Modern candidates rank company culture as one of the most important factors when considering career opportunities, and they can spot a bad company culture from a mile away.
What Is a Company Culture?
A company culture is a set of attitudes, values, beliefs, goals and other characteristics a company or organization follows to create a gratifying working environment.
Two key ingredients in building a positive company culture are valuing diversity and consistently working to create an inclusive work environment that respects and celebrates employees’ different backgrounds and experiences. Company culture examples can supply the inspiration you need to launch diversity and inclusion initiatives that bring employees a sense of comfort, safety and belonging.
It’s important that your company culture accurately reflects the organization and its people, but it never hurts to learn from companies with strong work cultures. With that in mind, let’s check out some company culture examples that will help anyone interested in leveling up.
Company Culture Examples
Comcast Advertising makes technology for efficiently managing media buying and selling, audience targeting and ad campaign workflows. Its solutions serve brands and agencies, as well as other stakeholders across the TV advertising landscape, such as publishers and distributors. Comcast Advertising is part of media and technology giant Comcast, which emphasizes values like “committing to a culture of fairness, respect and inclusion.”
What makes Comcast Advertising’s culture great: The company seeks to foster a connected workforce and ensure all team members can take advantage of resources to help them grow professionally. The 2024 Impact Report from Comcast shows, for example, it has multiple learning and development programs in place, including the EXCEL leadership development program and CoachDiversity, which provides executive coaching opportunities.
How you can apply Comcast Advertising’s ideas: Offer multiple ways for your employees to access education and career development. Options can include education stipends, tuition reimbursement programs, professional conference and networking opportunities or mentorship initiatives. Especially for companies with a large, diverse and dispersed workforce like Comcast, giving team members choices for learning and development can ensure support is available to suit different needs and life circumstances.
ServiceNow is a cloud-based platform that automates workflows, manages projects and simplifies collaboration for companies. As a small company, ServiceNow recognizes how much of an impact each new addition has on its corporate culture, and encourages everyone to give input and lead new culture, diversity and inclusion initiatives.
“Growing our local culture is a constant evolution and discussion item, but we’ve already developed some traditions,” Ryan Wells, senior technical program manager at ServiceNow, told Built In.
What makes ServiceNow’s work culture great: One employee describes it as a ‘culture of camaraderie.’ For example, when one employee brought lunch from home while others ate out, other employees brought lunch back to the office so that everyone could eat together. The company also sponsors team outings like karaoke, bowling and baseball games to welcome new hires into the fold. Customers are embraced as part of their culture; they even bake a cake each time a new customer goes live.
How you can apply ServiceNow’s ideas: Create a culture and work-life balance with a focus on individual interests. If people are comfortable sharing their quirks, others are likely to do the same. Especially for small companies where everyone has a significant impact on the culture, it’s crucial to make sure everyone feels included and represented.
Toast’s technology enables online ordering, tableside service, payroll and schedule management, inventory optimization, email marketing and other elements of running a food and drink business. With many of its employees coming out of the restaurant industry, the company has outlined a clear goal to “empower the restaurant community to delight their guests, do what they love and thrive.”
What makes Toast’s culture great: Toast aims to connect its employees both to the company’s overall mission and to one another with initiatives like volunteer opportunities, as well as both in-person and virtual gatherings. Its efforts to establish an equitable and supportive work community have also included the creation of the company’s Council of Advocates for Equity along with several employee resource groups, such as Challah for Jewish employees, Drye for sober employees and Multigrain for LGBTQIA+ employees and their allies.
How you can apply Toast’s ideas: When you’ve got a large international team like Toast, establish lots of programming geared toward building community, with options that are accessible to team members regardless of where or how they work. That might look like virtual meetups, regular keynote presentations or chances to get involved in company committees.
Veritone’s proprietary AI operating system, aiWARE, enables developers across media, legal and government sectors to organize, manage, search, and analyze metadata and content. The platform supports a variety of AI models, including language identification, content classification, transcription and license plate recognition.
What makes Veritone’s culture great: As a remote-first company, Veritone allows employees to work where they want. This gives team members the opportunity to work wherever they are most productive and the flexibility to find the work-life balance that’s best for them. To build and develop community among its remote workforce, it’s developed a number of “VERI communities” that help folks connect over shared interests.
