Valve breaks the code as a workplace

Print Screen from Valve's Book. Their copyright.

I'm reading through the perhaps leaked Handbook for New Employees by Valve. Whilst I'm reading it, I notice myself becoming excited and writing notes aside. Ideas start evolving in my brain connecting to cells on the left, right and beyond. How amazing and how what I'd want to accomplish too.

Valve, in their own words, is an organization that is totally boss-free (since 1996). They give all the power to the people. The power to hire the best, to decide in which projects one will spend their time on, the power to decide on the value of their peers (which effectively affects one's compensation) and so on. Whilst this type of freedom is definitely attractive, it suits only certain types of people. Those who are immensely smart, self steering and are able to see the scope of things. It won't work for people who need mentoring, guidance, who are title-hungry and who love bossing others around.



Few pointers from Valve Software culture:

Print Screen from Valve's Book. Their copyright.

1. They talk about families of employees, not just employees.
2. Valve is all about self steering, in good and potentially bad.
3. Nobody is hired for a role. They are hired to put their best foot forward where ever it makes most sense and brings most value.
4. Compensation becomes adjusted over time based on internal peer driven valuation. 
5. There is no career ladder as there is no ladder whatsoever.
6. Hiring is the most important thing at Valve. They believe missing out on a great recruitment will be the most expensive mistake they can make.
7. They prefer T-shaped people (highly skilled at a broad range of important things, but among the best in their field within a narrow discipline)
8. It seems like a group of independent artists working together towards the same goal.

Whilst Valve's culture is beautiful in most of it's aspects, it's not a culture suitable for just anyone to copy. If you read the handbook to the end, you'll find them to agree with it. But there are certainly many elements to copypaste or to inspire to take steps suitable for your organization. In my case, I'm thrilled and heavily inspired to fit some aspects into mine.

For Finnish readers; there is a conversation on this topic on Linked In Talent Pool Finland -group.

Be inspired!

Susanna

Great Place to Work race comes to Finish in few weeks - Is your company in it?

Paid a visit to the Finnish Great Place to Work Institute today. The New List will be published in less than a month's time and based on my own experience, about 150 employers in Finland are living exciting times. According to Panu, who is the CEO of the Finnish organisation, the trust index keeps crawling up year by year making the competition ever so tough. If you succeeded well last year does not mean you will this year as everyone has worked hard to be even better this year around.

Me on the left (you didn't guess, right?) and Panu Luukka, CEO of Great Place to Work Institute Finland on the right

What does "being better mean" in this race?
First of all, I think it's fair to say, the companies who participate in the survey are not taking part on it only to succeed in the public race. They are participating in it to get prove their leadership culture rocks and rolls, to become benchmarked against others and to gain insight into how others lead.

Even though the goal should be to be on the top of the rank to make participation an investment worth while, success means the company has done not something, but many things right in order to engage talents to their organisation. It's a good "competition" for HR people, we don't have anything else to measure our success in our jobs so well than such a survey.

 

Leo from HR 2.0 with Panu engaged in discussion at the new GPTW Finland office

It has a huge impact on HR's job, CEO's job and People's jobs

Participation in the GPTW survey was major part of my job in my previous workplace before becoming an entrepreneur. I'm a big fan of the survey as it is an excellent tool to make me do my job really well as an HR. I really saw the impact of great results in the development of our employer brand, engagement of people and abilities to attract talents. As a result, the company made great financial results.

Great Place to Work -survey is really not just a survey. The survey results are the epitome of the leadership culture of an organisation. Benchmark results are a prove you're taking the People Promise seriously, you're working on it continuously and you want to have the best there are to work for you.

When you get the best people, you want to make it a sound & profitable investment, so you take care of your investment, nurture it and make it grow for you. That should be of a CEO's interest.

How does it have an impact on people's jobs then? If the employer wants to attract and keep the best, employer provides such working environment where the best have the best oppotunities and possibilities to bloom. I've always wanted to work in an environment where I can make the most of my career for a win-win situation.


Lot of money can buy a good word but is it credible and have you got it?

The problem with this "lot of money" is that HR departments never have it. So what can we do to get a great employer image, a brand of a good work place where all the best want to nest?

We start working from inside out.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside out gives you a lot of embassadors

Great work places are made of the following:

1. Simple, clear vision
2. Solid leadership foundation and culture you can call your own
3. Lot of (I mean LOOOOOOT of) internal communication and marketing coming from all angles and adobes 
4. Values that are lived on a daily basis and everyone knows how to
5. Appreciation

Working on these aspects with a great passion, your people will have many great stories to talk about to their friends. The word starts to spread naturally, without a marketing budget. Word of mouth coming from past and existing employees are the most credible statements affecting employer image. As people will talk, why not offer them success stories to talk about.

Passion for great work places and employer images

I have worked with building a solid foundation of a great place to work. I know what it ate, what makes it tick and what it requires from everyone - CEO included. And most of all, I know the effect it has on success of a business. Now that's really tasty! It's such an exciting circle that feed's itself once you get in it. But you have to want to get in it and work for it. If it was an overnight task, we wouldn't be reading so much about the difficulties to find and engage talents. 

Just to make sure you got it:

1. Make a great place to work your HR priority
2. Get the best of the best in and step ahead of competition
3. See, feel and live the experience of how well a great place to work can attract and engage the talents
4. Hear the happy steps of a happy CEO as he evaluates his excel
5. Be proud of your accomplishments that make you an HR every success driven CEO wants

I'm excited to see what companies made it to The List this year!

Susanna