6 simple steps every CEO can do to create a safe and positive working environment
We live in the strangest of times. Among all the things happening right now, I was particularly shocked by the news about the Activision Blizzard lawsuit and Xsolla firing 150 people over one email. Not to mention that Amazon’s working environment has been infamous for a long time now.
My mind cannot simply wrap around those things. I never worked for a huge corporation, so maybe that’s why harassment or mass layoffs are something so withdrawn and unnatural to me. But I want to take this chance and think about how we can try and create a safe and positive working environment for everyone.
Company Culture and Values
I’m running my own company since I was 18. And one of the first things that I did being a CEO was creating a company culture and picking values that resonate with my worldview. You can hire people to do branding or website for you (which we never did as a design studio). Still, the mission and vision statements, company values should come from the CEO because these are the foundation you’ll build your company upon.
Think about what kind of people you want to work with and why they should pick your company. Based on your findings, create an employee value proposition. At Merge, it’s “We are young, passionately curious and bold. Are you?” and one can precisely say what traits we’re looking for when hiring new people.
Six steps to a better working environment
Take these suggestions with a grain of salt, but this is what I’ve come up with after hiring almost 30 people over the last couple of years:
- Skills and experience are essential, but what is also crucial is reputation. If you hire someone for an executive position, do at least a basic background check.
- Don’t be afraid to fire toxic people. If you have a rockstar coder who treats other people like shit — fire them. Yeah, you might lose some time to find a replacement, but everyone will benefit from it in the long run.
- Company values are not just a list on the website or a document within an HR department. They are what you and your team believe in, so don’t write something just because it’s “popular.” Don’t be afraid to change them as your company and your employees grow.
- Create a safe working environment for everyone. Make sure that your employees won’t be afraid to step up and talk about that even when something terrible happens.
- You should value all employees the same: everyone contributes to your company’s goals, so treat them respectfully.
- Invest in your employees. This one seems a bit obvious, but make sure that your employees are growing as your company grows — they need to learn new things constantly.
By utilizing these suggestions, everyone in your company will feel safe and needed. And in the long run, you and your company will benefit from it: everyone will work better and be hesitant about leaving the company. Since we started, we parted ways with two or three people, which is fantastic for almost three years of doing business.
How do we do it at Merge
For example, at Merge Development, we focus on making everyone’s life at the company easier. This year we started an educational program for employees to grow both professionally and as a person. After that, we also launched Merge Care — a unique program focused on the employees’ wellbeing.
We also have a non-toxic policy, which prohibits toxic behavior from everyone, and that includes me.
Combined with our values, I believe that these small things make Merge the company it is today. And I feel that everyone in the company feels the same.
In recent years humankind did a lot to create a safer working environment for women and people of color, but we still have much to do. I hope that my generation will be more kind to others and value everyone fairly. They say: treat others the way you want to be treated. And that’s pretty accurate.
