Why Company Culture Matters
I finally get it . . .
The word culture is one that I didn’t completely understand for a very long time.
I thought it was one of those words thrown around at big companies to explain how they keep their employees in line.
Clearly I knew that we didn’t want to have TPS reports, but it didn’t quite make sense. One of the first books to help me get a clue was Delivering Happiness from Tony Hsieh (get your hands on a copy ASAP)
I just didn’t realize that culture was something used to explain the overall work experience — the vibe, the energy, the attitude, and the mentality of both a company and its staff.
It is something that a lot of companies — established and startup alike — don’t talk about or don’t put much time into.
It is often an afterthought.
As we’ve scaled BiggerPockets into an early growth-stage company, we’ve put a lot of time and energy into ensuring we have a strong culture.
The benefits are many. A great culture:
- Attracts new talent
- Retains talent
- Keeps work fun
- Helps maintain a solid work / life balance
- Creates a feeling of togetherness and a common bond to strive toward
- Fosters an unbelievable work environment
- Keeps negative people out (we live by the no asshole rule)
We’ve put countless hours into thinking about our culture and figuring out how to make it great. By listening to our staff and striving to always improve, we’ve set a bar for ourselves.
We’ve got strong core values, a solid mission, and we know who we want to work at our company and what kind of environment we want to share with our peers.
We think of the team as a family, which is reflected in our “family interview,” (more on that in a future post) something that is required before we hire anyone.
At the end of the day, we want to not only continue to build an unbelievable business, but we also want to build one of the top destinations to work in Denver and ultimately, in the country.
That doesn’t happen unless you put in the effort.
I thought I’d share some thoughts here on our new company Medium blog, as we just got back from an amazing team-building activity at an obstacle course — and it continued to confirm that we’re making the right moves and building a truly special culture at our company.
The video below does a pretty good job of sharing that message.
What do you think?
Does your company have a great culture? Why or why not?
PS: We’ve got some job openings . . . if you’re interested, apply today!
