Our culture is built on Thinking Big, Speaking Up and Getting it Done. It’s the first thing every Sailthru employee hears in the interview process when talking about our culture, and it’s a mantra that carries through to every team and every decision. Fostering a culture that empowers everyone at the company to achieve has been our vision from day 1.

If you ask any Sailthru employee why they love coming to work each day you’ll hear myriad reasons. From the collaborative work environment to the unified vision to the brilliant team, everyone shares the knowledge that their role is tremendously important to the growth of our company.

The time and effort the entire company has spent building our culture is why we are tremendously honored to announce that Sailthru has been named a finalist for the Internet Week Best Places to Work in NYC Tech 2014! This list celebrates thirty tech companies in one of the world’s most competitive markets that are able to create a culture of collaboration, creativity and innovation.

I wanted to share a few things I’ve learned along the way for any company that wants to build an amazing culture and offer their teams one of the best places to work:

1) Talk to people!

Email is the easier path to communicating with people, but it’s the personal, face-to-face relationships that are essential to building a collaborative culture and effective teams. Ensure that your leaders take time to meet with their team members, not to discuss the to-do list, but to really get to know who their employees are, what is important to them, and what their dreams and long-term goals are. Leaders need to really understand their employees on a deeper level, not just what their current job may be.

2) Ask for feedback in multiple formats.

Different people feel comfortable providing feedback in different forums. The goal is to create a culture of transparency and honesty, and offering multiple avenues for people to speak up is essential. Town Hall-style meetings have their place, but for some employees a large setting  can be uncomfortable. Combine them with surveys, fireside chats, smaller group discussions, and other formats so that everyone feels that they have an opportunity to have their voice heard in the setting that is most comfortable for them.

3) Iterate!

Just like every individual is unique, so is every company and culture. You can’t simply Google “build a better company culture” and find your answer. But what you can do is take the feedback you’ve received  from your team and from individuals (in those face-to-face meetings) and come up with ideas that are worth testing. Let people know that is what you are doing so that they understand the value. People will appreciate the effort, even if programs don’t end up working.

What we think makes us a great place to work is our spirit, passion and drive to do something different. If your company needs change, dare to be different and be the spark that ignites the fire.

Think Sailthru sounds like a great place to work? Learn more about how you can become a part of our team by following Sailthru on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, and keep an eye on our careers page – we’re always hiring!

— Rebecca Price, VP of People at Sailthru

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