Powderkeg Tech Culture Awards Spotlight
(photo courtesy of Genesys)
Indianapolis-based tech networking platform Powderkeg will present the inaugural Indiana Breakout Tech Culture Awards in September. Last month, 50 Hoosier tech companies were named finalists for the awards, which include categories such as Overall Culture, Emerging Culture and Social Impact. This week, we spotlight five more finalists who talk about what culture means to their companies.
We asked representatives from each tech company a series of questions about company culture:
3BG Supply Co. (Fort Wayne)
Why is culture important to your company? – Alex Smith, CEO
Culture is, of course, important for obvious reasons; better productivity, employee retention, etc… however, we see culture as something far greater. Creating a cultural-ecosystem that gives back is at our moral center because we want people to feel connected to the business. We want our people to wake up and know that they are contributing to something far larger than themselves. The unity we feel with our people establishes two-way trust – they trust us with large strategy decisions knowing that we have their best interest at heart and we trust them to be the face of our company. We truly believe that success is measured not by the dollar, but by the strength of the company and its ability to provide a world-class culture to its employees, customers and suppliers. Our goal is that everything our business touches is positively impacted by our policies and values.
What is your most creative culture initiative? – Jeff Gruettert, Director of Operations
At 3BG Supply, we encourage teamwork, productivity and transparency. As our company continues to scale, we identified the need to manage tasks in an organized way. As a result, we found that to achieve high levels of success and teamwork, we needed to adopt a project management framework. We found and implemented Scrum. Scrum allows our team to work in a well-structured project management system that emphasizes teamwork, accountability and iterative progress toward a well-defined goal. The initiative to roll out this framework was a huge success for our team as our company continues to scale at a fast rate.
How does culture fit into your talent recruitment and retention efforts? – Emily Price, Head of People
At 3BG we empower our employees with freedom and creativity by providing unlimited PTO, flexible and remote work, a free Spotify Premium account and a comprehensive and competitive benefits package. Overall, our total compensation package is designed to be a reflection of culture and meant to positively impact our employees and strengthen our organization. Our company’s culture is also deeply embedded in our hiring and onboarding strategy. One of our goals is that employees feel welcome and valued from the start of their employment. Our team has created an extremely intuitive and robust offer package which answers most all questions employees have while being onboarded and drastically improves the candidate experience.
Our team is also currently working on transiting to a new workspace located in the heart of Downtown Fort Wayne, IN. As a venture-backed, high-growth technology company, our goal is to create a working environment that is conducive for attracting top talent. The new space will create a fun, dynamic and creative work experience for our team and includes rooftop access, indoor/outdoor workspace, ground-level shops, restaurants, pubs, cafes and more.
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Doxly (Indianapolis)
Why is culture important to your company? – Haley Altman, CEO
At Doxly, we have a team-based culture that is inclusive and encourages participation on all levels. There is laughter and camaraderie every day at the Doxly office and we believe this helps us maintain an enjoyable atmosphere in which our employees build great relationships. As a result, productivity is always high, spirits are even higher and our customers notice.
What is your most creative culture initiative? – Haley Altman, CEO
It would probably have to be our swag. All of our team members help curate the concepts and designs for all of our great swag. Some of the swag items include track jackets and pants, fun t-shirts and the Doxly mascot Croxly. We also hold interactive team events such as creating custom art projects, trivia challenges, breakout rooms, and more.
How does culture fit into your talent recruitment and retention efforts? – Christopher Clapp, Executive Chairman
When recruiting new talent, we always strive to find the best fit for the employee and the company. Since we have a team-based culture that encourages collaboration, it is extremely important to recruit talent that also enjoys working collaboratively over working independently. Additionally, our leadership team is a strong and always accessible which helps with retention as everyone’s voice is heard.
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Genesys (Indianapolis) – Tracy Cote, Chief People Officer
Why is culture important to your company?
At Genesys, our culture and people are our differentiators. In fact, we firmly believe our people are the secret to our success. That’s why we place such high importance on cultivating a culture that connects our employees to one another – and to our company.
Genesys is a global business with team members located in all corners of the world. We have many different micro-cultures under the umbrella of our overarching macro-culture. That means a Genesys sales team in Germany may be more boisterous than a group of engineers in Indianapolis. Teams at our corporate headquarters in Daly City, California have different styles than those in our office in Singapore. And, our employees in Galway, Ireland have different customs and varying ways of doing the same things as their colleagues in Brazil.
We acknowledge and respect the differences among individuals, geographies, generations and backgrounds. And, we have an ongoing commitment to fostering a dynamic community that communicates with each other, accepts diverse styles, people and points of view while supporting the common threads that bind the pieces together. Our team’s varying beliefs, values and perspectives are our strength and the foundation that makes Genesys such a great place to work.
What is your most creative culture initiative?
At Genesys, we firmly believe in giving all of our team members opportunities to give back. Many companies give employees similar chances to contribute to the communities where they live and work. But we take a creative approach in that we don’t dictate how, when or even if our employees give back. That’s a critical difference compared to the corporate-led engagement activities found within many organizations, which are rarely as, well, engaging, as the grass-roots activities developed by employees, for employees.
