How to build a great culture, from the troops (Part 3)

Recap: I wrote a post entitled How to build a great culture, from the troops, (and Part 2)where I explain that I interviewed some past employees to find out what they thought made our culture great at Spunlogic and/or Engauge. I’m sharing their responses over a few posts in the hopes that you can learn from them the way I have:

Response 5

For me it was really about having access to leadership and the ability to fully own the piece of the business I was responsible for. 

I always felt like leadership had a vision for where we were going and what kind of company we wanted to be, which made it easier for me to make decision for my team and our clients. 

I was also personally motivated by the overall ambition of the staff to do good work and I felt like we had a solid team in place that was actually able to get things done and not just talk about them. 

Response 6

I think Spunlogic in it’s early days was very fun and carefree. While I now know there was financial stress behind the scenes (using personal credit cards, eek!), none of that was ever shared publicly, and wasn’t ever a stress felt by the employees. Everyone (for the most part) was young, fun, and excited about what we were doing. 

 I feel like we were all trying to make the company known for excellent work. There was a shared passion to make our clients and the company succeed. The execs didn’t feel like execs, they felt like peers, and got in on the fun too. I mean, how many people in the role of President at a large company would let someone pie them in the face? Smaller companies seem to be able to get away with more, especially when there aren’t higher powers breathing down their neck. It was a sad day when we learned the Spun cruises would be no more, but that’s how it goes when there are people to answer to.

As the company got bigger, it seemed like more stress was introduced, especially after the initial acquisition. You could tell that the execs had to report to folks higher than them, and more focus was placed on the financials of getting things done on budget. We all know this is how companies make money, but you could tell those in higher roles were stressed and it started to roll downhill. And while you guys were able to participate in some fun stuff, it was never really the same as it previously was.  

Response 7

I think what made the Engauge culture so great is that we always felt valued by our leaders, which in turn makes you want to work even harder. 

I feel like we believed in what we were doing because we believed in who we were working for, and we viewed each other more like family than business colleagues.

I also feel like our leaders tried to set us up for success, by letting us grow in the areas we were passionate about.