Building a company with a stellar culture is no small chore.
On the one hand, you’ve got to find — and hire — the right people with the right skills and core values who are ready and willing to build something great together. On the other hand, you’ve got to have an ounce or two of structure in order to support and empower all of that human capital.
One Colorado company seems to have discovered a winning formula.
Apto, a Denver-based commercial real estate software developer, has garnered local and national attention for fostering a culture worth celebrating. In March, they landed a spot on Denver Business Journal’s 40 Best Places to Work. In June, they were ranked on Inc.’s inaugural 50 Best Workplaces — Colorado tech’s sole representative on the list.
To learn more about what all the hubbub is about (and to hear a tip or two about how to build a culture similar to their own), Built In Colorado sat down with Tim Warson, a corporate recruiter who's got two fingers on the pulse of the company’s culture.
“When I think about our culture, we don’t define it by perks or by benefits or company happy hours. That’s part of it, but a lot of it is natural growth from the people,” Warson said. “It’s this kind of amorphous, ever-changing idea that’s built by the group of people here, the things they’re building, and the way they do it.”
To be sure, Apto’s benefits package (which recently saw a significant facelift) includes an onsite gym, 20 days of required PTO, and generous health coverage, 401k, and stock options, to name a few. But Warson said the company’s culture is shaped by much more than those HR initiatives and structures.
What matters most, he said, is hiring the right people and trusting that culture will develop organically.
In order to ensure a sound, people-first hiring strategy, Warson looks for a rare conglomeration of characteristics and values when bringing on new team members.
Chief among those characteristics include drive, smarts, intellectual curiosity, experiential diversity, a willingness to disagree and debate, and the ability to keep egos in check.
Qualities like those matter, Warson said, because Apto doesn't believe in micromanaging. Instead of implementing umpteen policies that dictate how and when and why employees go about their jobs, Apto employees enjoy a sense of agency in solving problems in whatever way makes the most sense to them — especially when it comes to the engineering team.
“We encourage freedom for our employees,” he said. “We have a performance-oriented culture. We don’t care what time you come into work or how many hours you put in at the office. What matters is that work is getting done to the best of your ability.”
By focusing on qualities like these rather than exclusively on role- or skill-centric faculties, Warson said he’s able to avoid the tunnel vision that can sometimes distract a team with a hiring pain-point.
“It’s easy to get blinded when you have that pain in front of you,” he said. “Once you have a really cool group of people, you’ve got to protect it. You’ve got to keep your culture and look at it as something special and unique.”
Other skills Warson said he keeps his eyes open for? Conscientiousness, adaptability, enthusiasm, independent thinking, and self-reflection.
Founded in 2012, the company has already grown to a headcount of about 55. And they’re still hiring — Warson said he’s currently looking for senior- and junior-level salespeople.
Image via Apto.
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