How you can apply Veritone’s ideas: If you have a remote workforce, provide opportunities for your team members to connect through shared interests outside of their work life. This shows your employees that you aren’t only interested in their day-to-day output, but also want them to feel comfortable bringing their whole self to work each day.
Ampersand is a data-driven TV advertising, sales and technology company that provides advertisers with audience-first planning, scalable execution and advanced measurement of their investments.
What makes Ampersand’s culture great: Ampersand aims to foster a culture of support and talent recognition that enables its team to succeed. It does this in a number of ways, including a signed mental health pledge to prioritize employee well-being, a dedicated DEI staff and employee resource groups (ERGs) to foster belonging among employees with similar experiences.
How you can apply Ampersand’s ideas: Look for ways to support your employees even outside of their day-to-day work. This might be through developing an ERG program or hiring dedicated DEI staff like Ampersand. Showing your employees that you care about their well-being, both at work and after hours, can help them feel more connected to your organization and its mission.
The Predictive Index’s suite of products work to help companies make better hires, increase employee engagement and build high-performing teams. The company also offers workshops and opportunities to work with PI consultants to collaborate directly with leaders who are developing their teams.
What makes The Predictive Index’s company culture great: At PI, leaders work to recognize and accommodate different behavior and work styles through daily communication, work assignments and flexible work arrangements. PI also has a number of ERGs for underrepresented groups, like Queer@PI for its LGBTQ+ employees, while supporting employee-led initiatives like Change@Work.
How you can apply The Predictive Index’s ideas: Celebrate your differences and know that they are fundamental to your company’s success. Acknowledge the existence of implicit biases and work to mitigate them. Finally, listen to your employees. If they are telling you they don’t feel like they belong or can’t be themselves at work, believe them. Create space for them to share their feelings with folks who understand, whether that’s through a forum, an ERG or a one-on-one mentorship program.
Canva provides a free online tool that helps users design a variety of items, including social media posts, presentations and invitations.
What makes Canva’s company culture great: The company prides itself on a unique, values-led culture that evolves over time with input from its employees, empowering the team to do their best work knowing they play a role in the company’s growth.
How you can apply Canva’s ideas: Embrace its culture and do your best work. New team members will play an active role in shaping the company, so doing this will help create more magic every day.
Strategies to decode, maintain and improve company culture.
ActBlue is a nonprofit tech organization that assists democratic candidates, progressive organizations and nonprofits in building grassroots campaigns. Its fundraising platform provides customizable contribution forms and features like ActBlue Express Lane, allowing donors to contribute with a single click.
What makes ActBlue’s culture great: ActBlue says it pursues diverse perspectives and ideas, working to ensure a wide range of lived experiences, communication styles and problem-solving approaches on its team. The company aims to foster a supportive work environment, recognizing that a fun, relaxed and collaborative atmosphere positively impacts its ability to uphold its values. As a remote-first organization, it accommodates various schedules to suit the working hours of all team members.
“We believe in the power of people. It’s in our mission and it drives our culture. It takes all types of people to make ActBlue go,” the company told Built In.
How you can apply ActBlue’s ideas: If you can offer your employees a flexible work schedule or a casual work environment, that can go a long way toward helping your employees feel at home even when they are at work. When your team can relax into their work day, they can focus on being more productive, creative and collaborative.
Evive integrates big data with predictive analytics to help people optimize their work benefits. With Evive’s platform, employers can design personalized outreach and campaigns that connect employees with the benefits most relevant to them.
What makes Evive’s team culture great: The company is passionate about making an impact on people’s daily lives, and so are its people. To reduce Evive’s ecological footprint, the company created a ‘going green’ initiative that continues to influence its work environment. Employees extend their impact beyond the office by volunteering at local organizations, including the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
How you can apply Evive’s ideas: Create an organizational culture based on a cause. Support employees’ interests by providing opportunities to volunteer, start a passion project or implement programs that incorporate the whole team to meet a goal.
Forward Financing is a Boston-based fintech that aims to provide fast and flexible working capital to small businesses across the United States. Using its proprietary technology, the company offers same-day funding through revenue-based financing.
