It was a place where people were made to feel welcome, got listened to, were trusted, cared about and helped each other, were free to be themselves, could freely and honestly express their opinions to execs without repercussions etc.
People were given chances to grow into new roles, and their knowledge from the previous ones was valued (no roles were looked down on). It had the right amount of management (not too much, not too little), and they took good management seriously as something to empower people rather than control them.
A lot of it was built from the ground up rather than imposed from above, and there was not a lot of money thrown at it.
All that can be destroyed much faster than it can be built.
- People are comfortable giving and receiving feedback
- Expectations and priorities are open and honest
- Work/life balance is seriously respected
- Managers serve their reports, not the other way around
When people say “culture” they usually mean...
- My company treats developers like rockstars; everyone else minus executives is treated like shit. “Ninjas & unicorns!”
- My company doesn’t have HR or need it. “Who needs HR? It’s only for women, losers and SJWs.”
- My company doesn’t have security and risk processes for handling user data or anything else. “Everybody’s root!!!”
- My company has cool perks like a game room, free beer, no vacation limits and a chef on staff; but everyone is underpaid compared to market. “I know they pay me 85k to be a senior dev but at least I got beer!”