Netflix - Success comes from a lack of principles: Talents deserve to be free to work, rules that only make them work less efficiently

Netflix is ​​known as one of the most successful stories in the past two decades. Launched in 1998, they now have 3,500 employees and generate more than $ 7 billion a year from 81 million subscribers on the streaming service. Of course, they not only broadcast content - they also produce popular series like House of Cards, Orange Is New Black, and Making a Murderer.

Remember, rules are created to protect quality as well as consistency and profitability when a company grows. But, at Netflix, it's not the principles but the lack of principles that make success.

If you are familiar with the technology start-up scene, you've probably heard of the "Netflix Culture Deck" and its legendary influences. Facebook's COO, Sheryl Sandberg called this simple PowerPoint presentation "one of Silicon Valley's most important documents to be published". It has been viewed millions of times around the world.

In the famous presentation, Netflix leaders explain the traditional way of thinking about the rules and short-term benefits of making mistakes. But they continue to popularize that too focused on the process will eliminate the skilled employees that the company wants to keep. When the market changes rapidly due to new technologies, rivals or business models, companies operate on the principle of being unable to keep up and easily losing customers to adaptable competitors. In such an environment, companies are slow, operating on the principle of being crushed.

Netflix synthesizes its culture and competitive advantages:

Freedom and responsibility

Instead of creating dozens of rules and processes, like the way most companies apply with big growth, Netflix insists that a business should specifically focus on two things:

1. Invest in hiring talented employees.

2. Build and maintain a culture of recognition for high-achievement people, and eliminate those who continually perform badly.

 

Netflix believes that responsible employees, who every company wants to recruit, deserve not only the freedom to work, they even thrive when they are free. Creating an environment where these individuals are not constrained by countless rules helps them to be the best version of themselves.

This awareness has created an unprecedented series of personnel innovations. For example, Netflix's "unlimited vacation policy." Instead of setting a regular leave policy, Netflix decides to let employees want to leave as much as they want. However, some parts have been provided; For example, accountants and finance people are required to be at the office at the beginning or the end of the quarter. In addition, anyone who wants to rest for more than 30 days must go to the human resources department.

Netflix also refused to offer any official travel policies or expenses. According to McCord, "we decided to only require adult behavior ... The company's cost policy has 5 words:‘ For Netflix 'benefits ". Employees can use corporate money like their own money and save when they can.

What about the results? The company saves money by allowing employees to book tickets to travel on the internet, leaving the business to pay for travel companies.

The real support tool of "no rules" at Netflix, real support for "confidence advance" culture, is that they recruit better employees. In an article for Harvard Business Review, McCord summed up the reason for this rule being so effective:

"If you carefully recruit people who put the company's interests first, understand and support the desire to have a high-performing workplace, 97% of your employees will do the right thing. Spending a lot of time and money to write and enforce personnel policies that deal with issues that the other 3% can cause, instead, we really try to not recruit people. there, and we will let them go if it's the recruiter's fault. "

How do you put this principle into your work environment? Ask yourself the following questions:

- How is your manager evaluated? Do they build a good team or do they follow the rules and submit reports on time?

- How much can you invest in the recruitment process?

- If you spend less on implementing rules, can you increase the level of remuneration you offer (leading to higher quality candidates)?

• What type of culture are you building? Is it designed for good people to thrive, or to avoid weak people?

• Do managers hesitate to evict weak people? Why?

The higher your working capacity, the less you need the principles. As McCord said, you should "recruit, reward, and tolerate those who are really mature."

Mai Phuong