What makes Forward Financing’s culture great: Even though Forward Financing has team members dispersed throughout the U.S., it aims to foster a fun-loving and collaborative culture — both in-person and online. Through virtual game nights, small group lunches and monthly happy hours in the company’s Boston office, the company prioritizes connection, collaboration and transparency.
How you can apply Forward Financing’s ideas: In-person social events are great but don’t forget about your team members who are fully remote. If you have a partially hybrid or partially remote workforce, look for opportunities to include those you don’t see on a weekly basis. This might be through annual or semi-annual events like game or movie nights. This will help ensure it’s not only your hybrid employees that benefit from a great company culture.
Jackpocket develops and markets a mobile app that allows users to order and play official lottery games online. Through the app, users can pick their numbers, view their tickets and receive winnings up to $600 directly in their Jackpocket accounts, while larger winnings are securely delivered to players by trusted lottery retailers.
What makes Jackpocket’s’s culture great: Jackpocket aims to forge a “culture around continuous education” through lunch and learn events, company retreats and access to job-related conferences and seminars. In this way, the company upskills its existing workforce and promotes from within. As VP of Product, Jeff Glazer told Built In: “I was always given a chance to succeed in a new role…Whether enrolling in a training course or having one-on-ones to help my development, I knew the company was invested in my success.”
How you can apply Jackpocket’s ideas: Develop clear career paths across your organization and provide your employees with avenues for learning and development that will help them grow into your company’s future leaders. Employees with long tenure across a variety of roles can help you keep new employees motivated while demonstrating how much you value your long-standing team members.
Convention Data Services provides event registration, data management and lead retrieval services for trade shows, conferences and other events. The company works to streamline event operations, enhance attendee experiences and facilitate networking and business opportunities for event organizers, exhibitors and attendees alike.
What makes Convention Data Services’ culture great: “CDS provides a good space for individualism by allowing you to put your own stamp on the company, while receiving a high level of support,” an employee shared with Built In. The company puts its employees first, which is what helps CDS maintain such a staggeringly high retention rate. The company is also well known for promoting from within and investing in employees’ continuing education.
In addition, CDS boasts 12 weeks of paid parental leave, encourages employees to take time off to volunteer in their local communities and lets employees decide if they want to work in-person, hybrid or fully remote based on their needs. CDS also told Built In that they have a flexible PTO policy “so employees can live their best lives.”
How you can apply Convention Data Services’ ideas: Give your employees space to take the time they need to recharge and spend time with their loved ones. Let them have a say in how they work best — whether that’s working in-person, hybrid or remotely. Develop learning programs for your employees that allow them to upskill and bring their new skills back to the company.
Core Digital Media uses predictive modeling to target online impressions for its mortgage, home and auto brands, optimizing comparison-shopping paths and expected value for clients. Specializing in marketing and consumer acquisition, the company operates sites such as LowerMyBills.com and QuickenLoans.com.
What makes Core Digital’s culture great: CDM’s people-first approach, rooted in its six core values, emphasizes health, wellness and abundant growth opportunities. Employees benefit from dedicated R&R days to support their mental health and engage in professional development through formal soft skills training and challenging projects. This mindset also extends to the community, with CDM teams actively participating in volunteer activities.
How you can apply Core Digital’s ideas: Remember that your employees are people with stressors, passions and goals. The more you can help them manage their stress and dedicate time to what fuels them outside of the office, the more energized they will be at work. Incentivize that energy through quarterly or annual performance bonuses to reward initiative, growth and productivity.
Wolverine Trading is a proprietary trading firm and market maker specializing in a wide range of securities and derivatives, including equities, futures, ETFs and cash bonds. As part of the Wolverine group, it also offers asset management, order execution services and technology solutions across global markets.
What makes Wolverine’s culture great: The firm boasts a casual workplace alongside an “instructive, friendly environment” and a flat organizational structure that aims to promote teamwork across the firm. It also hosts several social events including one designated firmwide outing every month, firm-sponsored happy hours and recreational clubs.
How you can apply Wolverine’s ideas: Wolverine aims to make sure all employees have access to senior staff by pairing its open door policy with an open office floor plan and planned social gatherings for team members. Create opportunities, both in the office and after hours, to make sure individual contributors and mid-level managers have opportunities to connect with senior leaders in your organization.
