Time to read: 3 minutes
Article-at-a-glance:
- Redmond intentionally avoids traditional corporate structures like rigid policies, top-down leadership, and performance reviews.
- Instead, we’ve built a growth-centered environment where our core values, ownership, and collaboration guide how we work.
- This approach encourages people to lead from where they are, contribute beyond siloes, and evolve with the team.
- Expectations are simple: care about your work and follow through on your commitments.
You might have noticed that Redmond runs things a little differently. We have very few set rules and umbrella policies beyond some very obvious, common sense expectations like showing up on time if you’re in a Q1 role, and refraining from arson.
We don’t do writeups, reviews, promotions, or PIPs. We don’t conform to traditional top-down leadership structures or prescribed growth tracks. We encourage a work-life blend rather than work-life balance, which looks different from role to role and person to person.
This isn’t what most of us are used to, especially if we’re newer at Redmond and come from a traditional corporate background, so it can take some getting used to.
Why do we do this?
An Environment Designed for Growth
We didn’t create this environment to be nice. While our culture might seem loose at first glance, we actually expect more of our associates than a lot of other organizations, because we want you to think, learn, grow, use judgement, and evolve with us.
This type of environment fosters growth and engagement, not just rule-following.
A looser structure allows us to be who we are. When we aren’t coerced by carrots and sticks, we’re free to act how we would naturally, which can illuminate our true motivations and our strengths.
The trade-off here is that without a clearly defined rulebook, we have to figure out what to do together instead of just being told.
But wouldn’t it be easier to just do what other organizations do, so that at least everyone knows exactly what’s okay and what’s not?
Well, yes. It would be easier. But it wouldn’t elevate the human experience.
Because of this growth environment, everyone can grow and find ways to be helpful without the constraints of a job description or the pressure of a ladder to climb.
We’re able to discover our strengths and be helpful as only we can, in unexpected ways that wouldn’t be possible if we have a culture of silos and staying in our lanes.
We can be nimble and pivot when needed because we aren’t stuck on rigid goals. We’re guided by our mission, not target quotas.
Because of our group leadership structure, the pressure of leadership doesn’t fall on one person. We figure things out together instead of just going to one person who apparently has all the answers. Everyone can lead out instead of being told to stay in their lane.
And because we focus on people and strengths instead of roles, we’ve never done mass layoffs, even when we’ve outsourced entire processes or dissolved teams. We simply find something else for those associates to do according to where their strengths meet the company’s needs.
While this loose structure can be tricky to navigate, it comes with amazing growth and benefits that help us elevate the human experience in the long term.
So what are our expectations?
Since we don’t have a rulebook, what do we expect of our associates? The specifics look different in various roles, but it boils down to two things:
1- You need to care about the work you’re doing.
2- You need to fulfill your commitments to our customers and your team. That means being available when you’re supposed to and completing the work that was agreed upon.
Those are the basics. Lean in, be helpful, and never stop improving!
We Grow Together
Instead of “management,” we want learning and growth. We’re building a system of trust here, not a hierarchy or system of rules.
We want to grow a culture where we don’t need to command and control because we’re aligned in purpose, we collaborate, we live our core values, and we do great work together.
This isn’t the easier path, but it’s the one we prefer. It asks more of us because we have to reflect, to communicate, and collaborate. But the reward is meaningful work that matters and a team that grows together.
This is an ongoing experiment. And it only works because of people like you who care, who contribute, who keep leaning in.
