Entering an established company as a new employee should involve more than participating in onboarding training and reviewing the employee handbook. From the first day, employees must be integrated into the company’s culture. To do this, new hires are asked to share a fun fact about themselves at the first staff meeting, this enables co-workers to get to know them beyond their daily work.
Uproar PR makes hiring for culture a priority and by doing so, has seen the results of that decision come to fruition. In fact, Entrepreneur Magazine recently recognized Uproar PR on its “Top Company Cultures Small Companies List,” and was the top public relations agency recognized.
The hiring process
Uproar’s culture was built to retain employees and invite growth. While there isn’t a set checklist that hiring managers go through when interviewing a candidate, Uproar prioritizes hiring employees based on whether the potential candidate will be a good fit within the company’s existing culture. Uproar looks beyond the resume to not only find qualified individuals, but also to uncover candidates who mesh well with the organization’s existing employees and working styles. Uproar has always found long-term success in hiring candidates who are hardworking and creative, willing to learn and adapt to various situations, and those who know they can learn from others around them.
From the beginning, Uproar’s management team decided to do something different and against the grain to offer employees a positive and fun work environment where they are excited to come to the office every day. A great candidate will bring new ideas to the table and will have a unique perspective. In the beginning, every hire Uproar made was for experience over culture, and it failed almost every time. Now the company relies on the “culture first, experience second” strategy.
Finding the culture fit
At Uproar, the candidate who meshes well with the company’s strong tight-knit team is considered likely to be a culture fit. This individual might not be picked as having the most experience in a group of candidates, but he or she has personal qualities that will elevate the company and provide positive contributions to Uproar’s atmosphere. The company knows that the culture-fit determination is not a one-sided decision. Each candidate must decide whether working for Uproar is something they’d be happy with as well. While Uproar has found that candidates’ personal qualities—such as being a team player and having a positive outlook even during challenging situations—best illustrate a culture fit, each company should determine what characteristics constitute a culture fit for its unique environment and success factors.
Cultivating the culture
Retaining talented employees is very important to the company because they support the culture Uproar is known for. To limit turnover and retain top performers, Uproar focuses on keeping its staff happy and engaged throughout the work week. Uproar maintains a fully stocked snack bar, quarterly reward days (spa days, movie days, etc.) and offers half-day Fridays. Another incentive to keep employees happy and healthy is by offering wellness hours so employees can leave early to attend scheduled group fitness classes. In 2016, Uproar planned a “bring your parents to work day.” Employees were encouraged to invite their parents to a breakfast at the office and a walkthrough to learn what Uproar team members do day-to-day.
Uproar prides itself on an open workplace environment. An open floor plan allows for frequent communication, creative ideas, and a strong team setting. The agency has doubled in growth nearly every year since its opening in 2011. By investing in its employees’ happiness, the company has seen a direct correlation with the quality of work in which they produce.
Making the list
Uproar was recently recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine as a “Top Company Culture—Small Company” for the second time. The award measures 10 areas that are predictive of high-performing cultures, including collaboration, innovation, agility, communication, support, wellness, work environment, responsibility, performance and mission alignment. This award comes after Uproar outgrew its space and had to relocate to a larger office. Just like any other company, Uproar had its growing pains. Yet it was the organization’s employees who eased the process, which Uproar credits to its company culture.
Culture is one of the most important components to a successful business because it engenders a tight-knit community that holds a shared mission of achieving organizational success. When the teams gel, the positive results come naturally.
