Building a Thriving Company Culture at BlueWhale

Company culture is one of the most important drivers of business success, yet it’s also one of the most misunderstood and neglected areas by many leaders. At BlueWhale, we have made cultivating a strong, positive culture a top priority since the start. After 10+ years of experience working at BlueWhale, I’ve learned that a healthy workplace culture doesn’t just happen—it requires intentional effort from leadership and all staff members alike.

Here are some key principles I follow when it comes to shaping our company’s culture:

Build a Developmental Organization

One of the biggest reasons for employee satisfaction is perceived professional development opportunities. When our employees see a clear path for how they can obtain new skills and experience, they are at their most engaged. By prioritizing employee development at every turn, we support our employees in their growth journeys and allow them to make mistakes along the way. We accomplish this through robust coaching and training initiatives (including a six month personalized coaching program) while also encouraging employees to proactively bring us training and development opportunities that they have discovered. Naturally, as our employees evolve and level-up, the entire organization levels up with them.

Communication is Culture

Ultimately, company culture really boils down to how employees communicate with one another. Our company value of “Be Civil” ensures that effective and respectful communication takes precedence above all other forms. As a company, we’ve looked at several case studies of the damaging effect that uncivil communication can have on work output and employee satisfaction. We also strive to create an environment where employees feel empowered to speak up, dissent when necessary, share ideas, and give voice to issues regardless of rank or role.

Make Values the North Star

At BlueWhale, we put real effort into describing clearly the definition of our values and how to practically apply them to our day-to-day work. We invoke our company values as often as we can, from reminders before meetings to a guide in tough decision making. The values are interwoven into things like our onboarding process, quarterly reviews, “hat tips” to colleagues, and strategic planning. Most importantly, they directly inform our mission and vision. We strive to make our values ever-present and felt in a tangible way.

Lead by Example

It’s true that culture starts at the top. Our leadership team is acutely aware that if we want our employees to embody certain principles, principles and behaviors, we must set the proper example. I personally make it a point to model the mindset and actions I want to see from our team—whether that’s leading with integrity, never backing down from a challenge, always being eager to help, and minimizing ego while lifting others up. We know our employees are keenly observing how leadership operates, and will naturally take cues and relay those attributes throughout the entire organization.

Hire for Culture Fit

We’ve learned the importance of ensuring that new hires are a fit for our carefully curated culture. Leaders are BlueWhale often remark that skills can be taught, but values and motivation have to already be ingrained and should be prized above all else. A misaligned hire can spread negativity and damage the culture. When interviewing candidates, we take care to probe deeply and ensure they will be a culture fit and that their personal values mesh with our core company values. But, I’m not afraid to admit that we haven’t always gotten this right. In these rare instances, I’m proud to say our employees have defended our culture and ensured that we responded appropriately. I’ll always be grateful for how they’ve shown they are truly bought into our culture and will speak up when they see a problem.

Show Genuine Care

The inspiring outcomes being accomplished at BlueWhale are produced by all human beings, not just hired hands or AI (yet). We try to operate with empathy and compassion, supporting each other not just professionally but personally as well. Things like work-life balance, taking the time to connect on a more personal level, prioritizing in-person or virtual team building, and a strong support system as a resource for whatever life throws at us matter a lot in creating a workplace that feels more like a community than just a job.

Having the ability to co-create a strong company culture at BlueWhale has been the highlight of my career, and continues to be the most gratifying aspect of my role. Building culture is hard work, and it’s never complete. We’re constantly monitoring, surveying, and cultivating this element of our business as we grow. Importantly, we ask that the core principles we espouse internally persist outside of the organization as well. Our culture doesn’t disappear when calling, visiting, or meeting externally. We extend our culture to our partners and our clients, because our relationships benefit massively from these concepts as well. I often say our culture is one of our unfair advantages, so it’s worth this concerted effort many times over.