What is the secret of great workplaces?

The secret that will change your company culture into an awesome one

8 min readNov 3, 2020

Once in a while, I get a list of “ Best Companies to Work For.” When I see these lists, I always look at the employees’ statements. I wonder what they have to say about their workplace. I believed that I would find quotes about the cool office space, perks, and salaries, and I did.

But these were not the main reasons. I found out that a company becomes a “great place to work for” when employees feel they are treated well.

The people who love their place of work say things like:

“I love how I don’t feel like just a number here.”
“When management says they care about their people, it actually shows in their actions.”
“I have always been made to feel wanted and valued as a person and employee.”
“Our executives are very transparent, always around, and easy to talk to. I’ve never worked for a company like this where they act like they are an average employee with the company. It’s very much a family type of atmosphere here.”

These statements made me realize that the secret of “the best companies to work for” lies in the people and the company’s leaders. When a company’s leaders put their employees first, people naturally give back to the organization.

When the company’s leaders are nurturing a culture of transparency, honesty, integrity, and caring for each other, its employees will align with the same values.

What happens when management only cares about the revenues?

The workplace culture becomes toxic

A few years ago, I worked in a company that was all about the numbers. I joined as a new member of the sales team and was excited to work with the experienced salespeople and learn from them. I realized quickly that the team’s top priority was hitting their targets.

No matter what the deal was — they took it: Deals with poor margins, complicated operations with low margins, and worst. The sales team worked according to his reward plan only. They fought with each other on new leads and territories.

As someone who worked in the defense world, I knew the value of teamwork, backing each other and stand shoulder to shoulder with my colleagues to do the best job we can. We had a great cause — national security. We worked for each other, no matter the rank, as we all were essential to reach the cause.

I could not imagine working in a place with no cause but to “make money,” a place that encouraged people to “fight” each other instead of with each other. It was a toxic environment that I did not want to be part of.

Employees feel abused

A good friend of mine is working for the past 13 years in a global company based in Israel. Although her formal role is “Sales,” she does all operations, billing, customer care, and logistics by herself!. She has the talent to solve complicated problems in seconds, and she is doing all of that in a part-time job.

Wouldn’t you hire this fantastic talented worker?

Well, last month, she was notified by her boss that her quarterly bonus was not approved, as she did not hit her target. She answered her boss: “I understand what you are saying. You want me only to do my work — sales. Will do!. Please don’t ask me to deal with logistics, customer care, billing, and all new projects that I am leading today in the company. These things I do, are not measured or seen by you, and as you defined it — It is NOT part of my role”. Her boss was shocked and, of course, wanted her to keep doing everything she does.

Employees feel unimportant

Sometimes, businesses are facing hard times. Market trends are shifting, and the company needs to invent a new solution to fit the new reality. I worked for a company that faced many market shifts and trends, and the leadership was afraid of the unsatisfied shareholders.

To get better results, the management decided to go through an efficiency process. I would have expected leadership to go over the targets that were marked and examine if they were realistic and achievable, then look over the execution, learn from the process, brainstorm and implement all new ideas and processes raised as part of the process.
Instead, there were massive layoffs.

How could anyone in the organization feel belong? How does management expect employees to give 120% of themselves when employees know they can easily be dismissed? Why should an employee want to do more when he knows that his managers will not fight for him?

But wait, there is another possibility.

Companies that put their employees first are the “best companies to work for.” So let’s examine what happens when the employees do matter.

What happens when management does care about the people?

People are working for each other

A few years ago, I worked for a company that manufactures parts for aircraft systems. On my first day, I was welcomed by a senior salesperson who told me, “You’ll see, this place is more like a family than a place of work.”

I did not understand what she was talking about till the end of the month. As a manufacturer, we had to deliver all parts on time. Although shipments were scheduled every week, by the end of each month, our loads were higher.

It was amazing watching the people in this company doing all they can for our customers, for each other. No matter the rank — everybody took part in assisting the logistic operation of shipping all goods.

Yes, we had to hit our targets, but we had other things on our minds: our company’s reputation and customer satisfaction were our main targets. Therefore, our mission was the shipping, and we took care of it.

“Under poor leaders we feel like we work for the company. With good leaders we feel like we work for each other.”
- Simon Sinek

The founder of Nike, Phil Knight, tells about its foundation in his book “Shoe Dog.” Few years after founding his company, Knight hired employees but did not draw a paycheck for himself. Instead, he worked in other places until he was able to afford his own salary. His employees were as enthusiastic as he was for the shoes, and therefore, no matter how hard it was, they stuck together.

Employees feel important and proud of the company

In another place I worked for, we faced hard times. Although the easier option was to have massive layoffs, managers fought for their people. There was no one they could spare. And therefore, we all noticed that our salary would be temporarily reduced to keep all employees on board.

Here is another example — I worked in a company where one of its divisions was less busy than the others. Management had started to talk about the cost of this division and actually considered closing it. Efficient right?

As the management considered closing the division, the sales team shifted its focus to finding new opportunities. We did it for the people who work there. We wanted to keep their place of work. At the same time, management didn’t want to make layoffs and train employees for other roles in other divisions. This division’s employees felt proud of their work. They knew that they are important. They could not imagine looking for a job, as they knew that their managers would make sure they are part of this company.

Innovation, out of the box thinking, and creativity will flourish

During my military service, my team consisted of privates, corporals, sergeants, and one officer. We rocked! We had great results from our hard work. We were recognized for our hard work by the highest ranks and therefore was opened to new missions.

One time, we took a mission of other forces that felt like a failure. We challenged ourselves to solve the failure point of this mission and bring it to success. We thought of a new way to operate, which was not used before. We lobbied our ideas to our commanders and exhibited it in every forum we could. Back then, even me, a corporal… had a long talk with a colonel, explaining our innovative way of thinking. We succeeded.

We got the chance to prove our theory, and boy… we delivered it! Our ideas were correct. We aced this mission and trained other forces with our new tools and way of thinking so we could all back up each other.

We could not do so if our leaders were not encouraging us to be creative. We could not have succeeded without our commanders backing us up, and without the full trust of the system that we can do this.

And we did.

Photo by “My Life Through A Lens” on Unsplash

So, What is the secret of “the Best Companies to Work For”?

The secret is simple. The management, the leaders of the teams, have to focus on their people. Focusing on the employees will make them feel belong, important, and proud. Creativity and innovation will emerge in a place of work that encourages it. In a workplace that gives its employees the space to raise an idea, who back its employees and fight for them.

A workplace that treats its employees to reach the target might get there but will lose in the long run, as the people will not stay there for long periods of time.

For those of you who read my whole article and feel they are not in a good place of work — I have a tip for you.

My Tip

You always have options!

You don’t have to stay in a workplace that does not take care of its employees and care only about the numbers.

But, and this is a big but, you can start changing the culture by taking care of your co-workers and colleagues. Back each other up and change the culture from within. It might take time, people would need to reassign, but a leader does not have to be a manager. It could be anyone who reflects a set of values and beliefs that his coworkers will appreciate and imitate.

Go and be the leader that you want to be!