Ending up with the right kind of culture is the bedrock of everything – and it isn’t always easy. When Reid Lappin, Founder & CEO of Chicago digital innovation agency Vokal, talks about company culture, what is easy to see is that the topic is something he is passionate about and takes seriously. As Lappin tells it, with any good team, you need a game plan with a strong culture built around where you want to go and how you are going to get there.
“Culture is like the beat of your business; without that, you end up with a company that is going through the motions,” says Lappin. “We invest in our people, we believe in what we’re doing, and aren’t afraid to try things. We guarantee our clients an increase in product metric growth, and, to do this, we look at our team as digital athletes helping our clients win.”
By experimenting, challenging themselves, and sharing in failures and successes, Vokal team members are able to stay focused and committed to existing capabilities and developing new ones. Vokal is a place where anyone who wants to be a strong digital competitor has the opportunity to study, train, play and compete.
Building and scaling culture is an enterprise that offers specific pitfalls and dead-ends, Lappin admits, and offered this specific advice:
- Hire the right talent. This is the most critical one, according to Lappin. If you get a blend of the wrong personalities, it can really set you back. It’s not just the people that have the talent, it’s also about fitting the values. Don’t be afraid to let go of team members quickly if something isn’t jibing. The sooner you move on the better because once you’ve created the right environment, you are better enabled to empower the team.
- Build a culture of candor. One of the things that Lappin believes a lot of people miss is creating a safe place for feedback. He says in many work environments people hold their work really close for too long instead of operating with a collaborative mindset.
- Create a culture of transparency. Transparency forces you to set performance benchmarks that you are held accountable to since you have to unpack in front of the company (how you are doing, where you need to go, and how you need to improve).
- Establish a team vision and goal. You need a solid plan with a vision and goals that the team will be excited about. Explain how reaching these will benefit them.
- Empower and collaborate with smart people. Find the best way to allow them to lead (do not micromanage) because it then becomes contagious throughout the organization. Doing this has created more of a flat org chart which Lappin says he prefers to work in because it puts everybody in a position where they give feedback and treat him as a colleague, not as a CEO. “We have structure only to drive operational excellence, not to have a pecking order. While you need some level of an operational blueprint, for the most part, I say let your people operate with intuition and with their best judgment.”
- Do consistent health checks for how your business is doing. There is always pressure to prove that a company’s business model works in the first few years. Many successful organizations go through hyper-growth, but Lappin says if you are in the services industry growing 100 percent year over year, it’s probably not healthy. What he has learned from his mentors is that 15 to 20-25 percent growth is really good in the services space.
When reflecting on Vokal’s growth over the past decade, Lappin says there’s a major difference from when he launched the business to today: “When I created this business 10 years ago out of college, I didn’t have a lot of appreciation for what we were building towards and I didn’t have the same appreciation I do today for laying a culture foundation. Today, our organization is maturing and well-positioned for another growth stage, and our culture is instrumental in pointing us in that direction. We’ve got a great team that’s really hungry and wants to create and build something different together.”
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QUOTES FROM VOKAL EMPLOYEE REVIEWS:
“We’re truly a team, not just coworkers.” – Design Dept.
“Tech-savvy folks with an eye towards where the industry is heading.” – Engineering Dept.
“I like the collaboration they enable, and the ability to take ownership and accountability for projects and creative.” – Design Dept.
“The networking abilities of the leadership team are top quality, whether that’s attracting new clients or talented members for the team.” – Engineering Dept.
“Unlimited PTO, plus Vokal helps subsidize purchases of tech gadgets, computers, and has a conference fund for full-timers.” – Engineering Dept.
“I’ve been with the company for a number of years and seen the growth and transformation of the organization alongside the industry unfold. Resilience is key and keeping a positive attitude, and always peeling away a learning experience or two from trial and tribulations. I’ve grown a lot.” – Design Dept.
“Honest and open-minded team that encourages sharing and feedback. We share a common bond through our love and passion for design and digital experiences.” – Design Dept.
“Everything is a collaboration and there are no secrets. Everyone’s opinion matters. Since the day I started at Vokal I was frequently encouraged to speak up; what works and what doesn’t and how can we continue to improve as individuals and as a company.” – Leadership review