Some Culture Soup For The Startup Soul

Last week, I had a long conversation with a friend who has moved out of this fast-growing startup, recently funded by some amazing investors. I didn’t ask him the reason for leaving, presuming it to be normal in today’s times. The discussion went on- work, life, one after another and we came to the point of talking about his previous office, the one he left. 

The startup had apparently changed trajectory, deciding to focus on one particular vertical, in line with what investors wanted. While all this was happening, employees were not kept in the loop. My friend obviously couldn’t align with this new shift in strategy but his bigger gripe was the opaque manner in which this was done. 

It may seem like a small issue but is a mirror to the culture at this startup. Transparency is non-negotiable and companies that believe in it foster trust among their employees.

More recently, a glaring example of opacity came to the fore when US-based Better.com fired 900 employees abruptly on a Zoom call. Besides damaging its employer brand, the move also points to a top-down approach of leadership, underlined by distrust on both sides. As per reports, the company has already begun to see top-level exits.

Agree or not, culture is the single most important thing for a business. It doesn’t get as much attention as a funding round, IPO or marketing strategy but it is indeed everything. Tony Hsieh was absolutely right when he said “If you get the culture right, everything else will take care of itself”.

Especially in a hyper funded world where there’s too much money chasing startups, culture needs to be talked about a lot more. The funding boom may actually have a significant impact on the way startups manage talent. For one, the great war on talent is already going on with companies throwing in BMW bikes and more, but the question to ask here is- can perks alone attract and sustain good talent? Isn't a conducive work environment as much of an ask?

In fact, with this approach, companies may end up hiring mercenaries, more than missionaries. You need people who are aligned with the vision and direction of the company, not people who are looking at arbitrage opportunities.

Aside from leading to hiring people who may not be a cultural fit and propagating unsustainable compensation practices, there are other risks as well. Excessive funding has brought about in many cases, “growth at all costs” mindset which is pushing employees to the extent of burnout. There are frauds being committed to meet the hypergrowth story for the next round.

Funding booms are transient, how startups use this to build a workplace that becomes a magnet for talent will decide their fate. 

Over the last several months, culture has been an area of deep interest for me, wherein I am researching, reading, talking to friends and other founders on best practices. My passion stems from all the right things we’ve done at OkCredit, which has made our people love us.

To be frank, culture was not the first thing on our mind from day 1, but over the years, I have realised the huge role it has played in shaping who we are as an organisation. My first reference for building an organisational culture came from Flipkart, where I had previously worked and also from our own definition of an aspirational, ideal workplace. I remember at Flipkart, while we were inspired by the entrepreneurial ambition of Sachin and Binny and the impact they were making, the whole office atmosphere was quite energising.

From my experience, there are two things absolutely crucial for an early-stage startup when it comes to building a great workplace culture. First is the problem, the strength of the idea itself and your vision for building it. There has to be the purpose, pride, passion, enthusiasm among founders which then trickles down to the employees.

Second is hiring the right set of early employees since these are the people who will be involved in the hiring process later and thus form the cultural DNA of an organisation. At OkCredit, we are lucky to have found brilliant set of early employees who champion our values and ethos.

As these early employees move up the ladder and become managers, startups need to invest in their individual growth, preparing them to be future leaders. We are running a programme for our managers with Inner Fit which drives leaderships skills through behavioural changes.

Besides, we have been able to create a system of feedback, empathy, respect and recognition. Recognition shouldn’t merely be restricted to monthly awards, rather team leaders should be encouraged to praise their colleagues publicly- praise in public,  individual feedback in private.

While I can go on about the various things we have done, the idea here is to initiate a discussion on workplace culture. Feedback and comments are most welcome.

Remember, for customers to love your company, employees have to love it first.