Netflix is one of the most prestigious companies in Silicon Valley. With more than 125 million subscribers, this streaming service provider employs about 2,500 employees at its Los Gatos campus.
We were welcomed in the morning by Fréderic Turmel, a former ÉTS student in electrical engineering. Frédéric first introduced us to their prestigious offices built just recently in 2016. Afterwards, he showed us the quality control labs where he works. Finally, he introduced us to two of his colleagues that are also from Québec: Jean-François Dionne and Alexandre Dion. Luckily, Netflix just published their quarterly results on the same day of the visit and we celebrated this event along with our hosts, and all Netflix employees in a giant outdoor BBQ.
What fascinated us the most at Netflix is that we are not always aware of the phenomenal amount of work that is needed in the background to make the user experience seamless. For instance, we visited two tests lab where there are many different platforms and devices on which the Netflix app is installed and tested. We were impressed by the large number of video game consoles and cell phones that were there and that were constantly tested to ensure superior video quality and consistent user experience.
We were also surprised by Netflix’s trust in its employees. They do not have to justify their expenses for office equipment, software, and travel to their managers. The idea is that if a person considers an expense as required to improve their work and their productivity, they should not have to waste precious time before making the purchase. Our interlocutor summarized this sentence by “People over process”, which means, in part, to reduce as much as possible the bureaucratic heaviness of bureaucracy and to rely on the good judgment of the employees.
In addition, this corporate culture is enriched by values such as openness and sharing. We were told that any employee could ask questions directly to the CEO. The hierarchy is very horizontal and formalities are kept to a minimum.
A final notable element of Netflix’s corporate culture is the fact that they practice a form of extreme honesty or “Radical honesty”. Through this practice, employees are encouraged to be direct and honest by offering constructive criticism to their peers and managers, in order to continuously improve.
