8 Companies with great corporate cultures
Now that you’ve learned about the different types of workplace cultures and the essential aspects of a company culture, check out eight companies with great cultures. You’ll notice these companies have strong cultures and happy employees, but also lead in company performance and are world–renown, proving yet again that a positive company culture can yield powerful business results. Read about these great company culture examples and be inspired to make changes in your own.
Dow Chemical
Dow Chemical provides a place for their scientists to regularly come together and discuss the projects and challenges they are working on. Being able to connect and discuss across business units leads to innovative thinking, gives new hires critical exposure to senior scientists, and creates a sense of belonging that prevents competitors from poaching their top talent.
Employees say:
“Great culture, professional environment, available training, comfortable workspace.”
“Dow people are passionate, committed, and focused — the best in the industry”
“Welcoming, supportive, fast-paced, educational, and challenging.”
Adobe
Adobe is built on creativity. So traditional performance ratings and rankings are not going to be the best way to assess and value work performance. Adobe uses challenging special projects, mentorship, and leader support to help their people succeed. Rather than micromanaging, leaders ask employees how they can help team members reach their goals. This process of mentoring and coaching means leaders inspire their people—and then get out of the way. Managers provide much more than feedback: motivation, support, learning, free-spirited innovation, and creativity.
Employees say:
“I can honestly say that I've never been surrounded by so many genuine, authentic, and nice people in my career. The work environment is one where colleagues truly care about each other.”
“I love working for Adobe. The company focuses on individual growth and provides almost constant opportunities for growth. Couple this with the focus on work life balance and you have an almost perfect company.”
“Wonderful hidden gem. Passionate and creative people, pride in the product. CEO does an awesome job. Vibrant work culture. Product groups are thriving.”
AirBnB
Airbnb created a workspace inspired by their actual listings. Conference rooms are designed to look like actual Airbnb homes: log cabins, modern dining rooms, Airstream trailers. Employees work wherever they want, and the company encourages employees to change their desks every day so they can meet new people and collaborate. They hang pictures of actual customers and homeowners in the halls, and feature work by rotating local artists. The company has no official presidents, so anyone can use the restored 1918 President’s office. It’s a workspace that fosters collaboration, innovation, and wellbeing and helps employees live the company’s purpose—to help people belong anywhere.
Employees say:
“Culture, benefits, work life balance, wonderful people, and a mission that lines up well with my personal values.”
“Company filled with employees truly trying to help change the world for the better. The mission is lofty yet inspiring and at the core of all work. Very talented people work here with diverse backgrounds. Opportunity to work on really interesting and impactful projects.”
“Commitment, dedication and innovation is incredible at Airbnb. Everyone works together to build a trusted community and sees any mistakes along the way as an opportunity to grow and learn. Such an enriching work environment!”
Patagonia
Patagonia’s policy is that employees can leave anytime there is a perfect surf–even during office hours. Patagonia prides itself on superior quality products, and what better way to prove that than by using their own people to test them? This policy also helps to “refresh the mind, encouraging employees to leave the office for outdoor activities fosters a strong belief in the product they’re selling with employees being encouraged to test out their apparel regularly. If an employee really believes in the product, it will come across to the client.”
Employees say:
“Great company culture. Environmentally and ethically conscientious. Socially responsible. Solid leadership. Incredible perks. Quality benefits for full-time employees. Core company values; it is a values-driven organisation with special emphasis on sustainability and building excellent products.”
“Great company culture. They give you time off to support community causes.”
“The management was amazing and really cared for the employees. Patagonia takes their mission statement seriously as well as the well-being of their employees.”
Bain
Bain & Company has been ranked as a best place to work for almost a decade. Why? Their company culture focuses on employees as their greatest asset. They have a strong support system for every member of their firm, and a leadership strategy that focuses on humility. They provide a strong mission and wealth of opportunities for employees to grow and give their employees flexibility and empower them in their roles.
Employees say:
“Interesting and challenging work with great exposure to senior clients. Fun and supportive culture, with strong focus on coaching and mentorship. Wide range of opportunities within the company (travel, transfers etc.)”
“Great opportunity to build fundamental business skills. Incredible culture and people. Leadership are invested in your career goals and future no matter where that path will take you.”
“Excellent culture: pragmatic, collaborative, smart, and fun.”
Chevron
Chevron’s culture of safety, “The Chevron Way”, is dedicated to safety and employee wellbeing. In addition to perks and benefits promoting safety and health, Chevron also insists companies take regular breaks and encourages employees to look out for each other. They regularly communicate how much they care about their employees' wellbeing.
Employees say:
"Engaging work, interesting industry, and even without drinking the kool-aid you can recognise the impact of your work on the economy and environment. High commitment to environmental safety and goals around clean energy."
“Company truly cares about its employees. Focus on development and growth with rewards through benefits and opportunities.”
“The Chevron Way values are real and people stay true to them”
Zappos
We all know the story of Zappos offering new employees $2000 to quit after their first week on the job. But what really sets Zappos’ culture apart is empowering their people to think outside of the box to wow customers and not be confined to corporate policies. Zappos hires people that will fit into their culture and instills their ten core values in all new employees. They have a CEO who focuses on putting employees first, so employees feel connected to each other and their customers.
Employees say:
“Amazing people, ability to do whatever it takes for the customer!”
“Benefits and culture are second to none”
“Company has a great culture and tries to bring everyone together”
The poster child for great workplace cultures, Google has incredible perks and benefits, yes, and their work environment is fun and unique, but more importantly they hire people that fit in well and consistently reinvent their culture to fit their ever-growing and expanding employee population. They offer flexibility and empower employees to be creative, promoting collaboration and innovation with a clear purpose their employees can dedicate themselves to.
Employees say:
“You can’t find a more well-regarded company that actually deserves the hype it gets. Google cares about how it treats its employees”
“Super awesome work culture and people”
“We are literally changing the world”
Want to know the current state of your organisation’s workplace culture? Take our Culture Assessment
Ready to start improving your company culture? Check out Culture Cloud
Read more about the latest trends in workplace culture in our 2020 Global Culture Report
