An open letter about culture at Malt

How can someone be a brilliant A-Player in one company yet underachieve in another? We believe this is often because of culture and how groups work together. Culture is how people behave, it's how they work towards a common goal. Great people are not cut from the same mold, some love the thrill of autonomy and ownership, while others find it lonely and frightening. Some people are ok with fast and imperfect, while others prefer slow and meticulous. There is no right or wrong answer, but if you want to be in a company where you can be your best self, you better find one that shares your culture.

When you understand this you understand great culture can not be vanilla. "Everyone likes vanilla, but no one loves vanilla" ( Charles A O'Reilly). When you have a great company culture some people will love it and will excel, others won't find their place. The culture we are building at Malt is not vanilla. Before applying to Malt, take a moment to read this open letter. It gives you a flavour of what you can expect.

Dear Candidate,

Thank you for your interest in Malt. Our mission is to create a world where people are free to choose who they work with. Malt is a human adventure, and in that regard we always start with who not what. This is why the recruitment process you are embarking on is the most important process you will ever do with us. 

At Malt everyone is responsible for culture. Some companies designate culture champions, we have decided not to do that. Whether you are an intern or a senior leader you should actively contribute to our culture. You also need to understand that culture is easy when everything is going well, it’s in the tough moments (which we are bound to have when scaling) that culture is tested, it is then that it is most important.

We have 4 culture pillars that translate into observable behaviours. As you read on, the more you see yourself in the culture pillars and the examples, the more likely you are to be a good fit at Malt.

We do not claim everything is perfect, Malt is an aspirational company, we aim very high. As we grow we evolve, and we occasionally tweak these pillars based on employee feedback. The culture doesn’t change, but we do move the needle to ensure we stay true to ourselves and the course we have set.

Our four culture pillars:

• It takes a community
• Ambition is the way
• Own your choices
• Joy is our secret sauce

- It takes a community -

They say it takes a village, well at Malt it takes a community. We look out for each other and we believe sharing is the best way of showing we care. Whether it’s knowledge, networks or even a good meal, there is always room at the table.

We understand, just because there is room at the table doesn't mean you need to be at every table (or meeting, project, decision ...).

- Ambition is the way -

It’s our desire to have a big, positive impact on the world of work and we know it comes one step at a time. We celebrate our victories and we get ready for the next challenge. Ambition is not a destination, it’s our journey.

We won't become a unicorn without a lot of brilliant people working hard and smart.

- Own your choices -

When Malters are free to act with autonomy, take smart risks and work their way, then we as a company are stronger than the sum of the individual people. We are not afraid to address challenges ourselves, we go fast, we learn and we always aim to do better.

No one at Malt ever got fired for making a mistake! The people we had to let go are ones who couldn't learn from their mistakes.

- Joy is our secret sauce -

Joy is a habit and we are addicted (a bit like karaoke). We believe in putting a little bit of cheer in everything we do. Success comes more easily to those with an optimistic, can-do attitude.

We know joy can mean different things to different people. But we believe it's always better when shared.

And we mean it!

When we think about talent we ask ourselves two questions, what is your impact on the business and how do you elevate our culture? You can not be considered a top performer if you are not positively contributing to both. By definition culture impacts your bonus, your salary and your career progression.

Because culture is hard to measure with a single KPI, we insist on constructive feedback as a tool to help people grow. Feedback is a gift! All Malters are responsible for giving feedback that is prepared, specific and actionable. You are expected to give it to the person concerned as soon as is appropriate. That goes for positive and negative feedback, because saying “great job” for something specific is just as valuable as pointing out an area for improvement.

Fundamentally we believe if you join Malt then you will be surrounded by brilliant, inspirational people. And because we are all working in harmony, aligned around our four culture pillars, then the human adventure we mentioned above will be an incredible one.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has” - Margaret Mead

Conclusion

We believe Peter Drucker was right when he said "Culture eats strategy for breakfast". 2021 will be the most exciting chapter in our story so far. Coming to work should be fun and exciting, there should be some dynamic tension when you disagree. But when we get the balance right, as David Bowie says, we can be heroes*.

Best Regards,

* We can be Heroes is an internal reference to David Bowie's song which we feel encompasses all our culture pillars. We love it so much we play it at the end of each All Hands.