The company culture deck: what is it, why have one, and how to get started on one
Does your company have a culture deck?
A single source of truth that spells out the vision, mission of the organization, what success looks like, and the company policies.
The "ideals" as well as what that looks like in practice, day-to-day.
What is a culture deck/employee handbook?
The practice of building and sharing slide decks to explain the company culture was kick-started by Netflix in 2009, when the CEO Reed Hastings posted the first document of this kind, containing an intimidating 125 slides*.
We've had one in its current shape for 5 years now. It's a living, breathing document - they say "culture is what everyone is doing when no one’s watching". So we keep adding new bits all the time, and we launch a new official version of it annually, during our Team Culture Fest.
It's a tool that tells new hires who we are, beyond the values on the mugs or posters on the walls or the website statements. It’s a compass for maintaining focus on our purpose.
It's where one looks when they're confused about what those values really mean (hint: big words like "integrity" can mean a lot of things to different people, so you need to break them down in behaviors and articulate those in detail if you want them to be understood by everyone); or how taking leave works, how we deal with mistakes, how to access the L&D program, what to do if you've decided to WFH forever and most other things one might be wondering about. It explains in detail what will get one hired/promoted/fired at Livit. It gets our team on the same page and helps it stay on the same page, too.
If you're considering creating a Culture Deck for your company, here's what you do NOT need:
Don't let it turn into a scary task - just a few slides suffice for the first version. It’s more important to get started than to have a fancy, “complete” version to start with - that doesn’t exist.
Expensive design - use Google Slides, Docs or any other tool you’re already comfortable with
Well-defined policies for absolutely everything - it's ok to say this is where we are right now
Here's what you do need or should have in it:
Your company vision, mission, values
PTO (paid time off) policies, working time expectations
Remote work policy
L&D (learning & development) program/opportunities/policies
DEI (diversity equality and inclusion)
What to do with it once you have it:
Make it easily available - everyone in your team should know where to find it, encourage everyone to download a copy of it on their own drive.
Involve your team in the process, encourage people to ask questions and discuss its contents openly.
Continuously add to it as you grow and your culture evolves over time.
Use it during the onboarding of new hires.
Consider sharing parts or an abridged version of it publicly - it can help attract like-minded talent and partners who share your way of work and motivations
In conclusion
Every company has a culture, deliberately and intentionally created or not.
But, Lavinia, didn’t you say culture is what everyone’s doing when no one is watching? So what’s the point in writing it all down?
Correct.
But when you define what kind of workplace you want to be, you have a much better chance of making it a reality. Everyone benefits from having a clear guide to how and why your team does certain things.
In the end, it’s also a competitive advantage. It helps you hire and build a great team in a way no one else can replicate.
Here’s a print screen of our content page.
Which policies would you like to know more about?
Further reading if you’re curious about this topic:
Bretton Putter’s Culture Decks Decoded
