I love it. There are more and more examples coming out every day. I've helped SumAll.com figure this out. It's a lot of hard work, but well worth it in the end. It doesn't hurt that I love Buffer as well. Great job!
I've always loved the way Joel and Leo have taken a completely different path to success. Instead of working themselves into a wreck they've chosen self-improvement so they work more efficiently rather than just more hours.
This is too cool...good for you guys and way to actually go through with all this!
In terms of culture, I would say Google is still considered a role model but in terms of transparency, I have not heard of nor seen a company operate like Buffer so guys are definitely setting the bar high!
What about open constructive criticism, though? I guess it is a sensitive point, yet one that seems to be in Buffer's reach. For example, are you guys transparent (or close enough) such that employees can call each other out in front of everyone? I know many people may see this as inappropriate but hey, they also probably see sharing salaries as inappropriate.
I used to think like this. Many ideas from that era of my life were really foolish. I see the same thoughts.
God says...
1:5 Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the
brethren, and to strangers; 1:6 Which have borne witness of thy
charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey
after a godly sort, thou shalt do well: 1:7 Because that for his
name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.
1:8 We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers
to the truth.
1:9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the
preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
1:10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth,
prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith,
neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that
would, and casteth them out of the church.
1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good.
He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen
God.
----
First, you should know -- if this is good, why the heck aren't others doing it for the last 300 years?
There must be tons of writing on this topic, but if I had to guess...
These companies like valve sure waste a lot of time and effort talking and thinking about how they're going to do things and not doing them.
If I'm a manager, I don't want my employees thinking of their rate of pay every day, week, or month. Maybe, once a month they should happen to think of their rate of pay.
Differences in pay, are going to distract everybody. Do you actually want your employees to sit and compare themselves and mull-over if rates of pay reflect work? Oh, hell, know -- now you got ten times as many thoughts to distract -- what did he do this week? He! He sat on his ass!
"We do this as well, for a product that has a low per-seat price, and it's a huge competitive advantage"
Bingo. It really is a huge competive advantage. I mean, do you know anyone who likes going through those automated voice calls, or has to be put on hold for 15 minutes to just speak with someone about a discrepancy?
You could argue that companies like Zappos wouldn't have been as successful if they didn't value customer service so much. It's the same with non-tech companies like Nordstrom's, Patagonia or Whole Foods. People like being treated well and they remember that the next time they shop.
I think this is a great experiment. I'm curious to see it play out.
One of things at Google was that they told you a formula for compensation (base + (bonus target % * personal multiplier * company multiplier * median salary)) But then they chose to keep the "median salary" and "personal multiplier" secret. At which point you had no idea if your manager was being truthful at all with you about your compensation.
The weird thing was, the lack of transparency was a bigger issue than the money. Everyone I knew (anecdotal I know) didn't "care" what their bonus amount was but they cared a lot if they were being lied too. I tried and failed a couple of times to communicate that issue to the 'engineering council' (which decided such things).
So I think that this choice Buffer has made would certainly make people like me much more comfortable with the communications from our management.
Very interesting to see that being transparent with salaries is so taboo in the states. Many parts of Europe (I know firsthand Sweden is like this) it's completely normal and acceptable to tell people your salaries.
tl;dr they turned "How to Win Friends and Influence People" into a company culture.
A book that was written in 1936.
I feel like this is the equivalent of a 17 year old going nuts for Ayn Rand.
The reality is every _employee_ is different, and the culture should embrace that. Instead of trying to reshape how a person is wired, why not shape how your company's goals are defined and let people use whatever means necessary to get there?
Take a developer with an extremely low social drive who needs cold, hard facts to get on board with an initiative. Buffer's culture would completely conflict with how they're wired because it relies heavily on face-to-face interaction and all the "soft talk" would likely be perceived as manipulative by them. On the other hand, a highly socially-driven person like a sales rep would _need_ said encouragement to thrive.
That's my point; there's no one culture that fits everyone, so focus on the higher-level goals and missions of the company than the attitudes of the people.
Use your interviewing prowess to identify team fit instead of hiring based on skills and shoehorn them into the culture.
All this culture is doing is homogenizing a workforce. Debate isn't a bad thing.
Congress runs for office every two years. They spend lots of time not getting stuff done. However, they solidify what they stand for. Conceiving their platform is, in fact, their work, like a physicist coming-up with theories to test. Conceiving is just as important as testing.
God says...
mutual standing conceived plainly foreknowledge Knowledge
current off desireth continency attended authors pangs
attentively lodging imaginations
God says...
Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains
of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the
people of Israel.
24:5 And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right
side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad, and
toward Jazer: 24:6 Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of
Tahtimhodshi; and they came to Danjaan, and about to Zidon, 24:7 And
came to the strong hold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites,
and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the south of Judah, even
to Beersheba.
24:8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to
Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
24:9 And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the
king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that
drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
Awesome. More companies should do this. Interestingly a practice some governments follow. Sweden, Norway and Finland make everyone's salary, tax details and net worth public. Norway also makes the records available online.
