Greg Waisman of Mercuryo: “Five things that managers and executives can do to improve their company work culture”

Make an internal newsletter or newspaper where you regularly talk about the success of the company. It is important for the whole team to understand that the company is developing and conquering new heights.

I had the pleasure to interview Greg Waisman.

Greg is the Chief Operation Officer and one of the co-founders at Mercuryo. He is engaged in manual management of the company and heads the development departments. Greg successfully developed various financial services and implemented blockchain solutions both in crypto startups and in companies of the real sector of the economy. A curious fact: Greg opened the first cava bar in Moscow, which offers visitors to try the best wines and their combinations with different dishes.

Thank you for joining us Greg! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I am Chief Operation Officer and one of the co-founders at Mercuryo and engaged in manual management of the company. Thanks to my financial education, I have successfully developed various financial services and was leading high-loaded projects for 10 years. I implemented blockchain solutions both in crypto startups and in companies of the real sector of the economy. Thus, I’ve been growing intellectualy in one direction and became exactly what I wanted to be. In that sense, I think I was lucky.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you begin leading your company?

We have a very friendly team, which is aimed at achieving the goal at any cost. We are just entering the global market, so every step in this direction is not easy for us and requires maximum return from each employee. Not so long ago we did release Mercuryo Exchange Service. Our customers were preparing for the release day as we announced it in advance. We never had a chance to screw up. All team members around the world were on the posts before the release and completion of initial testing. In this situation, I was struck by the fact that I did not force people to do anything. Just the very responsible attitude to work. I suspect that it is not only the salary, but also the confidence of each employee that he or she makes the world a better place. This is the idea we promote in our corporate culture.

Are you working on any exciting projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I think that we are making a really cool product — a special crypto-wallet. It will help international business to receive payment for its services in the currency it needs, and users to make payments in cryptocurrencies and Vice versa. I believe Mercuryo.io will not only spur the cryptocurrency market to powerful development, but will also increase the popularity of cryptocurrency as a means of payment among users and among businesses. We have created an absolutely legal history that helps business to develop by increasing the market through the universalization of the payment system.

Ok, lets jump to the main part of our interview. According to this study cited in Forbes, more than half of the US workforce is unhappy. Why do you think that number is so high?

We live in a harsh capitalist time of profit-seeking. As we say in Russia: Fish is looking for where is deeper and man where is better. Of course, everyone is chasing super profits. Employees have lost loyalty to their companies. In many ways, the fault lies on the employers themselves. They do not care that the employee receives not only salary and work as it is, but something more, for example: personal growth, career growth, professional development, training and many, many other things that will allow the employee enjoy their work. In general, I often encounter complaints from my colleagues that the work they do is not a favorite for them. Many of them have a hobby, and they would like it to become a matter of their lives, and even make a profit. So why not turn work into a hobby by improving corporate culture? Why not to start treating an employee not as a cow giving milk, but as a person who also has his own interests. Maybe the employee would like to introduce them to the corporate culture, make his team a family, where he is pleased to return every morning.

The United States is the land of opportunity, but nobody wants to search for these opportunities. Everyone wants to bring them all on a platter. I do not see anything wrong with this, if my employee looks for it, I can give him all of that. I don’t want my company to have a staff turnover. The problem of workers’ dissatisfaction in the United States is due to the fact that they are often not treated as they would like to be treated. The choice of profession of workers in the US is often dictated by market conditions and particular class. If your father is a truck driver, it is unlikely that he will be able to earn his son for College, and, accordingly, his son has a small choice: either to become a truck driver, or to take a position in some of the related professions that do not require high professionalism.

In the USA there is no fundamental education. In fact, the choice of your profession you have to do as a child. If you want to be a physicist, you study physics-related subjects. If you want to be a writer, you learn English, English literature and other Humanities. In many other countries, particularly in Russia, things are very different. Children in Russian schools are given the maximum range of knowledge so that they can choose their path and start its in-depth study at the University. Higher education for students in Russia is available free of charge. Thus, following the market trends, in order to earn the maximum money, I can become a lawyer, but for personal growth as a hobby, I can choose other activities that are not related to my professional education. Like Sherlock Holmes, I can study chemistry at home or write stories because I have a good command of the language, history, literature, philosophy and psychology at a basic level since high school. One of my employee’s mother was an engineer-inventor in her youth. She came up with machines for the sale of cans, which were then converted into machines for the sale of soda, the same ones that we now see on the street. When she grew up, the market situation changed and she had to change her profession. She received a second higher education in Russia and became a successful lawyer. Currently, she occupies a leading position in the market of civil law in Russia.

Another global social trend is the deurbanization of the population. Because of the bad environment, many people tend to move to the countryside. Therefore, IT companies thrive, which are not tied to the office, where employees do not need to go. They can easily work from home. Also globalizations pours water on the hands of business. Our company has employees from six countries including the USA, Thailand and a number of European countries. We strive to develop our office culture, to organize multicultural communication. There are problems with this in the US because of the state structure of the country. Not only salaries but also working conditions change from state to state. Labor migration is widespread in the USA. It directly affects staff turnover.