Enigma’s technology is designed to provide its clients with comprehensive, actionable insights on the identity, behavior and financial health of small and medium businesses. Companies and financial institutions use Enigma’s intelligence solutions for targeted customer acquisition, risk assessments, credit pre-approvals and other applications.
What makes Enigma’s culture great: Enigma responded to employee feedback expressing a desire for more health and wellness reimbursements by establishing a $100 monthly wellness stipend that team members use to cover things like massages, workout gear and even healthy food options. Enigma also has a productivity tool budget to ensure employees have what they need to work comfortably, such as ergonomic chairs and noise-canceling headphones.
How you can apply Enigma’s ideas: Proactively seek out feedback and ideas from your employees on ways to improve physical work spaces, team culture and benefits. Whether it’s by offering additional perks or simply creating more opportunities for team members to connect virtually and in person, work toward implementing solutions that let employees know their voices are valued.
Snap! Mobile manages a portfolio of products aimed at simplifying fundraising and communications for sports teams, athletic directors and youth groups. Its flagship platform, Snap! Raise allows organizations to expand their digital reach beyond door-to-door fundraising.
What makes Snap! Mobile’s culture great: Snap! Mobile operates as a remote work-based company that offers unlimited PTO and quarterly virtual wellness classes to help team members keep a healthy work-life balance. While much of the workforce is fully distributed, the company also works to bring everyone together through frequent clinics, workshops and summits to allow the entire organization to collaborate and learn together.
How you can apply Snap! Mobile’s ideas: Having a fully remote team doesn’t mean you can’t find opportunities to connect as a group. While many organizations embrace company-sponsored events like happy hours and outings, look for ways you can upskill your entire workforce through professional development programs and continuous learning opportunities.
Lob’s SaaS platform integrates automation solutions into direct mail marketing campaigns. Thousands of companies across industries like financial services, healthcare and retail use Lob’s technology to access campaign analytics, minimize their environmental impact and scale their efforts through a nationwide print delivery network.
What makes Lob’s culture great: Lob is a fully remote employer that provides team members with various benefits, ranging from a health and wellness stipend to a flexible PTO policy. It seeks to foster meaningful employee connections with fun gatherings like trivia events and localized Slack channels that help employees connect with coworkers in their area.
How you can apply Lob’s ideas: Implement initiatives that show your workforce you value their overall wellness and personal development just as much as their professional development. Whether it’s by offering flexible hours, resources to support remote work arrangements, mental health coverage or family planning support, prioritizing employees’ well-being can contribute to a positive work culture.
Inspira Financial is a fintech firm that develops health, wealth, retirement and benefits solutions for over 8 million account holders. The company collaborates with employers, plan sponsors and record keepers to help individuals plan, save and invest through services like automatic rollover accounts, health savings accounts and self-directed IRAs.
What makes Inspira Financial’s culture great: While Inspira Financial offers a full range of competitive benefits, it also provides a number of other, what it calls, “soft” benefits like free membership to the in-building fitness center, a business-casual dress code and a remote work program.
How you can apply Inspira Financial’s ideas: Put your focus on what your employees do, not just how they dress or how often they come into the office. By providing your employees with the flexibility they need to maintain their own well-being — and that of their families — you’ll have a healthier, happier and more productive workforce in the long term.
Workiva’s cloud platform helps companies manage data across departments and offers controlled collaboration, performance reporting, financial reporting and more. Building and maintaining such complex technology requires coherent leadership and open communication across teams and roles.
“Nurturing a high-performance, fast-paced, innovative culture where everyone's ideas are encouraged and collaboratively debated takes considerable patience, openness and vulnerability,” Michael Bevilacqua, VP of product development at Workiva told Built In. “I’ve found the best way to achieve this is by modeling the behavior.”
What makes Workiva’s company culture great: Workiva’s leadership team fosters an environment of giving and receiving employee feedback. Leaders are willing to admit mistakes, recognize individual talents, support opinions and disagreements and exude patience, all while considering the team’s overall health and well-being.
How you can apply Workiva’s ideas: Create a culture of leadership by example. Leaders greatly influence culture, so promote people whose leadership style matches that of the company’s core values, mission and culture. People will be much more comfortable sharing ideas and be open to feedback if the people setting an example do the same.
