“Fantastic work culture” with Paul Hooper CEO of Gigamon

As a part of my series about how leaders can create a “fantastic work culture”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Paul Hooper is the CEO of Gigamon, and was previously the Vice President of Marketing and Product Management. Paul is a networking and high tech industry veteran who joined Gigamon from Extreme Networks where he held numerous executive positions including Chief Marketing Officer, Vice President and General Manager for the Volume Products Group, and Chief Information Officer. Paul has held a broad range of leadership positions in marketing, product development, business management, and information technology within a range of organizations including Extreme Networks, myCFO, Inc., JDS Uniphase, Netscape Communications, and Sun Microsystems.

Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I chose a career path in high technology, specifically network security, because I vividly remember the transition of being a customer of technology to a manufacturer of such innovation. As a customer, you’re going to have specific requirements, run into challenges and always remember the best, and worst, experiences. For this reason, it was important to me, and my company, to establish leading customer support, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, as well as a greater appreciation for the journey and experiences as an end user. It was also important to establish technology for a greater purpose — for example, if the technology is providing an end user data, how is that data going to help them move their organization forward? How is it going to optimize performance? How can it help security measures? The ultimate value the technology can provide was extremely important to me, as I put myself in my customers’ position.

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

Since I became CEO at Gigamon, I have been extremely impressed by the tenacity of our HR team to push for a focus on building culture. What I value most about culture is that employees talk about it. That’s the greatest value to me. You see a number of companies where they have culture statements pinned up on the wall of the lobby and you ask an employee about the culture and they read off the wall. That’s not a culture. That’s something that’s been dictated. Culture is not something that’s indoctrinated, it’s something that’s assimilated where you tend to find employees talking about more about culture than management — that’s the power and pervasiveness of culture.

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

Technology is an incredible motivator, and as a leader of a technology company, I strive to constantly be working on exciting projects and updates to streamline processes and make end users’ experience — simply put — better. Right now, Gigamon continues to evolve in performance, scale and use cases, such as the work we’ve done with Clemson University, Under Armour and Telefonica. We have many projects underway, but one that I am most excited for will revolutionize the way the largest network operators in the world manage, secure, and monetize their infrastructure.

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?

I believe that more than half of the U.S. workforce is unhappy due to conflicting priorities, such as work, home, family, and colleagues. While many believe that your work life balance is a choice, and you prioritize what you want to prioritize, Dr. Glyn Hudson-Allez, author and psychologist, believes that an individual’s lifestyle is so self-perpetuating that it is no wonder individuals can often feel out of control. She refers to this as the treadmill syndrome. Being able to balance work and family isn’t a fluid process, it is something that you have to continuously work at and be conscious of. The U.S. is an emotionally conflicted country, which can take a serious toll on a person’s wellbeing.

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?

From my experience, an unhappy workforce is bound to drive instability, which then inhibits individuals focus, tenure, and commitment to the company. As employees become increasingly unhappy you can expect that as a result they will begin to look elsewhere for a new job. As the turnover rate grows the company’s profitability will suffer and turn to the necessary resources it takes to bring in talent. If the door is constantly revolving, not only with the company suffer, but so will the employees who are still with the company.

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?

My 5 top tips for improving company work culture are as follows:

1. Manifest the company culture. Lead by example and prioritize incentives or initiatives that truly make employees happy. Make the values of the organization clear through continuous communication and efforts to showcase such positive culture.
2. Incorporate culture training in employee onboarding. From new hires, to temp employees and even veterans, any employee that walks through the door of your organization should be properly trained in company culture and values.
3. Recognize culture-aligned actions and employees. Whether through recognition in the form of a newsletter, shout-out, or incentive-based rewards, culture-aligned actions go a long way in inspiring other employees and ensuring company values hold true. Seek to implement a program or system that encourages and rewards positive actions or employees.
4. Speaking of company programs, make it a priority to implement an incentive program in your organization. At Gigamon, we have our GigaSTARS program, where we reward employees who have gone the extra mile both in their role’s responsibilities as well as in progressing our company culture. We recognize these GigaSTARS during all-hands meetings, ensuring they receive public praise not just from their peers, but from the C-suite too.
5. Rapidly respond to actions that are not aligned to the culture. If an action is going against company values, it’s time to take a stand and let it be known that it is not acceptable. This emphasizes that as a leader, your organization stands by its values — they are not just text, but words to live by in the workplace.

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 broader change in the US workforce’s work culture?

In order for society to change its perception of U.S. work culture, it’s imperative to raise awareness and recognition of those companies who are doing it right. We should continue to highlight the successes and results from positive-culture led companies, so when others see the results of such efforts, it will inspire them to change as well. In addition, we can only strive to lead by example, and for this reason, it’s important to implement a change in the culture of the U.S. Federal system. We often mimic our government’s leadership style, and in the U.S., this needs to change in order for companies to implement a better work culture all around.

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

I like to think that I am an approachable and available CEO. I want my employees to feel as though they can come to me with questions and concerns as I believe that shows curiosity and commitment to the company. Something I do on a daily basis is send CEO-daily-notes on our Slack channel. I believe something as simple as a note across the company to start their day humanizes my role.

One of the notes I sent most recently that had a very positive response was about the day in the life of the CEO, where I talked about my family and experiences around balancing work and home. This note had an overwhelmingly positive response as it was something everyone could relate to. Whether an employee is balancing her role as a mother and her role in the office, or a father, or a recent graduate, everyone can relate in some way or another.

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?

Throughout my career I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked with a great number of very talented and dedicated individuals. I’d like to think I’ve absorbed their very best qualities and internalized them as I forged my career path and management style. With that being said, I was most impacted by the inverse experience. At one point in my career I saw how a negative culture that is fostered from the top can be a destructive force across the entire company. I believe that the success I’ve had fostering a positive culture is directly tied to seeing how failure can impact the true measure of a company: employee satisfaction.

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

Bringing goodness to the world is my ultimate goal as a leader of an organization, and I can only hope I’ve accomplished that and continue to achieve this goal. At Gigamon, we get our family involved in many ways, which inspires work culture and creates a bigger bond between teams. As a result, our family members have become donors to a number of local charities and local hospitals that have a special place in our heart. We constantly give back to those in need, whether by volunteering time or funds, and philanthropy will continue to be a pillar to Gigamon’s internal culture.

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

My favorite quote is, “If you don’t pick up the ball and run with it, someone else will.” This quote is at the core of my beliefs and values. It drives me to keep going when the going gets tough, because if you don’t someone else will.