As one of our engineers once put it, in an entrepreneurial culture, work is more than a job, it's a lifestyle. Employees are more like a team than in most companies, and in some cases, we're even like a family.
What also evolved was a set of rules for creating and maintaining NDA's petri dish. In creating your own, consider these rules:
- Treat people with respect. This is a very simple premise, which threads through each and every complicated issue that can arise within a company. Respect and trust provide the necessary base for a vibrant and sustainable corporate culture.
- Help employees stay healthy. When employees get sick, they miss work, so it makes sense to offer health insurance as a benefit. We covered 100% of employee health plans. I never want an employee to experience a catastrophic illness and not be covered by insurance. We also offered unlimited sick time. While I had seen this type of policy backfire elsewhere, it nonetheless allowed people to be sick when they really were sick, and not feel obligated to gobble up each "allotted" sick day. You may also want to add a wellness allowance for health-club membership.
- Open doors to communication. Create an environment where people can interact with each other, support each other and recognize each other's efforts and achievements. Provide positive rewards for positive behavior. Share information, so that employees are aware of the direction of the company and are involved in it. Use all-hands meetings for financial and operational information, team-building and social events. Offer incentive programs to reward effort and improve quality of life.
- Build camaraderie. Make time for people to get to know each other and the company. We held an annual off-site meeting to build team spirit and discuss where the company was going. At such events you can also distribute and share your business plan and discuss issues and ideas raised by your strategies.
No comments:
Post a Comment