Dynatrace’s application performance management systems offer advanced observability tools and AI-driven automations for businesses operating in multi-cloud environments. With a focus on scalability and efficiency, Dynatrace empowers companies to adapt to the digital landscape by automating processes, analyzing data and delivering intuitive solutions that meet customer needs.
What makes Dynatrace’s culture great: Dynatrace’s core values are to innovate with passion, engage with purpose and win with integrity. To live up to these values, the company encourages its team to find a healthy and sustainable work-life balance through wellness days, flexible work arrangements and unplugged time off. When employees are at work, they are supported by a culture of continuous learning through regular retrospectives after sprints and projects as well as clear career pathing.
How you can apply Dynatrace’s ideas: Don’t just pay lip service to work-life balance or embracing a growth mindset for your employees — put it in writing and hold yourself accountable. Dynatrace’s Culture Decoder does just that by tying its company culture and values directly to its product outcomes in this external-facing format for prospective employees and customers alike.
Terakeet is a marketing firm specializing in owned asset optimization for large enterprise clients. By leveraging existing resources such as client databases, social media content, blogs and whitepapers, Terakeet helps brands optimize and unify their owned assets to create more meaningful customer interactions.
What makes Terakeet’s culture great: Terakeet offers a staggering number of perks and benefits that help its remote-first team maintain a healthy work-life balance which, in turn, improves the company’s overall culture. Highlights include unlimited PTO, a company-wide winter shut-down, 12 weeks of paid family leave and a 401(k) match up to five percent.
How you can apply Terakeet’s ideas: If you invest in your employees, their well-being and their future, you’re sure to see dividends through increased employee retention and day-to-day productivity. A happy, healthy, balanced workforce is the engine that will keep your organization humming.
Consumers use Thumbtack’s online platform to find skilled, experienced and well-rated professionals to take care of projects around the home. The company also has a suite of tools for small businesses, giving them the capabilities to build a reputable digital presence and land jobs.
What makes Thumbtack’s culture great: Thumbtack gives team members flexibility in terms of location and schedule, characterizing this work style as “more equitable and effective.” Thumbtack supports its distributed workforce by offering a remote work stipend, establishing collaboration hours, maintaining physical workspaces known as libraries in San Francisco and Salt Lake City and using local community Slack channels to facilitate in-person meetups.
How you can apply Thumbtack’s ideas: Whether your workforce is entirely remote or you offer a remote arrangement as one of multiple work options, keep in mind ways that you can enhance collaboration among team members based in different time zones and make time for employees throughout the organization to get to know one another both virtually and in real-life meetups.
Clari specializes in software for unifying and optimizing revenue processes. B2B companies use Clari’s platform to give teams like marketing and finance the tools to enable accurate forecasting, data visibility, coaching and strategy management.
What makes Clari’s culture great: Clari has established a set of values that includes explicit commitments to supporting employees, celebrating unique identities, embracing collaboration and extending trust. The ways the company works to fulfill those commitments range from creating employee resource groups and recognition programs to providing stipends for wellness and professional development.
How can you apply Clari’s ideas: Assess the support your organization offers team members — such as leave options and wellness programming — to determine if it’s inclusive, comprehensive and aligns with the organization’s values. Whether it’s by conducting research or collecting feedback from team members, look at whether there are additional measures your business can implement to ensure employees feel seen, heard and valued.
Hi Marley makes an AI-powered conversational platform that equips property and casualty insurance providers with tools to help them improve policyholder interactions. It includes features for communicating across various channels, automating workflows and enabling real-time employee coaching.
What makes HiMarley’s culture great: Hi Marley works to help employees build meaningful relationships with one another, their customers and the company’s overall purpose. Its values, which emphasize a culture that prioritizes humility and a willingness to try new things, offer guidance for Hi Marley team members at all levels, encouraging an organizational structure where people lead by example.
How can you apply Hi Marley’s ideas: Ensure leaders are involved in defining the company culture, as well as engaging with employees and customers so they can set an example for how to act and deliver quality customer service in alignment with the mission and values. This active leadership gives team members something to look up to and emulate.
Achieve is a personal finance company that offers intelligent technology solutions for budgeting tools and debt management. It aims to help customers find financial independence through home equity loans, financial education and low fixed-rate personal loans.
