At 360Learning, we make it our mission to hire the best people—and we know that the most talented candidates prioritize finding a work environment that makes them feel valued and fulfilled. So, how do we create a culture where employees feel happy and motivated to do their best work? We achieve this by upholding our commitment to being a transparent organization.
A recent survey carried out by Slack recognised that 87% of workers said they hoped that their next job would be transparent. Given transparency is one of our key Convexity culture pillars, this is music to our ears.
We see transparency as a fundamental practice in keeping everyone on track to deliver exponential impact. We’re dedicated to making business information available to everyone through tools such as Trello, and combined with our low-authority, high-accountability model, our culture enables everyone to have the information and context they need to make the right decisions for the business.
Our transparent culture reinforces trust and open communication between peers and coaches, while strengthening relationships and collaboration. Here’s how we live our commitment to transparency at 360Learning.
Open communication and accountable leadership helps us build trust
One of the key ways we promote transparency is through open communication. As a global remote company, we have regular touchpoints such as bi-weekly all-hands meetings and company-wide social events.
During our company all-hands, leaders give visibility on important updates and business performance. We share wins as well as struggles, and don’t shy away from sharing the challenges that we face as a company. Using Slido, our C-suite and VP’s remain available to answer anonymous questions during these sessions.
Committing to this level of transparency creates a culture of accountable leadership; leaders are much more responsible for their performance and the decisions they make than companies with less transparency.
Committing to this level of transparency creates a culture of accountable leadership; leaders are much more responsible for their performance and the decisions they make than companies with less transparency.
In addition, our company vision and goals are frequently communicated and 360Learners can see how each department is contributing to the business goals. All of this helps to foster a transparent and collaborative environment where expectations are clear and trust between leaders and employees exists.
Related: Now Is Our Only Chance to Fix Remote Work—Here’s How We’re Doing It
Trello keeps us in-the-know and on track
We go beyond what Trello is known for: project management. Trello is baked into our workflows and helps us to provide shared visibility on our objectives and key results (OKRs) as well as all other wider business matters. Having a transparent OKR process enables clarity on the company goals, giving people a shared perspective.
As a fully remote company, we favor asynchronous written communication, which happens on Trello. We even ensure that after any synchronous meetings take place, we note minutes in Trello so that anyone who couldn’t attend the meeting or who has an interest in keeping up to date with a specific matter, can do so if they wish to.
Trello provides us with the necessary context to make the right decisions for the business, by making business information available to everyone. There’s no room for a culture of “do as I say because I have more information than you” at 360Learning—everybody has equal visibility.
There’s no room for a culture of “do as I say because I have more information than you” at 360Learning—everybody has equal visibility.
Peer feedback promotes a culture of continuous learning
Learning and development is at the core of our business. Executed in the right way, peer-driven feedback promotes personal development and growth.
Unlike many companies who only perform six-monthly or yearly performance reviews, at 360Learning, we have quarterly performance reviews with our coaches and every second quarter we perform peer reviews. This is an opportunity to get feedback from three colleagues we work closely with.
During performance reviews, we practice openness and awareness, carefully constructing fact-based feedback as an opportunity to grow.
Related: How We Use Peer Learning to Keep Our Company’s Competitive Edge
During performance reviews, we practice openness and awareness, carefully constructing fact-based feedback as an opportunity to grow.
Our transparent compensation model eliminates bias
At 360 Learning, we have a transparent approach to compensation management. Salaries are based on levels and incentives are based on performance which are both visible to all 360Learners and candidates going through our recruitment process. In addition, our twice yearly level-up process is also transparent, meaning that all 360Learners can see what level their peers are at.
For some companies, being transparent with compensation and performance is daunting, but we feel it creates a fair and trusting environment for our employees. When levels and salary brackets are visible, it eliminates biases and the ability to negotiate which results in people being paid fairly.
When levels and salary brackets are visible, it eliminates biases and the ability to negotiate which results in people being paid fairly.
Transparency elevates our hiring, onboarding, and ramping up processes
Our high level of transparency means that information is freely available and can be viewed by anyone in the company. This helps our onboarding and internal mobility processes become smoother and makes it easier for newcomers and established 360Learners to ramp up more efficiently.
A focus on transparency allows 360Learners to work autonomously and advance their subject-matter knowledge without having to seek approval from gatekeepers. With information visible on Trello, anyone can see the previous history of a project or the rationale behind how a decision was made. This also reduces the amount of time spent in meetings and eliminates the need to answer questions time and time again, enabling people to fully focus on their scope.
Related: Onboarding, Ramp-Up, and Beyond: What You Can Expect From the 360Learner Journey
Transparency allows us to grow at an exponential rate
Having a strong culture of transparency has allowed 360Learning to grow very quickly. We've doubled in size in the last two years, and we couldn't have done this without our strong transparent culture. It lets us move forward with speed and take advantage of new opportunities without having data silos and gatekeeping.
And that’s it! We know transparency is becoming more and more important for workers—and this is how we deliver it. Are you curious to know more about working at 360Learning? Check out our open positions.
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