Instead, we give all team members paid volunteer hours and the freedom to tailor their giving to what’s most meaningful to them. Our “Make a Difference” program is one way we do this. For example, we’re proud to share that in 2018 approximately 550 Indianapolis team members participated in activities and events across the community. There were 200 employee volunteers from our Indianapolis office that participated in a panel build last year for the Greater Indianapolis Habitat for Humanity. In addition, local employees volunteered quarterly with Gleaners Food Bank, packed backpacks with school supplies for local schools, raised funds for the Tyler Trent Foundation, packed 80,000 meals for Kids Against Hunger and so much more.
The point is – we believe when employees are empowered, find common interests and choose to give back together, they gain personal fulfillment while forming deeper connections within their teams. By enabling these connections through the support of employee-driven volunteer programs, we can deliver more positive work experiences and, ultimately, better business outcomes.
How does culture fit into your talent recruitment and retention efforts?
As a market leader, we have a responsibility to foster a culture that welcomes talent from all walks of life. That’s why our recruiting efforts take into account more than finding the best person for the job. Instead, we focus on hiring (and retaining) the best person for the team and our culture. We recognize we are better when our employees bring different perspectives born from diverse backgrounds and experiences. And, that’s woven into our recruiting efforts.
At Genesys, cultural health for the entire organization is a priority from the top down. This extends to recruiting, even at the executive level. Some candidates may sport impressive achievements or highly desired skills and knowledge. But if they don’t share and display our company’s core values, they’re not the right fit. In the end, no force on earth destroys culture faster than bad hires.
When it comes to retention, we follow many of the same tenets. As our culture and our employees evolve, we stay committed to ensuring Genesys is a great place to work by:
- Empowering each Genesys office and community to establish its own identity while reflecting the corporate culture in ways that are meaningful locally.
- Reinforcing and embracing the common threads that run through the company, including a passion for making every moment count in customer experience.
- Encouraging and supporting grassroots initiatives through our employee-driven Make a Difference charitable program.
- Fostering a “be who you are, and do incredible work” attitude. We believe in authenticity and know that diverse teams drive innovation and great experiences.
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mAccounting, an inDinero Company (Indianapolis) – Brenna Whitaker, VP of People Ops
Why is culture important to your company?
We work hard to be a place where our people love to come to work. We work together as partners and mentors to help each other grow. Our staff is set up to advance, by both learning new skills and by earning new responsibilities. We believe the more well-rounded, engaged and, well, “balanced” we are, the better we’re able to help our clients and each other.
What is your most creative culture initiative?
Implementation of Funtivities Committee: This committee focuses on making sure there are regularly planned events and staff encouragement. This focus on fun and supporting/celebrating what’s happening in the lives of our team members has created a really connected and cared for environment for our staff to thrive.
How does culture fit into your talent recruitment and retention efforts?
Talent recruitment is the starting point for company culture. It has been critical for our retention and strengthening of our teams to make sure we are hiring people who fit our culture and are excited to join in and strengthen and align with our company culture. The stronger our culture is the healthier and more engaged our employees are which then encourages retention.
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OneCause (Indianapolis) – Steve Johns, CEO
Why is culture important to your company?
At OneCause, it starts with our why. Our culture is built around our shared passion for helping nonprofits further their missions. We put their causes at the center of everything we do. Like most tech start-ups we have branded hoodies, a snack closet, endless LaCroix, a popcorn machine, weekly yoga, ping pong tournaments, potluck gatherings and more. But, it’s the authenticity of who we are and what we care about, that drives us and makes us different. It’s our passion for making a positive impact through the nonprofits we serve that makes OneCause such a special place.
What is your most creative culture initiative?
Service and philanthropy are central to our culture. In addition to more common philanthropic benefits like paid volunteer days and monthly team volunteer opportunities, OneCause has a unique employee program, “YourCause”, where each employee is gifted a free fundraising software subscription to donate to a charity of their choice. We empower every employee to leverage our internal expertise and resources to help a nonprofit or cause they are personally passionate about. Collectively the YourCause program has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for causes since it launched in 2016. This summer we’re expanding our philanthropic culture to the larger Indianapolis community, launching the Indy Tech Gives™ competition, a six-week fundraising challenge among local technology companies raising money for five Indianapolis charities.
How does culture fit into your talent recruitment and retention efforts?
We offer a unique opportunity to develop employees personally and professionally in an environment that’s purpose-driven and mission-orientated. Individuals who share a passion for building a career with a greater purpose thrive at OneCause. The culture is driven by employees living out our core values of being Passionate; Curious; Helpful and Committed. These aren’t just words that live on a poster or coffee mug in the office. We use our values everyday to inform, guide, and inspire us. These values came from our employees and the qualities they recognize in each other and strive for every day. It’s these characteristics that we look for in new hires, focus on in performance reviews, and reward each other for in our employee recognition program.