What makes Achieve’s culture great: Achieve has ERGs for employees who identify as Black/African American, LGBTQ+, women, Hispanic/Latinx, Asian American/Pacific Islander or military service veterans and their families. The company also boasts Talkspace, an emotional support app, as a mental health benefit. Its Freedom Family group receives two days of paid time to volunteer at a charity of their choice.
How you can apply Achieve’s ideas: If you are looking for ways to make employees feel welcomed, ERGs are a great way for employees to connect with others who identify themselves similarly. Also, providing employees mental health benefits shows that your company cares, as does paying employees for time they may spend bettering their community.
AlertMedia creates an employee alert and critical communications platform that enterprise companies use to safeguard workplace response to dangerous or emergent situations like natural disasters, political upheaval and disease outbreaks.
What makes AlertMedia’s culture great: AlertMedia aims to foster a workplace that’s supportive of both its team members and their community at large. It offers up to 16 weeks of paid parental leave for all new parents. It also takes time to celebrate together through quarterly teams-specific activities and company-wide events.
How you can apply AlertMedia’s ideas: To ensure a true work-life balance and healthy company culture, take time to recognize and celebrate wins with your team on a regular basis, but also give them the space they need to take care of their loved ones through your family leave and PTO policies.
Green Thumb is a national cannabis retailer and packaged goods company with a strong focus on social impact. Headquartered in Chicago with operations across 14 markets, the company operates several dispensaries and offers a variety of consumer products through its portfolio of brands, including Good Green, Dogwalkers and Doctor Solomon’s.
What makes Green Thumb’s culture great: As a social-impact-focused cannabis company, Green Thumb partners with nonprofits. Good Green is the company’s cannabis brand with a strong social impact arm that aims to serve Black and Brown communities across education, employment and expungement. In this way, the company aims to support folks who have been disproportionately affected by the “War on Drugs.”
How you can apply Green Thumb’s ideas: Put your money where your mouth is and find ways to demonstrate your organizations’ values in your local community. You might choose to do that through cash donations, a resource drive or by giving your employees time off to volunteer for a nonprofit organization of their choice.
Adswerve is an adtech company that leverages expertise in data, media and tech to help clients build strong customer relationships. Its services cover using first-party data to tailor the customer experience, training that helps teams get the most out of their tech, analytics for predicting future trends and other aspects of digital marketing strategy.
What makes Adswerve’s culture great: Adswerve uses digital strategies like webinars, monthly all-hands meetings and Slack channels to create opportunities for employees in different time zones and locations to connect with one another so they can share diverse ideas and perspectives. This effort to create a collaborative and inclusive culture falls in line with the company’s brand pillars, which make it a priority to “encourage diversity of thought and welcome everyone to speak up and share their unique perspectives.”
How you can apply Adswerve’s ideas: Don’t rely on a single channel to serve as a chance for team members to offer up their insights. Rather, try to establish multiple settings that can create space for employees to speak up based on their individual comfort levels, especially if you’re working with a largely remote team. This can include large group meetings, small group or one-on-one dialogues and anonymous surveys.
Hireology is a software platform that helps companies manage the employee lifecycle. It can aid with job postings, onboarding, applicant tracking and other areas to make HR and recruiting teams more effective.
What makes Hireology’s team culture great: Empathy and communication are key to building relationships between remote and local workers. Hireology implemented empathy exercises, where employees swapped jobs for a few hours to help them understand the challenges of other roles. It also provides video conferencing in every meeting space for local employees and training for remote workers to prevent technical glitches. The company even brings remote and local teams together twice a year so that people can get real face time.
“When you have a blended team, your local staff can help bridge gaps and build empathy,” Joel Schlundt, vice president of engineering at Hireology, told Built In.
How you can apply Hireology’s ideas: Regardless of where your employees are physically located, it’s crucial that they feel a part of the team. Invest in quality technology and create a daily routine that incorporates remote and local employees so that they are able to build relationships and contribute to culture.
FloQast provides cloud-based software that helps accounting departments streamline and improve workflows.
What makes FloQast’s company culture great: Open communication across teams and experience levels has built a healthy culture where everyone is comfortable asking tough questions and making a team effort to overcome adversity. Not only that, but employees are more comfortable being upfront about their concerns and needs within their team and in their individual career paths.