Based on your experience or research, how do you think an unhappy workforce will impact a) company productivity b) company profitability c) and employee health and wellbeing?

If the employee is unhappy, he is not motivated. He just won’t do anything except sit his pants in the office. In our company, we try to give employees as much freedom as possible, not only in terms of movement, but also in terms of solving their tasks. We say do it and don’t give a prescription how to do it. Let him think using his professional skills. We in the company make really cool product for all mankind and our employees believe that they with their mind, hands and professional skills can create this product for all mankind. What could be better than to see the fruits of their labor, which bring joy to all people. The success of our company depends on the success of each employee individually. Thanks to the corporate culture, we combine strong individuals into a powerful team. Each employee solves a specific task, but constantly communicates with the partner to ensure that all tasks were solved simultaneously, and the product was ready on a day-to-day basis.

Can you share 5 things that managers and executives should be doing to improve their company work culture? Can you give a personal story or example for each?

1. It is impossible to limit a wife, to impose to her a way of life. Otherwise, she’ll just leave you. The same thing happens to an employee. It is impossible to limit him or her in creativity.
2. Encourage employees to communicate with each other. Organize intellectual team-building. This will help to establish strong ties in the team.
3. Motivate employees to come to work earlier, not for money, but for example for free foreign language lessons, which are held early in the morning in our company.
4. Make an internal newsletter or newspaper where you regularly talk about the success of the company. It is important for the whole team to understand that the company is developing and conquering new heights. After all, this is due to the efforts of each employee.
5. Do not shun manual control of the company. I delve into the personal problems of the guys in the office and try to solve them as much as possible. I will focus on the word solve. Nobody needs your advice. Solve the problem, and do not give advice on how to solve them!

It’s very nice to suggest ideas, but it seems like we have to “change the culture regarding work culture”. What can we do as a society to make a broad change in the US workforce’s work culture?

The term “corporate culture” appeared in the XIX century. It was formulated and applied by the German field Marshal Moltke, who applied it, describing the relationship in the officer environment. At that time, the relationship was regulated not only by statutes, courts of honor, but also duels: Having a saber scar (on your face) was a mandatory attribute of belonging to the officer “Corporation”. Rules of conduct as written and unwritten, developed within the professional communities in the medieval guilds, and violations of these rules could lead to the exclusion of their members from the communities.

I think it would be great to renew the culture of a Guild for professions, but the format of discussion platforms. I would like the society to contribute to the growth of popularity of such clubs. We can create them ourselves, without the help of business. There we will communicate on professional topics, share experiences and knowledge. I think a kind of professional community center in every city could be a great solution.

How would you describe your leadership or management style? Can you give us a few examples?

The main thing that I do is solve the problems of the team. As COO, I combine departments together and encourage communication between them. I am very liberal towards employees if they demonstrate zeal and perform their tasks on time. If this does not happen, then I first look at the scheme of work, perhaps a mistake in my organization of the labor process. All the difficulties associated with this I solve personally.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

For me the main inspiration and self-confidence. We do business with my friends, to whom I am immensely grateful for the support and friendship. But if we talk about true inspiration, I was very impressed by Robert “Bobby” Axelrod: ambitious billionaire and hedge Fund Manager and a graduate of Hofstra University from the series “Billions”. He was one of the survivors of the September 11 attacks and he is paying for the education of the children of his colleagues who died at the world trade center. He has animal instincts that allow him to be extremely successful in his trading career. Of course he is not a perfect person, but in the financial environment, there are few people have a perfectly clean reputation, but Axelrod’s animal flair and his intransigence — these are the qualities that I appreciate.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

In General, I believe that many companies, especially startups, in vain neglect the position of Operational Director, because in the early stages of the company’s development it is very important to engage in manual management. I hope very much that my experience of manual management of the company will be noted and will not remain aside. Business is a balloon that moves with the trend, but it can’t move without adding heat by pressing the burner. The staff of the company should be heated not in General, but in particular. It is necessary to seek access to the heart of each member of the community. I think it’s time for the world to pay attention to the individual, not to society.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Margaret Thatcher once said, “No one would remember the good Samaritan if he had only good intentions; he also had money.” It’s not about money, it’s about hard work, which is rewarded. I am for justice, and justice for me is that everyone gets what he deserves. If you work hard and create something important, then your efforts should provide for you and your family great profit and material growth otherwise there would be no sense in this material life, because it does not allow us to develop vertically.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

A generation of Millennials is coming. These are highly intelligent guys and girls who can be over loyal to the brand, if the company will contact them personally and show their attention, give them positive emotions in the form of gifts. And the best gift, as you know, made with your own hands.