eCommerce Firm Credits TINYpulse For Best Places To Work Award

Crafting culture during a rapid expansion

Angie and her husband, Randy, wanted to build a better business. One that people were excited to show up to every day and lived up to the core values they had imagined. For them, being people-centric went beyond just their customers. It also included their team members and the community. They understood that everything was connected. Happier team members led to happier customers. It also led to healthier communities. To make team members happy, they created a culture that blended hard work and responsibility with a casual environment and fun perks.

But with the company growing so quickly, it was difficult to keep a pulse on team member engagement.

The standard once-a-year survey just didn’t cut it. The team was changing so fast that information was outdated almost as soon as it was received. This left new team members without a voice and left issues unresolved. One Click needed a solution that was easy, quick, inexpensive, and timely. That’s why they turned to TINYpulse.

“We were naive enough to believe that if we set a good example, a company culture would be born from our lead. We found out the hard way that this isn't true. If you don't intentionally create culture, the company will do it for you--whether you like it or not."

Angie Stocklin, Co-Founder & COO

They ditched the yearly data dump and took a new approach. With TINYpulse, they could keep things fast and simple. Now, team members can give anonymous feedback on a weekly basis by answering one, straightforward question. This cuts through the clutter and helps Angie and Randy nimbly react to the needs of their team members.

When they first started taking a company pulse, they got back more than they bargained for. Comments and complaints quickly rose to the surface. This came as a shock. Angie and Randy worked hard to build a good culture and they had no idea some of their team members were unhappy. On top of that, they were disappointed that the feedback wasn’t always productive.

Instead of ignoring the issues, Angie and Randy faced the discomfort and took action. They called the team together and re-framed the conversation to drive more constructive feedback. From this discussion, they learned that their company-wide communication wasn’t as good as they thought. Clearly, they had work to do.

The first step to improvement was to open the lines of communication. In doing this, two things were important. First, team members had to feel safe voicing concerns. They needed a layer of anonymity to make them comfortable sharing honest feedback. Second, leadership needed to be able to directly address problems. They had to be able to ask follow-up questions and tackle specific issues. Talk about a catch-22! How could they have anonymity and transparency at the same time?

TINYpulse had a solution. The TINYpulse platform allows administrators to receive anonymous feedback and then start an anonymous chat with any team member who voiced concern. This made a huge difference for One Click. Management can now talk about a specific issue with the person who voiced the complaint. Angie and Randy get the information they need and the team member’s identity is protected.

For example, One Click had a team member who was unhappy and raised their complaint through TINYpulse. Concerned, One Click management sent this team member a chat. The team member’s identity was protected so they felt comfortable sharing more information. Management asked questions and showed that they wanted to take action to fix the problem. This made the team member feel comfortable taking the conversation even further. The team member chose to let go of anonymity and asked for an in-person meeting with their manager. This situation went from anonymous feedback to a face-to-face conversation pretty quickly. Both parties got what they needed in the end. This was accomplished by creating a safe channel for communication.

With the help of TINYpulse feedback, Angie and Randy realized they were making a lot of assumptions. Mostly, they overestimated what their team members knew. They quickly learned that people don’t know what you don’t tell them. To address this, One Click made big changes to the onboarding process.

For starters, they stopped assuming new team members knew the cultural values. This led to more detailed and thoughtful training for new hires. They adjusted their strategy so every new person now receives a 90-minute training from the CEO on culture, values, and expectations. New hires also participate in cross-departmental meet-and-greets to help build relationships across the company.

In the spirit of continuous improvement, One Click recently started using the new Onboard feature of TINYpulse. It sends new team members four targeted pulse surveys at key points throughout their first three months. Responses help management understand how team members are integrating into their new roles.

Despite One Click’s improved approach, they recently found a team member who was having a bad onboarding experience. How did they catch this? They asked the right questions at the right time. By proactively asking for feedback from the new hire, One Click was able to uncover an issue that was driving the team member away. One Click took swift action to address the problem and re-spark the new hire’s excitement for the company.

When One Click first launched, it was a budding startup with a cool culture. Its leaders were dedicated, the business was growing, and team members seemed happy. There was nothing obviously wrong with the company. So why did Angie and Randy need deeper insight about team member engagement? The fact is, they wanted to get ahead of challenges. They wanted to go from good to great. They also knew that building and maintaining an outstanding company culture takes work.

One Click has been using TINYpulse to enhance their company culture since 2012. Angie loves TINYpulse because it acts as a spotlight. It helps the company find and fix things they didn’t know were broken. It helps them strengthen areas they didn’t know were weak. It’s the combination of insights and actions that make One Click a great company to work for.

In addition to acting on feedback, One Click does a lot to create and maintain culture. For them, rituals and recognition are key. This includes:

On top of this, One Click has a dedicated Team Success Manager, who leads the company’s HR functions. A key part of her job is running the Culture Team. This is a group of people from across the organization who have volunteered to be stewards of company culture. They are responsible for planning events for the entire company.

Not everything rests on the culture team, though. The company is divided into six teams and they compete throughout the year to see who can host the best events. These teams are designed to break down barriers between departments and create a shared responsibility.

Heading into 2018, One Click plans to do even more to improve team member engagement. For Angie, this starts with the concept of radical candor. This comes from the book, Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss Without Losing your Humanity. Curious about what else Angie is reading? Here is a list of her top picks:

1. Radical Candor
2. A Leader's Gift
3. Just Listen
4. Harvard Business Review
5. First Round