“Overall, I think it’s really important for management to be open about what’s going well and what’s going poorly with the business,” Mike Whitmire, FloQast co-Founder and CEO, told Built In. “I like discussing the good, but honestly, I see more value from discussing the bad.”
How you can apply FloQast’s ideas: Create a culture around transparency. Always be intentional about having open conversations regarding the company and the internal and external factors that affect its health. If leaders are transparent with their direct reports, open communication will flow through the organization.
Publica operates a connected TV adtech platform for managing and deploying advertising content, assisting clients in predicting ad timing and optimizing ad frequency. Publica’s platform includes features for ad pod automation, audience targeting and campaign management.
What makes Publica’s culture great: The company is committed to its diversity and inclusion efforts, employing dedicated diversity and inclusion staff and boasting a highly diverse management team alongside a documented equal pay policy.
Publica also offers a number of wellness benefits beyond the standard health insurance package, including pet insurance, a fitness stipend and mental health benefits. The company also sponsors company outings like happy hours that allow employees to get to know one another outside of the workplace.
How you can apply Publica’s ideas: Find opportunities to host social events for your employees and their families. These are great ways to help your employees get to know one another and also demonstrate that you’re invested in their overall wellness and not just their work productivity.
CPI OpenFox develops software solutions for the law enforcement community, serving agencies across more than two dozen states. Its OpenFox suite of products includes tools for background checks, sex offender registry management, criminal history databases and evidence tracking, available as installed software or SaaS.
What makes CPI OpenFox’s culture great: The company has a “Culture Club” committee that organizes group activities for all employees multiple times each month. Activities include bags, bubble hockey, ping pong, arcade tournaments, trivia, office Olympics, games, celebrations, potlucks and barbecues.
How you can apply CPI OpenFox’s ideas: If you’re looking for opportunities to bring your team together, don’t underestimate the power of casual or celebratory gatherings. These give employees time to get to know one another outside of work, and a family-friendly event can also be a great way to help team members feel more connected.
Spotnana offers a Travel-as-a-Service platform to personalize travel booking and power quality travel experiences. The company provides a single cloud-based platform accessible to corporations, travel management agencies, suppliers and technology providers so companies don’t need an entire tech stack for their business travel needs.
What makes Spotnana’s company culture great: Since its founding in 2020, Spotnana has been a global company. In 2022, the company hosted its first global gathering in Jaipur, India. The event brought together 200 Spotters from 29 countries, not to mention employees from 14 different cities around India. The event, aptly named Converge, was an opportunity to foster collaboration and build community.
How you can apply Spotnana’s ideas: If you have a hybrid or fully distributed workforce, prioritize annual or semi-annual gatherings for the entire team. These types of events allow employees to connect with their colleagues in a meaningful way and help them feel a part of a larger community.
Golden Hippo specializes in developing and marketing direct-to-consumer brands in the health, beauty and pet care sectors. The company creates products with input from experts, managing everything from product development to customer service in-house.
What makes Golden Hippo’s culture great: The company is known for offering a number of employee benefits including tuition reimbursement and parental leave alongside a wide range of on-site perks like a gym, free meals and a pet-friendly office space. It also encourages team members to volunteer in their local communities and has donated over $6 million dollars across a number of charitable organizations.
In addition, Golden Hippo says it’s committed to “fostering an environment that thrives on inclusivity, diversity and acceptance.” It does this through recruiting across demographics like gender, age and ethnicity and fostering a culture of belonging.
How you can apply Golden Hippo’s ideas: Start a volunteer program that allows employees to take time off to work with a charity of their choice, or take suggestions from employees about where the company can donate a share of its profits. This will help give employees a sense of ownership over the ways your company contributes to the community.
BrainPOP is an edtech software company providing digital learning tools and curricula for K-8 students and teachers, as well as professional learning for adults. The platform acts as a digital hub for assignments, quizzes, games and interactive activities, offering a playful approach to education that helps students better connect with subjects ranging from math to music.
What makes BrainPOP’s culture great: As a learning platform, BrainPOP is committed to providing employees the opportunity to learn, grow and develop as professionals. Like the students the company aims to help, employees are empowered to pursue their own development and it strives to promote from within.