Am I the only one who would hate such a system? I could see, if I were a manager there, a lot of downside to this. "Why does Jenna make 15% more than I do and we have similar jobs? I sleep less than she does, I'm here on extra days, I haven't taken a vacation day in years. I want a raise to reflect this."
It would seem to me to open a huge can of worms to have to manage through. And then it would almost be a race-to-the-bottom in some ways: I make the same as Jake, but he gets in later and leaves earlier.
Not to mention, especially with hiring, there's very little room for negotiation, whether as a hiring manager or a potential employee. If someone is high-value, you run the risk of bringing in a new employee where (s)he is making a good bit more than the rest of the engineers, which could lead to the situation I mentioned above.
I wouldn't care about the transparency on salaries and that type of thing, I think that has significant benefits. I wouldn't be willing to participate in the sleep sharing, or personal improvement tracking. I find that to be very creepy, unrelated to work, and intrusive. I don't find it that surprising given how much people overshare on social media though.
16 comments
[ 0.20 ms ] story [ 61.6 ms ] threadIn terms of culture, I would say Google is still considered a role model but in terms of transparency, I have not heard of nor seen a company operate like Buffer so guys are definitely setting the bar high!
What about open constructive criticism, though? I guess it is a sensitive point, yet one that seems to be in Buffer's reach. For example, are you guys transparent (or close enough) such that employees can call each other out in front of everyone? I know many people may see this as inappropriate but hey, they also probably see sharing salaries as inappropriate.
God says...
1:5 Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; 1:6 Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well: 1:7 Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.
1:8 We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.
1:9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
1:10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.
1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
----
First, you should know -- if this is good, why the heck aren't others doing it for the last 300 years?
There must be tons of writing on this topic, but if I had to guess...
These companies like valve sure waste a lot of time and effort talking and thinking about how they're going to do things and not doing them.
If I'm a manager, I don't want my employees thinking of their rate of pay every day, week, or month. Maybe, once a month they should happen to think of their rate of pay.
Differences in pay, are going to distract everybody. Do you actually want your employees to sit and compare themselves and mull-over if rates of pay reflect work? Oh, hell, know -- now you got ten times as many thoughts to distract -- what did he do this week? He! He sat on his ass!
It might sound crazy, but we see see customer support as the new marketing department. And so far it's working great for us.
We do this as well, for a product that has a low per-seat price, and it's a huge competitive advantage.
Bingo. It really is a huge competive advantage. I mean, do you know anyone who likes going through those automated voice calls, or has to be put on hold for 15 minutes to just speak with someone about a discrepancy?
You could argue that companies like Zappos wouldn't have been as successful if they didn't value customer service so much. It's the same with non-tech companies like Nordstrom's, Patagonia or Whole Foods. People like being treated well and they remember that the next time they shop.
One of things at Google was that they told you a formula for compensation (base + (bonus target % * personal multiplier * company multiplier * median salary)) But then they chose to keep the "median salary" and "personal multiplier" secret. At which point you had no idea if your manager was being truthful at all with you about your compensation.
The weird thing was, the lack of transparency was a bigger issue than the money. Everyone I knew (anecdotal I know) didn't "care" what their bonus amount was but they cared a lot if they were being lied too. I tried and failed a couple of times to communicate that issue to the 'engineering council' (which decided such things).
So I think that this choice Buffer has made would certainly make people like me much more comfortable with the communications from our management.
It sounds like a stable system, and I'm sure many of us would find it really helpful.
A book that was written in 1936.
I feel like this is the equivalent of a 17 year old going nuts for Ayn Rand.
The reality is every _employee_ is different, and the culture should embrace that. Instead of trying to reshape how a person is wired, why not shape how your company's goals are defined and let people use whatever means necessary to get there?
Take a developer with an extremely low social drive who needs cold, hard facts to get on board with an initiative. Buffer's culture would completely conflict with how they're wired because it relies heavily on face-to-face interaction and all the "soft talk" would likely be perceived as manipulative by them. On the other hand, a highly socially-driven person like a sales rep would _need_ said encouragement to thrive.
That's my point; there's no one culture that fits everyone, so focus on the higher-level goals and missions of the company than the attitudes of the people.
Use your interviewing prowess to identify team fit instead of hiring based on skills and shoehorn them into the culture.
All this culture is doing is homogenizing a workforce. Debate isn't a bad thing.
God says... mutual standing conceived plainly foreknowledge Knowledge current off desireth continency attended authors pangs attentively lodging imaginations
God says...
Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.
24:5 And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad, and toward Jazer: 24:6 Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtimhodshi; and they came to Danjaan, and about to Zidon, 24:7 And came to the strong hold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beersheba.
24:8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
24:9 And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
It would seem to me to open a huge can of worms to have to manage through. And then it would almost be a race-to-the-bottom in some ways: I make the same as Jake, but he gets in later and leaves earlier.
Not to mention, especially with hiring, there's very little room for negotiation, whether as a hiring manager or a potential employee. If someone is high-value, you run the risk of bringing in a new employee where (s)he is making a good bit more than the rest of the engineers, which could lead to the situation I mentioned above.
anyone know?