In the highly competitive tech industry, the race to secure top talent hinges on more than just attractive salaries and generous perks.
The real differentiator is often an intangible yet powerful element - the company culture.
Gallup’s research underscores the profound impact of a thriving culture. Companies with a robust culture witness a 50 percent increase in employee engagement and a 25 percent growth in their workforce over three years. Additionally, organizations with strong cultures saw an 85 percent surge in net profit over five years.
Meanwhile, 47 percent of jobseekers said company culture was a driving reason to search for a new job, according to Zippia.
VelocityEHS and CPI OpenFox stand out for their commitment to cultivating team cultures based on communication, trust, collaboration and inclusivity. These values create environments where every team member feels integral to success, enhancing productivity and fostering a sense of belonging.
These Chicago companies demonstrate that thriving company cultures are intentionally crafted environments where abilities are nurtured and every team member’s contribution is crucial. Team leaders shared how they cultivate team culture and professional growth in practice.
VelocityEHS offers intuitive, affordable ESG and EHS software to help businesses achieve environmental, social and governance goals, enhancing workplace safety and sustainability.
What are the key characteristics and values of a good team culture, and how do you and your team bring those characteristics or values to life?
Our team culture thrives on effective communication, trust, collaboration, inclusivity, accountability, continuous learning, recognition, work-life balance and a shared vision. Open communication channels ensure everyone’s ideas are heard and valued, fostering a sense of belonging and mutual respect. We emphasize teamwork, leveraging individual strengths and fostering a collaborative mindset.
Diversity is not just valued but celebrated, bringing a richness of perspectives to our projects. Accountability is key; each member takes ownership of their tasks, contributing to the team’s collective success. We’re committed to continuous learning, viewing challenges as growth opportunities. Recognition and appreciation are part of our daily practice, acknowledging individual contributions to boost morale. We understand the importance of work-life balance and strive to maintain it, enhancing overall well-being and productivity.
Lastly, a shared vision unites us, providing direction and purpose. This blend of values creates a dynamic, supportive and effective workplace environment.
How do you ensure your team members continue to feel challenged, engaged and excited by their work?
To maintain an atmosphere where team members are continually challenged, engaged and fulfilled with their work, fostering an environment that promotes growth and innovation is essential. Our approach involves setting dynamic and clear goals that push team members to expand their capabilities and set their sights higher. We emphasize the importance of personal and professional development, crafting a learning-rich environment that constantly encourages our team to operate in their ‘stretch zone.’
Fostering a culture of innovation and creativity is also crucial. By allowing team members the freedom to explore new ideas and methodologies, we keep our work intriguing and pave the way for advanced solutions. Regular feedback and the acknowledgment of achievements are integral, too, as they ensure team members feel appreciated and understand the significance of their contributions. Finally, we advocate for a healthy balance between work and personal life, which is vital in sustaining enthusiasm and avoiding burnout. This balance is critical to ensuring our team members are satisfied and successful in their professional and personal lives.
By allowing team members to explore new ideas and methodologies, we keep our work intriguing and pave the way for advanced solutions.”
Do you have any unique team celebrations, traditions or rituals to celebrate successes?
Although we don’t have specific rituals, our approach to celebrating success is deeply woven into our corporate fabric. Prestigious recognitions such as the President’s Club, which is an annual trip for our top performers, and Quota Club are cornerstones of our recognition system on the sales team. These accolades are more than just awards; they represent our team’s dedication, hard work, and collective achievements.
In our regular team meetings, we make it a point to give shoutouts to outstanding performances, fostering a culture of appreciation and motivation. These celebrations are crucial in reinforcing our core values and demonstrating our unwavering commitment to acknowledging and valuing each team member’s contributions.
CPI OpenFox’s OpenFox® Suite is a network solution for federal and state agencies to manage and share criminal data, offering mission-critical software to law enforcement and public safety agencies globally.
What are the key characteristics and values of a good team culture, and how do you and your team bring those characteristics or values to life?
At CPI, building a good team culture is important, and I think there are several things that are key to contributing to that goal. Communication, collaboration, flexibility, recognition and accountability are all essential to supporting individual team members and fostering them to support each other. Above all of these, however, I feel the most important thing to building a great team culture is trust. Team members must be able to trust in one another. They must mean what they say and deliver on their promises.
Ensuring that each team member has a space built on psychological safety and allows them to bring ideas to the table and trust that we will respect them greatly impacts team cohesion. We strive to make sure that every team member listens to each other, and when they commit to a decision or an idea, they follow up. Everyone knows their contributions are important, and they rely on one another to hold their weight.
How do you ensure your team members continue to feel challenged, engaged and excited by their work?
I think the size of our company, combined with the fast-paced changes in our industry, helps to keep CPI ever-evolving and keeps our work exciting. We recently redesigned one of our applications, changing the technology that powered it. This meant that several members from all aspects of our company were meeting and discussing everything from current functionality to potential improvements, to performance factors, to “future-proofing.”
Watching team members share ideas, identify challenges and debate the solutions is always exciting. Watching someone’s eyes light up when their solution becomes the right solution is an amazing experience, especially because at CPI, the other team members are excited by that idea and are ready to support them. Because CPI takes the time to review our existing platforms and encourages our staff to come up with new ways to approach our products, CPI stays innovative. Because we hear every voice, team members know their contributions are a huge part of that success.
Watching someone’s eyes light up when their solution becomes the right solution is an amazing experience.”
Do you have any unique team celebrations, traditions or rituals to celebrate successes?
One of my favorite things that CPI does is our “You Make A Difference” awards. Every quarter, our team members nominate their peers for accomplishments and successes that were “above and beyond” the bounds of their normal duties. Nominations can include project-related work, innovative new ways, personal achievements and much more.
I love that these nominations are “peer-to-peer” and visible to the entire company. The reading of the awards is a vital part of our company culture and everyone looks forward to seeing who is a recipient.
