The best podcast on company culture I've ever listened to

Author:
Matt Daly
May 15, 2019

Construction Tech Company Culture

Company Culture is hard. In construction, we struggle with this the same way any other industry does. I was reminded at the Procore Partner Summit last week how culture is at the core of everything, directly impacting our business outcomes. It's effortless to talk about, and many companies pay it excellent lip service, but it is ** freaking hard** to execute on.

I want to share a podcast with you which has some unique and very tactical advice you can use to execute on the two most important things you can do for your business and your team:

  1. How to identify people that fit your culture when hiring - this is the most important place to focus your energy when building a team
  2. How to enforce and encourage a culture that is real, based on the habits of your people, not aspirational or the way you wish people would act

The podcast: Protect the Hustle, hosted by Patrick Campbell and Ben Hillman of ProfitWell. In this episode, they interviewed Patty McCord, Chief Talent Officer at Netflix. If you haven't seen the Netflix Culture Deck, I would highly recommend that as supplemental reading. It's long and detailed, but it's filled with valuable insight into one of Silicon Valley's most respected company cultures. Below are my key takeaways, and below that, I'll share one thing our team is doing to live our values and not just talk about them.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Culture is NOT:

  • The writing on the walls in your hallways
  • The one-word slogans company leaders say but don't enforce
  • Ping-pong tables and free beer (...these are great perks, not your culture)
  • The things you *say*

Culture IS:

  • The collection of habits that you accept and nurture within your organization
  • The things you *do*

Building a great culture is about what is **right** and what is the **truth**, which can often conflict with what *feels good* or allows you to be the *most comfortable*.

If you compromise on a hire, failing to correct that mistake quickly will kill your credibility and team morale. Who you fire is just as important as whom you hire and sends a clear message to the team about what you value.

OUR TEAM

In a way, you could sum up all of this advice in a straightforward phrase...Values = Behaviors. What you do is what you value. As one of the leaders here at StructionSite, I am continually looking for ways to evangelize our values and build them into our day-to-day activities. Our core company values are:

  • Express Gratitude
  • Take Ownership
  • Always Be Learning

Each Friday afternoon during our weekly recap call, everyone on the team shares something or someone they are **grateful for**. There are two key outcomes from this:

  1. I learn something valuable on every single call, especially essential details about who is going above and beyond to support their teammates.
  2. Gratitude is an incredibly powerful emotion, so finishing our week this way is something that sends us into the weekend with the right frame of mind and feeling positive.

If you know someone running a construction team that might get value from this, please share it. I believe that beyond technology, the way to 'rescue' our industry from a lack of productivity lies in this work we do to create a fantastic company culture. If one day we at StructionSite could be considered a success, I feel strongly our culture will have played a critical role.

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