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Writer's picturePaulina Nalivaikaitė

Different company cultures: performance vs. well-being

Cultures focused on performance

We’ve been told that you can’t achieve great success without hard work. Some of the tech companies, including Amazon [1] and Tesla [2], breathe this spirit.


People collapsing on the floor due to dehydration, sleeping on the floor after 12-hour shifts, working despite the raw sewage leak – that’s what the ex-employees claim about working at Tesla, one of the most ambitious companies in the world.


Moreover, Elon Musk—company’s (in)famous CEO—is known for “rage-firing”, so naturally, the employees avoid meeting face-to-face with Musk. Nevertheless, Tesla is an undeniable example of successful company with great products.


Cultures focused on well-being


On the other hand, there’s Slack, where high performance and dedication are also expected – but only during regular working hours. Working overtime is not a norm there, and employees can’t use the Slack app after 6 pm or during the weekend [3].


Another example of an employee-focused company could be Atlassian. Their trust and engagement-based culture involves regular peer-to-peer feedback, a paid vacation for new hires before they start working, and an opportunity to dedicate up to 20% of working time to learning and exploration.


So, what?


So, like everywhere, there’s no black or white solutions when it comes to company’s culture, so it’s our responsibility to know ourselves and choose wisely: what is acceptable for us and what’s not.


And maybe it’s ok for someone to temporarily work those 12 hours and sleep on the floor because one must sacrifice themselves for the sake of a more prosperous and sustainable future.

At the end of the day, that’s for us to choose.

 

[1] Sainato, M. (2023, March 2). “They’re more concerned about profit”: OSHA, DOJ take on Amazon’s grueling working conditions. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/02/amazon-safety-citations-osha-department-of-justice


[2] Kay, G. (2023, August 17). Listen to ex-tesla workers describe Elon Musk’s “production hell” in their own words, from working through a raw sewage leak to sleeping on the factory floor. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-podcast-workers-model-3-production-hell-sewage-sleeping-floor-2023-8


[3] Razzetti, G. (2023, January 19). 12 examples of companies with powerful cultures. Fearless Culture. https://www.fearlessculture.design/blog-posts/11-examples-of-companies-with-powerful-cultures

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