How Exceptional Company Culture Shapes Exceptional Products

Job seekers have a lot to think about before deciding to join a company—evaluating the company’s culture is at the top of the list. Does the culture encourage collaboration or independence? Do they embrace different workstyles or do they prefer a specific personality type? Is it a democratic culture or autocratic? Studies have shown that culture is positively correlated to job satisfaction.*

Since joining Jive a little over two months ago, I’m happy to report that the culture has exceeded my expectations. Jive’s collaborative environment coupled with an acceptance of individuals’ unique work styles appeals to the team player in me. But, I’ve also found that the impact of culture doesn’t just stop at job satisfaction. An exceptional culture can also shape an exceptional product—as long as it includes the right elements:

A Culture of Listening

Employees are multi-faceted. They exhibit infinite combinations of personality types and workstyles. Your most introverted employees have amazing ideas—ideas that will remain locked away in the recesses of their brilliant brains if you don’t draw them out. And your most outspoken extroverts won’t hesitate to provide their recommendations and feedback on strategy and processes. Ultimately, a culture of acknowledging these differences allows your employees’ unique voices to shape your product(s). For example, Jive encourages and rewards every employee’s contributions, regardless of how h/she prefers to express him/herself. At the end of the day, it’s all about aligning with the company’s goals and launching innovative products—and not about titles, rank or hierarchies.

A Culture of Openness

How does your company’s culture impact your products and services?

No company can tap into the full portfolio of unique skills, talents and knowledge of every employee without practicing a culture that promotes and encourages everyone to contribute. Siloed functions may fully utilize the skills of the employees within the confines of their own walls, but only at the risk of the missing the untapped resources that work in other parts of the organization. At Jive, employees can contribute their “whole selves”—not just the skills they bring to their specific function. For example, at Jive I contribute my industry analyst expertise even though I am not in an analyst relations role.

A Culture of Growth

Cultures that promote development and high performance motivate employees to make quality contributions for the benefit of the team. Why? High performers inspire their colleagues to try new things and push themselves out of their comfort zones. Also, a clear understanding of the desired state helps everyone work together to achieve a shared goal. For example, Jive’s three pillars of “simplify, attract and expand” provide employees with a clear path toward success, which is reflected in how new products are developed and deployed.

A Culture of Empowerment

Empowered employees can make independent decisions and lead change in response to market conditions and other external pressures. This agility leads to more efficient and effective ways to develop, market and support a product. At Jive, any employee, regardless of position or seniority, is empowered to suggest new ways of doing things—from leading a product improvement to rearranging office furniture and anything in between.

A Culture that Delivers the Corporate Mission

Jive’s culture embodies all of the essential elements of listening, opening, growth and empowerment that drive product innovation. As a result, we are uniquely positioned to build the best collaborative product in the market. One thing that really stands out to me as a new Jiver is that we “master what we preach”—everyone, from CEO to sales engineer, uses Jive’s collaboration platform to connect, communicate and collaborate with colleagues and customers. It’s a constant reminder of how we’re delivering our brand promise to our Jive-x and Jive-n customers—because we live it and breathe it every single day.

How does your company’s culture impact your products and services?