Culture is a bit like a brand… something you aspire to but ultimately is an outcome not a statement.
For a services firm, a culture will mostly be defined by:
the type of people you hire
the type of values you build the business around
what events happen and on what cadence
People
The shortest description is that you want “Good Natured Ass Kickers.”
“Good Natured” means likable to clients and to their team. They should be people that if you ran into them at the airport you’d be happy to see them and share a few minutes. Their attitude should be positive and confident.
“Ass Kicker” means a personal sense of pride in doing quality work. Self-motivation means the ability to work productively and efficiently without every step being managed by a boss. Being smart is a part of this equation, but without pride and motivation smart is not sufficient. This is why often the best hires are smart people who have not had great luck and therefore have a lot of self-motivation to prove themselves. Conversely the worst hires are often smart, but feel entitled.
Therefore interviews should focus on 3 areas (with the default assumption of having the core applied skills.)
1) Are they smart enough?
2) Are they good natured?
3) Do they have personal pride and self-motivation?
Values
Values are only meaningful if they represent choices a business has made in how it financially operates the business. Put another way, if nobody would choose the opposite then it isn’t a value. For example, “being innovative” is not a value unless you are choosing to fund innovation at levels higher than industry average.
Our core values have remained fairly constant across businesses:
1) Low Bureaucracy
This means a flatter organization structure, flexible roles, upward mobility with internal promotion, and lower overhead.
2) Delivery Over Sales
This means you reward and compensate people based on their ability to contribute to the end result. Selling is a piece of that equation, but the ultimate measures are margin, customer satisfaction, and account retention and growth.
3) Accountability
This means holding everyone accountable to the client, their team, and the company as a whole. Managers of business report results transparently and take ownership of results. Every dollar of cost/spend is owned. Internal tasks are not delegated to departments, but to individuals who operate as the “CEO of X” (X being an internal initiative.)
4) Deliverables vs. Deliberation
In our world, done is better than perfect. Too many companies hold meetings to start a discussion. We believe in assigning someone (or two people) to make a first draft of a proposed plan/deliverable, then having relevant parties review the draft before the meeting, and to use the meeting for resolving key issues and making go-forward decisions.
In general, we believe in tangible written deliverables wherever possible with iteration as the path to agreement.
Rituals and Events
Psychology shows that rituals matter in bonding a group. Rituals can be expressed through how a business operates (e.g. “project methodology”, “reporting calendars”, etc.), company communication, and events to build rapport between team members.
The following are communication-oriented meetings that should be happening on a regular cadence. This list is not meant to include business events (e.g. staffing meetings, employee reviews, finance meetings.)
All-Hands (2x per quarter) - At the end of each quarter, there should be a meeting focused on prior quarter performance, key internal objectives for upcoming quarter, evaluation/rollout of prior quarter internal objectives. There should also be celebration of new wins, recent launches, and key performers. At the mid-point of each quarter, the meeting should more focus on new wins, recent launches, key performers.
Department Meetings - Should be 1x per month with a rotating chair for the meeting. This offers staff the chance to run a meeting, plan an agenda, etc. In general departments should never have more than 1 active internal initiative. The meeting should focus on that initiative as well as sharing of best practices (and emphasis on how to not just share but codify.)
Manager Meetings - Every Manager should check in 1x per week with each staff member. This might only take 5-10 minutes. Key focus is on early detection of the following: Are they happy? Are they (unreasonably) overwhelmed? Are they blocked? Are they worried about the direction of a project they are on? Once per quarter, every manager should have a longer check in with each staff member in the form of a lunch, dinner, or coffee outside the office walls. This is chance for a longer form conversation around performance, happiness, issues and general relationship building.
Social events
Building of rapport and morale should be planned activities as well. Ritualizing these activities helps build a construct of “what the company is like.” Below is an example set of activities:
Happy Hour on the first Friday of every month
Company lunch on each Monday.
Company offsite (fun) retreat once every summer.
Excessive celebration around a specific random holiday every year (e.g. Cinco de Mayo, Halloween, etc.)
Announcement email for every project launch
Fun indoctrination for every new employee’s first day
Family
Building connection to the company is aided by a spouse’s positive feeling toward the company, its management, and its mission. More importantly it can increase tolerance to long hours and work travel. Very few companies incorporate and treat spouses as part of the company. Here are a few ways to accomplish this:
Welcome gift during onboarding (e.g. company SWAG for them+kids)
Summer BBQ including families with emphasis on activities for kids
Inviting spouses to attend selective all-hands meetings to see the latest work and to hear latest update