How you can apply BrainPOP’s ideas: Provide your employees with learning opportunities and one-on-one mentorship opportunities. Send groups of your employees to professional meetings and conferences so they can learn together while bonding as a team. Develop clear succession plans and aim to promote employees from within to demonstrate your commitment to their professional growth.
OTR Solutions provides services and digital tools to ensure reliable cash flow and optimized back-office operations for businesses in the transportation industry. Its cloud-native platform discovers freight factoring solutions and offers support to help trucking businesses maximize success.
What makes OTR’s culture great: The company offers several initiatives that support not only its employees, but also its industry partners, clients and community. It hosts three internal impact groups: Diversity in Logistics, Women in Logistics and OTR Cares. Even though each group has a different mission, each one works to make the company and the community the best it can be.
“Everyone here has the same objective: to make the company a better place,” Ryan Goodrich, the OTR Director of Application Development, told Built In.
How you can apply OTR’s ideas: Create groups where employees from marginalized communities can feel like they belong. These impact groups can broadly apply to populations or be focused on more niche initiatives. Either way, they help your employees feel heard in the workplace. Giving your employees the opportunity to affect the industry and community through their day-to-day work can help give them a clear sense of purpose.
TurboTenant’s platform comes with tools landlords use to manage their rental properties. The technology offers a generative AI solution for producing descriptions to advertise available residences, for example, as well as automatic reminders to help tenants avoid missing rent payments.
What makes TurboTenat’s culture great: The company makes clear that its environment “is not designed to be comfortable,” and won’t be a good fit for everyone. Working for TurboTenant isn’t meant to be easy, according to the company’s website, but it does provide employees with lots of room to grow as they tackle tough challenges.
How can you apply TurboTenant’s ideas: Be transparent with prospective employees about your company’s expectations and the realities of the job. Emphasize the benefits and opportunities that will be available to them, but also take the time to lay out a clear picture of any demands of the business and give them a set of principles they can rely on to direct their actions in the workplace.
User research platform dscout offers video research software designed to gather, manage and share in-context moments sourced globally. With an interactive platform facilitating real-time feedback, dscout empowers companies to collect qualitative data directly from customers and users to improve product development and brand engagement efforts.
What makes dscout’s culture great: dscout has a “Work From Almost Anywhere,” policy that allows employees to work from home or out of dscout’s Chicago office. Despite its distributed workforce, the company embraces the power of gathering together by hosting an annual Midpoint event that brings all employees to Chicago for a week-long series of strategy sessions and fun team events.
How you can apply dscout’s ideas: If you have a lot of remote employees, bring everyone together in one room once or twice a year. In the meantime, host casual virtual events that allow team members to get to know one another. For example, dscout also hosts a ritual Tuesday Tea event, in which someone from the team volunteers to share about one of their hobbies or interests.
Edmunds is an online car-buying marketplace that empowers consumers to find the best vehicle for their needs. The company began as a car catalog in the 1960s before becoming an early adopter of technology for car buying in the mid-1990s.
What makes Edmunds’ company culture great: Edmunds exhibits its TRUST principles — transparency, resourcefulness, urgency, simplicity and togetherness — through activities like Take the Wheel events, which are opportunities for different departments to host a day of learning for the entire organization. These events not only make time for clear, transparent communication across the board but they also allow employees to understand how their individual contributions further the organization’s goals.
How you can apply Edmunds’ ideas: Carve out space for your employees to learn as a team and have regular opportunities for transparent communication from team leadership. These events will not only help your team bond across departments, but also help them understand how their day-to-day work contributes to the overall vision of the organization.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good company culture like?
A good company culture is one that encourages mutual respect, open communication and shared goals among employees.
Companies with a positive company culture often foster employee growth and development, employee well-being and workplace environments that are diverse and inclusive of all employees.
Why is company culture important?
Company culture reflects the identity and core values of a company, largely affecting how employees approach their work and interact with colleagues. A strong, positive company culture can increase workplace productivity and employee engagement, as well as decrease employee turnover.
What are some examples of company culture?
Some examples of company culture include Microsoft, which fosters a culture of employee growth and learning, and Google, which fosters a culture of inclusion, belonging and diverse perspectives.
