Culture is Crucial - Let's Define It

During the past few weeks, I’ve had unusually abundant opportunities to talk about Jane. We’re hiring salespeople – roughly doubling the size of our team over the next few months – so I’ve had what feels like 57 interviews with prospective hires. I’ve gotten to prattle on about the people, product, and process, and other fun things like compensation and equity.

I find, though, that I dedicate about 50% of those conversations to culture. Our team decided early on how crucially important it is to retain our internal dynamic as we grow.  Culture played a gigantic role in getting us where we are, and we’re convinced that it’ll be even more important as we get bigger.

But “culture” seems to have become a trite buzzword in the business world. Every job listing talks about the “phenomenal culture” of the hiring company – it’s a baseline claim, rather than a perk. What the hell does the word actually mean? Does it mean an open-air office in a cool part of town? Does it refer to the way employees interact with leadership?

You can’t throw a ping pong table and some snacks into an office and tout the “great culture.” You can’t organize happy hours or off-sites and call it a day. Culture is the sum of many, many parts – the aggregate of every interaction throughout the course of a day between managers and subordinates, sales folks and prospective customers, and even with your competitors. Culture is informed by leadership and, if communicated correctly, propagated by employees.

Time for some specifics. Here, in my humble opinion, are the crucial components of a successful business culture, components which we hold in high regard at Jane:

Mission

Is there an over-arching mission at your company that informs everything you do? The best way to unite people (especially remote teams) is to work toward a common goal – preferably one that everyone actually cares about.

That’s why the act of hiring is so important, by the way, and why it’s so difficult. Many people can perform the basic roles for which we are hiring. But precious few truly resonate with our mission. Those who understand the “why” behind the business will more likely go the extra mile in their daily performance and will more likely want to stay for the long-term. 

Leadership

There’s no escaping it: leadership dictates culture. If senior managers are helpful, and respectful, and inclusive, and humble, things will move in the right direction. Everyone will speak the same language, internally and externally, of confidence (not arrogance) and respect (not scorn).

At Jane, we practice “servant leadership.” Managers exist to enable the success of their team members, and to nurture growth, and to solicit continual feedback so we can all improve. It’s simple in theory, but insanely complex (and rare) in execution.

Humanity (i.e., Work/Life Balance)

Treat people like humans. Everyone you hire is an adult. Let them run their life as they see fit, so long as they make the few important meetings, hone their craft, perform with passion, and execute.

(I'm one of a rare breed, by the way, that believes that there are diminishing returns on employee time. I abhor the old, established notion that if you sit at your desk for longer, you'll be more successful. People who clock in early and clock out late are often doing it for optics' sake, and that's poisonous for culture. Go have dinner with your kids. Anyhoo, back to it).

You need to take 5 days for vacation? You need a mental health day? You have your cousin’s wedding in Italy? Cool. You do you.

At the end of the day, a company’s culture derives from a general perception held by most of the employees as to whether they are (1) respected, (2) included (in decisions, in the collective commitment to the mission, etc.), and (3) appreciated. Consequently, a company’s culture is also the sum of every conversation or interaction every day of a company’s life (by phone, email, Zoom conference, in person, all of them).