I doubt that the corporate culture of Netflix would be completely acceptable for me. In one respect, I share the values of a high productivity and achieving results, due to which, I would apparently find a common ground with managers. I have certain personal experience to illustrate how employers appreciate dedicated and diligent staff members, whose collaboration with the company is mutually beneficial. By contrast, I seek for security, as I have a habit of planning my life for several years ahead. Meanwhile, Netflix hardly provides its employees with such a possibility, judging by how easily they are asked to leave the company unless they are sufficiently productive. Such an approach would be more reasonable if there were regular reviews, but the lack of those is a serious obstacle to an adequate assessment of everybody’s actual achievements. Simply stated, I, personally, find a cooperation with Netflix excessively risky.
Notwithstanding its disadvantages, the company under review apparently has an innovative culture, in accordance with a range of criteria. The most essential feature is openness to new ideas and sharing them, which Netflix does favor, encouraging creative staff members to socialize with each other for a more effective realization of their solutions. Another factor of great importance is “going directions you believe in,” which seems to be the key principle of Netflix’s corporate policy (Pais, para. 13). Notably, the platform gives its employees the freedom to do what they prefer in the sphere, in which they specialize, with a focus on the results. Finally, an innovative culture involves quick actions for capturing opportunities, also beyond the plan or, possibly, even without it. The given case is not an exception: facing numerous challenges, the company has to respond to them immediately. The reaction involves, among other, substituting the staff members whose skills are not needed anymore, which determines the high rates of turnover.
The above peculiarities of the corporate culture that Netflix has presumably contribute to the success of the platform. First, the constant inflow of new opinions, views, and solutions simplifies adapting to the quick-changing media market. The company actually has a reputation of a progressive one because of following the recent trends, in particular, sociocultural. In addition, its administration seeks to reduce the stress under which the staff may find themselves, for instance, with the help of remote work, prolonged vacations, and minimizing bureaucracy. An approach of that kind improves the employees’ productivity, encouraging them to invest more time and effort in their jobs, from which the platform apparently benefits.
Theoretically, any of both existing and potential rivals of Netflix could develop a similar corporate culture. In practice, however, this is not an easy task due to the need for considerable investments. Thus, severance packages for former employees are money-consuming, especially, if they are paid frequently, and long leaves that the company provides to newparents mean additional spending as well. Hiring new staff on a constant basis is another activity that requires resources, not purely finance, but also time that it takes to pick an appropriate candidate and, probably, train him or her. Finally, it is essential to monitor the atmosphere within the company in order to avoid conflicts and consequent losses of productivity. In the context of a high staff turnover, this is much more complicated than in relatively stable teams, which is another challenge.
Reference
Pais, N. (n.d.). The 10 key elements of an innovative culture. 31West.