Why Company Culture is the Secret to Thriving in Tech

Consider this: we spend about one-third of our lives—90,000 hours—at work. That’s a lot of time. And when we choose a job, we’re usually focused on things like salary, tasks, and responsibilities. But here’s what often gets overlooked: the culture. And that? That’s the game-changer.

A bad culture? It’s not just frustrating—it can chip away at your well-being and, believe it or not, tank a company’s bottom line. But when it’s good? People are healthier, happier, and businesses see better returns. Culture matters, maybe more than anything else.

So, what exactly is company culture? It’s not just about perks or casual Fridays—it’s the personality of a company. It’s how things get done, how decisions are made, and how people treat each other, from top leadership down to new hires. Culture is shaped by shared values, behaviours, and the unwritten rules that guide how things really work day-to-day. It’s why some companies thrive on collaboration and others on competition. In short, it’s the atmosphere you live and breathe during those 90,000 hours at work – and crucially, workplace cultures can significantly influence a company’s success in the increasingly competitive tech industry.

The Challenges

Culture in tech organisations is often treated as an afterthought, yet it can make or break a company’s ability to innovate and attract talent. The tech industry is known for its fast-paced environment, where agility and creativity are paramount. However, balancing these values with sustainable workplace practices presents a massive challenge. Remote work, which has been normalised by companies like Hopin, introduces its own complexities. How do you foster a cohesive culture when teams are spread across time zones, languages, and work styles? Hopin, for example, addresses this with a dedicated “Vibe Team” that orchestrates engagement, but the difficulty lies in maintaining this over the long term.

Further, rapid scaling often strains company culture. Startups may begin with a close-knit, collaborative environment, but as they grow, processes become more rigid, and the culture can drift. This tension between growth and culture was apparent when GitHub Copilot, an AI-assisted code generator, became widely adopted, only to see a 40% increase in code churn—essentially a measure of instability. This is emblematic of how the push for innovation can sometimes bypass the very human elements that sustain a healthy work culture.

Another challenge is transparency. While companies like Buffer embrace full transparency—sharing everything from employee salaries to the company’s revenue—many organisations struggle to strike a balance. Transparency is powerful, but it can also lead to discomfort or even resentment among teams if not handled delicately. For smaller tech companies or startups, transparency is often seen as a tool to build trust and engage employees, but as teams grow, it can also expose internal challenges and inequities.

Lastly, burnout remains a significant issue in the tech world. As companies race to innovate, they often overlook the well-being of their employees. Remote work, while offering flexibility, has blurred the lines between work and life, with employees working longer hours and struggling to disconnect. Pleo’s solution—offering a €2,500 benefits package to promote flexibility and employee well-being—is an innovative step toward addressing this, but not every company can afford to follow suit. The challenge remains: how do you sustain innovation without burning out the people driving it?

Case Study Insights

Take the case of Buffer, a company that has transformed its radical transparency into a cultural pillar. Buffer’s commitment to open salaries and revenue reports fosters an environment of trust and accountability, a culture rarely seen in traditional tech firms. But transparency comes with its risks. According to Buffer’s own reports, the transparency initiative led to initial discomfort among employees, who feared comparisons and judgments based on salary differences. However, over time, the company found that these fears were outweighed by the trust and engagement that transparency fostered. Employee turnover decreased, and productivity increased as teams aligned more closely with the company’s mission.

Pleo is another company pushing boundaries with its culture-first approach. With a benefits package of €2,500 per employee, Pleo enables its team to work remotely while fostering creativity and reducing burnout. They invest heavily in global team-building activities, despite their distributed workforce, ensuring that collaboration and creativity aren’t stifled by geographical separation. This focus on employee well-being has translated into a higher Glassdoor rating (4.4 out of 5) and a clear competitive advantage in retaining talent.

Hopin, with its remote-first approach, faced the unique challenge of scaling a remote culture quickly. The creation of a dedicated “Vibe Team” aimed to address the isolation of remote workers, but even with this, the company had to invest heavily in tools that could foster the same level of collaboration and engagement as in-office setups. Hopin’s culture is a case study in the careful balance required to scale quickly without losing the essence of what makes the company work: its people.

These examples highlight the spectrum of approaches that tech companies are using to sustain their cultures. Whether it’s through transparency, benefits packages, or dedicated cultural teams, these companies are finding innovative ways to maintain a strong, cohesive culture even as they grow.

The Impact

The impact of company culture on innovation, retention, and employee satisfaction is profound. Tech companies with strong cultures not only attract top talent but also foster environments where innovation can thrive. When employees feel trusted, supported, and valued, they are more likely to take risks and propose bold new ideas. This is where companies like Buffer and Pleo excel—by creating environments that prioritise trust and flexibility, they enable their teams to push the boundaries of what’s possible.

On the other hand, poor culture can lead to a variety of damaging outcomes, including reduced employee engagement, high turnover, and stifled innovation. A toxic environment creates distrust, lowers morale, and increases burnout, particularly in fast-paced industries like tech. Productivity suffers, as does the quality of output, with issues like poor communication and lack of collaboration hindering growth. Over time, it can erode a company’s reputation, making it harder to attract top talent and maintain competitiveness in a rapidly evolving market. 

In the long term, companies with strong, well-defined cultures are better equipped to weather the inevitable challenges of growth, technological change and market competition. As the tech industry continues to evolve, those organisations that prioritise a healthy, inclusive culture will not only survive—they will thrive.