Salesforce's Hawaii Obsession Provokes Debate Over Appropriation
Chief equality officer recognizes that `there is more work to be done.’
Salesforce.com Inc. co-founder Marc Benioff has suffused his software company with the Hawaiian “Aloha spirit,” which guides everything from corporate values to office decor. But now, in the age of heightened workplace sensitivity, some employees are starting to debate whether the obsession honors the culture – or is cultural appropriation.
New employees at Salesforce are adorned with a lei and welcomed into the “ohana” -– the Hawaiian word for family and what the company calls its workforce. Maybe they’ll have a meeting in conference rooms Maka Launa or Hala Kahiki. And at the end of the week they can join many of the other nearly 30,000 employees in wearing Hawaiian shirts, because every Friday is “Aloha Shirt Day.” After reaching milestones for years of service at the company, they could be rewarded with a glass desk trophy in the shape of a surfboard.