Here’s How You Build and Align Workplace Culture

The Definitive Guide to Building and Aligning Company Culture In Any Company Size

In 2017, Uber made history for the wrong reasons.

Former Uber employee, Susan Fowler, wrote an essay on her blog about her year at Uber as a site reliability engineer. The disclosure revealed something rampant in the ride-hailing giant’s offices: sexual harassment was somehow permitted. There was unfettered festering at the workplace, which prompted an outcry over Uber’s toxic culture. Subsequently, employees were dropped from the company for their part in such behaviors.

Following that, then-CEO and founder Travis Kalanick was ousted.

For 2 years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) examined the company. They found reasons to believe that Uber had such toxic cultures.

A federal investigation was launched and the result was clear: Uber is problematic and they need to change its practices. Amidst a cash crunch, Uber had to fork out $4.4 million to establish a fund to pay current and former employees who were sexually harassed at work. A former agency commissioner will also be monitoring the company for three years after.

With the growth-at-all-costs strategy, Uber’s effort to expand and grow their revenue meant that their culture fell apart, drawing parallels to fellow unicorn startup Zenefits.

Like Uber, Zenefits also had a broken, negative culture.S ales came first and culture came last. That led to an infamous company-wide email from Zenefits director, Emily Agin:

“Do not use the stairwells to smoke, drink, eat or have sex.”

Zenefits also made history when they became the first startup SEC fined. Then-CEO and founder Parker Conrad had to fork out half a million in a fine while his company paid about $430K.

While Parker Conrad enjoys a near billionaire net worth even after leaving his startup, he was not as lucky as WeWork founder and then-CEO Adam Neumann.

Neumann left his company with a $1.7 billion exit package extended by Softbank, despite leaving his company with a culture so broken that they’ll overcharge you for breaking a glass…