Here's the kind of people Netflix is looking to hire, and why (NFLX)
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Netflix is famous in the tech industry for its well-defined work culture, which seeks to chop out "brilliant jerks" and underperforming employees.
This culture was outlined in a famous 2009 deck by CEO Reed Hastings, which summarized Netflix’s management philosophy in 120 slides.
But on Wednesday, Netflix gave its culture deck an update, releasing a 10-page prose document "seeking to clarify the many points on which people have had questions."
In the document, Netflix detailed how it tries to put together a "dream team."
"Our version of the great workplace is not comprised of sushi lunches, great gyms, big offices, or frequent parties," the company wrote. "Our version of the great workplace is a dream team in pursuit of ambitious common goals, for which we spend heavily."
In pursuit of this dream team, Netflix has its managers put everyone through a "keeper test." Put simply: "If one of the members of the team was thinking of leaving for another firm, would the manager try hard to keep them from leaving?" If they don't pass that test, they are "promptly and respectfully given a generous severance package." That severance is generally a minimum of four month's full salary, according to Netflix.
Harsh, but fair.
To put together this dream team, Netflix also won't hire or retain so-called "brilliant jerks." "The cost to teamwork is just too high," the company wrote in the new document.
Beyond describing how it maintains the dream team, Netflix wrote in the document about how it tries to encourage its employees to take risks, and gives its teams the freedom to fail. "In general, freedom and rapid recovery is better than trying to prevent error," Netflix wrote. "We are in a creative business, not a safety-critical business. Our big threat over time is lack of innovation."
Here is Netflix's summary, in the document, of the top points that show what is "unique and special about Netflix":
- Encourage independent decision-making by employees
- Share information openly, broadly, and deliberately
- Are extraordinarily candid with each other
- Keep only our highly effective people
- Avoid rules
And here is a rundown Netflix gave for the type of people it is looking for at the company:
Judgment
Netflix- You make wise decisions despite ambiguity
- You identify root causes, and get beyond treating symptoms
- You think strategically, and can articulate what you are, and are not, trying to do
- You are good at using data to inform your intuition
- You make decisions based on the long term, not near term
Communication
David Giesbrecht/Netflix- You are concise and articulate in speech and writing
- You listen well and seek to understand before reacting
- You maintain calm poise in stressful situations to draw out the clearest thinking
- You adapt your communication style to work well with people from around the world who may not share your native language
- You provide candid, timely feedback to colleagues
Curiosity
Netflix- You learn rapidly and eagerly
- You contribute effectively outside of your specialty
- You make connections that others miss
- You seek to understand our members around the world, and how we entertain them
- You seek alternate perspectives
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