing, and Content Creation to Help Desk and Social Media Outreach. 

And the outcomes were astounding!

The first season of Walmart CodeHers, held from May to December 2021, received 51,053 registrations and 9,43,422 views.

The diversity hackathon had four rounds to funnel the potential employees from a large pool of applicants:

1. MCQ Challenge
2. Coding Challenge
3. Profile Verification
4. Interview

After battling fierce competition, Walmart Global Tech India employed 300+ talented female coders from across the country. Surprisingly, they increased their female employee share from 35% to 56% in a shorter period of time without any hassle!

The second innings

Pleased with the results of the first season, they decided to pitch their second season in March 2022 to hire the students graduating in 2022 and 2023. This time, the two (Unstop and Walmart) had a holistic view and were ready to jump in with a roar!

Walmart CodeHers 2022 attracted 42,039 talented female programmers and developers to craft excellent solutions. In the second season, they introduced a non-eliminatory Demo Coding Round to their already existing four rounds in order to familiarize students with the platform. 

The third time's a charm, again! 

Walmart conducted CodeHers 2024 in February this year, and the response was better than the previous seasons combined. In addition to cash rewards, Walmart introduced summer internship opportunities and PPIs for top coders. 

With 96,359 registrations and over 10 Mn+ views, CodeHers 2024 was the most successful season.

Outcome: 4 Hiring Parameters, 1 Shot

As is evident from the numbers, Unstop (formerly Dare2Compete) went over and above to help Walmart meet its gender mandates and inclusion standards. 

Outcome:

• The diversity-led online hiring hackathon gave a fair opportunity to female students from across the country to rise up the ladder and compete for a job that values their talent and not their college tag.
  
• They were able to reach coders from all around the country through a single platform, creating an otherwise sparse and inaccessible segment of female coders.
  
• The Talent Acquisition team at Walmart was able to roll out and manage assessments and even schedule interviews using a single interface of the Unstop Remote Hiring Platform, thus saving time, money, and resources.
  
• The company also profited from social media promotion to keep prospective candidates in the loop and provide insight into its employer brand.

Gender diversity has always been a hot-button topic in the world of work. Organizations must come to terms with the fact that gender parity helps in bringing different perspectives to the table. This melting pot of differing abilities creates a rich, inclusive, and diverse culture. 

Although the companies are beginning to grasp the gravity of the situation, the goal remains to go forward in the right direction. 

Walmart CodeHers has set a precedent for how companies can fill in the gaps left by the lack of female representation in tech fields. It's a powerful illustration of the "wheres and hows" of looking for the right candidates. 

Looking for laser-focused engagements to meet your hiring goals? Then, reach out to coffee@unstop.com.