To keep pace with today’s rapidly changing workplace and dire talent shortage, companies are having to adapt and embrace new approaches. One of those companies is entertainment company Netflix.
Started in 1997, Netflix has become a hugely successful company with over 100 million subscribers in more than 190 countries. In 2013, its stock more than tripled in value and the company had three Emmy wins. This year, they had 20 wins. One key ingredient to the company’s success? Its unique culture and approach to talent.
Patty McCord, former chief talent officer at Netflix, spoke about the company’s successful workforce model at Upwork’s recent Work Without Limits
The “A-Team”
Like most companies, Netflix seeks to hire the best. How they differ from most is in their view toward keeping only the best. If an employee’s skills or talents are no longer needed or aren’t up to snuff, they may be let go.
Using the “keeper test,” managers decide which people they’d be willing to fight to keep if the employee had given notice they were leaving the company. Employees they wouldn’t fight for would get a severance package. While this system may seem counterintuitive to creating a strong company culture, it’s helped make the culture one employees do enjoy being part of, and not surprisingly, it’s helped propel the company’s meteoric success.
“The best thing you can do for employees—a perk better than foosball or free sushi—is hire only ‘A’ players to work alongside them. Excellent colleagues trump everything else.”
— Patty McCord, former chief talent officer at Netflix
Another important facet of Netflix’s culture? It’s a team, not a family. During her time at Netflix, McCord helped create the Netflix Culture Deck, which outlines the company’s beliefs.
First published in 2009, the famous deck has garnered more than 15 million views, and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg has said it “may be the most important document ever to come out of Silicon Valley.”
The game-changing deck invites business leaders to think differently about talent with statements like “we’re a team, not a family.” And “Netflix leaders hire, develop, and cut smartly, so we have stars in every position.”
McCord suggests seeing talent “in terms of fungible, flexible, agile groups of people that come together, then disband. Then come together in another group and disband again.” While companies don’t usually operate this way, it’s how Hollywood movie sets or consulting teams typically do.
Push the boundaries
McCord encourages executives to think beyond the traditional workplace hierarchy and see workers as “different cards in your deck.” She advises that you put all the cards in a deck and:
- Take stock of the talent you have and the talent you need.
- Figure out the talent and skill levels you’ll need to get the work done.
- Have a deep understanding of what you’re trying to do, and rearrange the teams and the talent to do it.
She encourages leaders to do whatever it takes to create your ideal deck of players. Freelancers could be a critical part of that strategy.
Keep an eye to the future
McCord advises that keeping a future perspective is vital. Leaders should be able to look six months out into the future, push the boundaries, try new things, have conversations about what the future looks like and the skills needed to get there. She recommends quarterly reviews to revisit your future vision and consider the talent you need to achieve it.
To discover more of McCord’s insights and how to put them to work for you, read “Is Netflix’s Successful Workforce Model Right for You?” And be sure to check out the Hiring Headquarters for more trends and strategies shaping the future of work.
The post Netflix’s Formula for Success? Culture and Top Talent appeared first on Upwork Blog.
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