Creating a culture where "Execution is Everything"

At the end of last year, our leadership team realized we had to double down on the incredible opportunity in front of us. In 2023, we developed product-market fit with the new products we launched, substantially grew our customer base and solidified our reputation for innovation in an industry long dominated by established companies. Our co-founders Ryan Droege and Spencer Barkoff understood that 2024 would be a critical year of growth, but we’d need everyone on the team to fire on all cylinders to fully realize our potential.

Upon hearing this, I asked myself how our people and culture team could contribute in a significant way to the company’s lofty goals. After all, we don't write code, attend trade shows or run sales motions. We’ve already built a solid foundation of high touch recruiting and onboarding programs, community engagement, and rewards + recognition initiatives, and we're in great shape with benefits and administration. Because I love a theme, I decided we needed to create a program as a way to proactively close any gaps that could hinder our success. One thing we all know that differentiates successful companies is their ability to drive results; hence, "Execution is Everything."?

If we were going to ask our team members to step up, I knew we needed to focus on and coach our leaders to drive high performance throughout the organization.

This idea became our top people and culture priority for 2024.

Creating the Program

Our “Execution is Everything” program focuses on six themes that we’re presenting to our leaders to ensure alignment with our values. The areas we’re covering are not new ideas; rather they are topics we’ve covered before. But if I’ve learned anything in my life, it’s that sometimes we need to hear things over and over again, in different ways, at different times, before they fully click.

The modules are:

• Managing @ Relay: Coaches, Multipliers + Role Models?
• Radical Candor, No Surprises & Saying the Last 10%?
• Creating Psychological Safety & Managing Underperformance?
• Setting Goals & Driving Accountability?
• Recognition + Growth?
• Change Management: How We Communicate It and Inspire People to Adapt?

Before we got started with our sessions, we wanted to make sure we were tuned in to what our team really needed, so we’d understand what topics to focus on with our leaders. It was also important that we established a benchmark so we could measure the effectiveness of our work. So, we conducted surveys before we implemented the program - in the beginning of Q1 and again at the end of Q1 to gauge the impact on department performance and team dynamics. Our goal was to move the needle and improve overall scores, especially for leaders who had the most room for growth.

Our program consists of collaborative and interactive sessions with the group aimed at instilling key behaviors and principles in our leaders as well as 1:1 sessions for more personalized attention. Based on the feedback from our surveys, we focused heavily on fostering psychological safety (meaning it’s okay to take risks… and even fail!) and enhancing communication, the importance of context sharing and transparency within teams.

Measuring Success?

The results thus far have been pretty great. Our overall company score was 84 at kick-off, which is really high so I didn’t expect it to move much, if at all. I was thrilled when it went up a point to 85.

But more importantly, we witnessed double-digit improvements in the scores of multiple leaders. This demonstrated the impact of our program on driving performance and fostering a culture of tangible excellence. Seeing these results proved that we could close gaps that will undoubtedly help our team achieve greater heights.?

One of the most rewarding aspects of this initiative is seeing the openness of our leaders to feedback and their willingness to embrace change. Despite the inherent challenges of receiving constructive feedback, they are actively participating in the collaborative process and are committed to personal and professional growth.

Looking forward, our focus remains on continuous improvement and ongoing support for our leaders. We have just begun Q2 and while we are excited about our progress, we plan to identify recurring themes and focus areas for further growth, ensuring that our program evolves to meet the needs of our explosively growing organization.?

Whatever your company does, builds, or sells, the community of people who do the work are pivotal to your success. Giving them the information, resources and support they need to do their best work is a must.?