Leadership as a driver of inclusion
Zendesk is a customer service software company founded in Denmark in 2007 and headquartered in San Francisco, with more than 5,000 employees supporting customers across 160 countries. Its people strategy leans on more than 1,300 people leaders — and treats leadership development as the engine behind its other strategic priorities: growing talent in an inclusive performance culture and accelerating diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Zendesk runs a spectrum of leadership programs for different audiences — from new people managers to the C-suite. One of them is built for a group most leadership programs overlook.
Ignite: leadership development for underrepresented talent
Ignite began as a program supporting women's career development and, in late 2021, was expanded and rebranded to serve any employee who identifies as underrepresented talent. Its goal: enable inclusion and career growth through mentoring, group coaching, and online learning. The program is designed and managed on Torch, the leadership coaching and alignment platform.
Ignite runs for eight months and combines five elements:
- 1:1 external mentoring — each participant is paired with an experienced operating leader from the Torch community, typically two or more career levels above them, for a structured, personalized mentorship.
- A parallel manager experience — managers of participants commit to Torch-led group coaching that builds the awareness and skills to better support underrepresented talent, so employees don't navigate career growth alone.
- Group coaching for participants — themed sessions led by Torch, from mapping your career journey to building influence and a support circle.
- Executive engagement — fireside chats and masterclass-style videos with Zendesk leadership.
- Custom learning paths — resources designed specifically for the Ignite experience.
The results
Roughly 100 employees and more than 50 managers went through the first iteration of the redesigned program. At its midpoint, the measured results — documented by The Josh Bersin Company — were exceptional:
- 95% of participants reported high satisfaction with their mentor pairing and mentoring experience
- 91% saw an increase in their motivation to take on more responsibility and own their careers
- 98% program participation — 13 points above Torch's industry benchmark
- 93% of participants reported behavior change supporting a business impact — 4 points above benchmark
- More than 80% of managers found the group coaching sessions useful and engaging
Participant sentiment around belonging and inclusion ran high, and Zendesk has continued to invest in career architecture and inclusive feedback practices so underrepresented talent can see — and reach — a path to senior leadership.
Read the full case study, researched and written by The Josh Bersin Company: download the case study. Or explore more customer stories and how Torch supports enterprise programs.