Make companies people want.
About a month after Paul Graham started Y Combinator, he came up with a phrase that became their motto “Make something people want”.
Thanks to Sam Altman and the team, the startups that come out of this accelerator have created some amazing disruptive products made by amazing people WITHOUT the traditional structures that companies have used in the past.
If you aren’t sure if you’re working within a traditional structure, read this:
Shocking fact: This textile company was founded in 1633. 😕
What’s even more scary, is that this book was originally published in 1993. 😵
I think there is a lot we can learn from startups to help make companies people want.
At Hi5, I’ve had the privilege and opportunity to work alongside over 2000 companies. At the end of the day, these are the 2 biggest challenges when it comes to companies:
- How to attract great talent. (most of the $$$ goes here) 👈
- How to retain great talent. 😯
Unfortunately, I see most of the effort and budget going toward recruitment as opposed to retaining talent and making a great company. I’ve been thinking about this at length and wondered why startups don’t struggle as much? They have all the odds stacked against them, i.e. they don’t have amazing salaries, benefits or great facilities like free lunches, ping pong tables, etc.
What companies forget, but need to realise, is that the cost of replacing an employee is a lot more than recruiting a new one. Don’t believe me? Check this out.
It’s not about the money.
So if startups are getting it right, I thought there might be some great principles that larger companies could learn from.
Fix the culture.
I recently overheard an owner of a company mention how they had just gotten a new coffee machine and that it was going to be great for the culture of the company… I had to hold my tongue a bit here! 😛
Culture isn’t your coffee machine, the latest Apple Macs, ping pong tables or free lunches. Culture is the people! You can’t manufacture culture.
Brian Chesky sums it all up here:
“Why is culture so important to a business? Here is a simple way to frame it. The stronger the culture, the less corporate process a company needs. When the culture is strong, you can trust everyone to do the right thing. People can be independent and autonomous.” — Brian Chesky CEO of AirBNB.
A few quick fixes to improve the culture:
1. Flexibility.
It’s 2017, people — we all have the internet, most of us can do work at home or in a coffee shop. If we truly want to make a company people want, why don’t we allow a flexible work environment?
If you aren’t convinced, maybe have a look at some of the answers that came from Alex’s questions on employee benefits.
I’m not saying that Flexible and Remote is the true answer to improving the culture, however they are great tools to validate the trust and self motivation of the team.
Here are some obvious benefits to the company with remote working:
- Increase worker productivity.
- Drives employee efficiency.
- Lowers stress
- Boosts morale.
- Decreases overhead costs.
If you would like a good read on remote working, check out Remote, by Jason Fried and DHH.
2. Appreciation
True, honest appreciation is probably one of the easiest things to fix within the culture of the company.
Why is appreciation important you ask? 🙌
- 93% of people agree that grateful bosses are more likely to succeed.
More Info: How Grateful are Americans? - 88% of people say that expressing gratitude to colleagues makes them feel happier and more fulfilled.
More Info: GRATITUDE SURVEY Conducted for the John Templeton Foundation - In one study from Harvard University and Wharton, receiving a “thank you” from a supervisor boosted productivity by more than 50%
More Info: Explaining why gratitude expressions motivate prosocial behavior
One of the easiest ways to improve the culture is ensuring that recognition is given and received. Berkely have a few simple pointers on how to cultivate gratitude in the workplace.
a. Start at the Top: Employees need to hear “thank you” from the boss, which sets an important tone and example for the rest of the organisation. At the same time, when employees do feel genuine gratitude for a supervisor, they shouldn’t hold back — upward expressions of appreciation, though they can be complicated, can benefit people on both sides of the “thank you.”
b. Thank the People Who Never Get Thanked: Thanking those who do thankless work makes their contributions visible and thus broadens everyone’s understanding of how the organisation functions — and needless to say, it improves morale and increases trust.
c. Aim for Quality, not Quantity: When you are specific about the ways a person, action, or thing has helped you, it increases your own appreciation — and it tells the person that you are paying attention, rather than just going through the motions.
d. Provide Different Opportunities to Express Gratitude: Not everyone likes to express — or receive — gratitude in the same way. Encouraging different methods of appreciation helps people find the right fit. Gratitude isn’t one-size-fits-all.
e. In the Wake of Crisis, Take Time to Give Thanks: Cultivating a culture of gratitude might be the best way to help a workplace bounce back from the stresses that come with change, conflict or failure.
f. Connect People with Those They Have Helped: Although people frequently feel gratitude when they receive help, research shows that they also feel gratitude for the opportunity to help others; bringing employees into contact with colleagues they have helped should make them feel good all over again.
3. Encourage & facilitate constant feedback.
Providing constructive feedback is an important way for employees and employers alike to improve upon the way they operate and function in the workplace. By soliciting and encouraging feedback, your company sends a message that it’s open to constructive criticism and values everyone’s input — and it helps everyone do their job better. All you need is a channel or medium to facilitate regular, helpful feedback.
Most leaders we speak to are happy to give feedback to their employees (subordinate), however they are too scared to receive feedback from them in return. I’ve studied various successful companies quite closely and the one thing they all have in common, is open and honest feedback from their employees. One company that truly lives this out, is the Mighty Google. If you’re looking for a good read of how they implement this continuous feedback culture, have a read of “Work Rules!” by Laszlo Bock.
4. Less meetings.
We all know that most meetings are a waste of time, have you worked out how much they are costing your company? Most of the time managers host meetings so they can stay updated with progress on projects. These types of meetings affect the culture and send a clear message of distrust or not staying up-to-date with online project management tools to keep everyone in the loop.
Here are some hard facts companies need to be aware of.
- $37 Billion dollars is spent on meetings per year.
- Most of the people in your meeting are busy doing other stuff… or sleeping.
- Most people attend about two meetings per day.
For more info, read Remote.
5. Allow failure.
I’m aware the F-word is frowned upon for most companies, but most employees want the freedom or empowerment to try something new. So why not let them try something new?
6. Make human-centred values.
Values are the operating philosophies or principles that guide an organisation’s internal conduct as well as its relationship with its customers, partners and shareholders.
Yet most companies copy, paste and regurgitate these values. 😫
How often do you see “Integrity” as a value; does it really make an employee excited to drive a company forward? 👈
For inspiration, you can go to CultureCodes.co . They have a great list of culture decks from amazing companies such as Netflix, Buffer, Basecamp, Zappos, Dell, Google, etc.
Why?
So why should larger organisations think like this?
Because startups are going to be disrupting large chunks of the enterprise market. Have a look at the insurance market for instance.
Here some startups that are taking large chunks of revenue from larger dinosaur organisations.
- Lemonade — Lemonade reverses the traditional insurance model.
- Trov — Protect just the things you want, exactly when you want, entirely from your phone.
- FitSense — Making Insurance truly personal.
To end off, I want to leave you with 2 famous quotes by YC:
— “It’s better to make something that 100 people love than something that 1,000 like.”
— “Talk to your users. Talk to 100 users a week.” (or any variation of that)
So, why not start trying to create a Company that People Want:
— Get this right with 100 people first.
— Get continuous feedback from employees until you get this right!
If this helped in any way, please give a 👏, so others can find it, too.
Thanks 🙌
P.S. Why not try out Hi5 to improve and measure Culture within your company?
