A guide to company culture from 5 successful businesses

Developing a strong sense of company culture pays off. Employees who are happy are up to 12% more productive than average workers, able to outperform their peers and consistently improve an organisation’s revenue. A strong company culture means retaining your employees, spending less time training, and being able to procure the top talent.

Here are some fantastic examples of companies that were able to create and maintain a strong foundation that truly resonated with their employees.

Find out more about a TEC membership and how it can help you make an impact on your company culture.

Create an environment that you’d like to work in at Envato

Named one of BRW’s Best Places to Work in 2015 and JobAdvisor’s Coolest Tech Company in Australia in 2014, employees of Envato are the envy of many.

Envato’s founders had a single goal in mind when they developed their company culture: to create a business that they themselves would like to work in. After all, they knew that to get the best work out of them, employees had to have mutual respect for each other as individuals. Envato presently has around 260 employees, and their major marketplace, ThemeForest, is the 204th most visited website in the world. They have been able to achieve their sterling reputation and incredible growth through the allowance of flexible benefits — such as allowing their staff to work anywhere in the world for up to three months. They have also emphasised gender diversity internally. In 2015, Envato was named the Coolest Company for Women by JobAdvisor.

What does this all mean? Envato can get the pick of the litter when it comes to tech employees — especially female employees.

Be honest and blunt at Atlassian

Values are the foundation of Atlassian’s company culture, which acknowledges the humanity and complexity of both their employees and their customers.

Atlassian’s blunt and honest company creed sets the stage for the rest of its edicts: build with heart and balance, play as a team, and be the change you seek. This direct, forthcoming company culture is what makes Atlassian a refreshing business for employees — and customers. Atlassian’s company culture includes twice-daily workout sessions, which are designed to bring the employees together and acknowledge that life is about more than just work product. But at its core, the company culture is about working together to deliver the best product possible and being proud of that work. This company culture supports the idea of mavericks and innovators while also emphasizing the need for teamwork.

By creating a blunt atmosphere, Atlassian is able to improve communication among its personnel. A focus towards delivering the best product at any cost removes focus from mundane, day-to-day conflicts and truly inspires their employees to innovate.

Turn work into a party at RedBalloon

When RedBalloon was first launched, ten years ago, it was just a one-person startup; now it’s one of BRW’s “Great Places to Work.”

An online experience-based gift retailer, RedBalloon wants to bring its gifts and happiness to its employees as well. RedBalloon’s company culture concentrates primarily on developing an employee experience rather than using employees as company resources. The founder, Naomi Simson, wanted her employees to have a good time in their workplace, trusting that if they do, they will remain loyal and productive. The process of maintaining this company culture begins as early as interviewing. Quirky group interviews make sure that everyone who comes on board is part of the same healthy dynamic. The company culture is then reinforced through engaging, bonding activities, ranging from a comprehensive wellness program to optional charity hours. Through this, RedBalloon is able to maintain its work ethic without sacrificing productivity.

When employees want to work, they stay at their job. By creating this atmosphere, RedBalloon is able to reduce employee churn and the amount of time they spend during the hiring process and training.

Just be human at Vinomofo

With a tradition of calling its employees “mofos” and “mofettes,” Vinomofo has been a unique and innovative company from the start.

Today, Vinomofo sells 3.5 million bottles of wine annually, with approximately 100 employees. They’ve been able to achieve this steady and impressive growth by creating a company that is about more than just profit. Vinomofo has a wide variety of Mofo Causes, designed to give back to the community for everything from animal welfare to depression awareness. And every month, Vinomofo recognises people within the community who are doing good work. Like RedBalloon, a lot of attention is paid to new hires to ensure that they fit in with the existing company culture. A major creed at Vinomofo is to “be human” so that the distractions of the workplace don’t get in the way of recognising employees as people.

Vinomofo didn’t want to forget its employees’ humanity — and it paid off. By treating employees as people, companies can ensure that their employees truly give their work their all. This can be easily seen in the productivity Vinomofo is able to establish with just a hundred employees.

Don’t be evil with Google

Google has distilled company culture down to a science, becoming the topic of dozens of research papers and studies unto itself.

‘Don’t be evil’ has been Google’s motto for many years — and it’s one of the reasons this monolithic tech giant is often still considered to be one of the friendliest and most approachable businesses. Google has always been lauded for its relaxed atmosphere and company culture, which includes being able to bring in dogs, working on flex time, and devoting significant portions of one’s day to one’s own projects. Google has remained one of the ‘Best Companies to Work For’ on Fortune 100’s list year after year, and in large part, this is due to its unique benefits, sterling reputation, and carefully crafted culture.

Google’s reputation has made it possible for it to truly select from the best-of-the-best tech employees — and that’s what has kept it on top.

Culture is impactful

Company culture is inherent to a company’s success. Not only does it improve revenue and productivity, but it also ensures that any business you start is a business that you also want to continue working with. Developing a company culture certainly isn’t easy: it has to be motivated from the ground up, beginning with new hires and continuing on through the upper echelons of management.

At TEC, we’re focused on helping our members grow as leaders and creating company cultures employees want to work in.