Quantified Culture & Workplace Happiness Report

Copyright 2016 Good&Co Labs Inc.
TECH INDUSTRY:
QUANTIFIED CULTURE & WORKPLACE
HAPPINESS REPORT
GOOD&COINC.
Dr. Kerry Schoﬁeld
Dr. Roni Mermelshtine
Research-based insights from 4,000+ IBM, Facebook,
Apple, Google, and Microsoft employees
Note: The contents of this report are under strict
embargo until Wednesday, August 10 at 8:00 a.m. ET

INTRO
This report presents collated data from 4,364 Good&Co app users to explore various
ways in which psychometric data can inform our understanding of workplace behavior,
company culture, and success in the tech industry.
Using the psychometric insights collected from Good&Co's users, we’ve gained a unique perspective on the central role played by personality in
the workplace. This wealth of data, gathered from our large and diverse user-base, has allowed us to directly quantify which key attributes
influence workplace behavior and the tech industry at large.
While each individual and workplace experience is unique, assessing data in aggregate across large samples provides us with unprecedented,
cutting edge insights into the current state of workplace culture. In this report, we’ve collected user information from 4,364 Good&Co app users.
High-level insights were gathered over the last two years, and represent a sampling of workplace personalities across sectors, specific companies,
and demographic traits, such as gender. These findings were generated using Good&Co’s Proprietary Psychometric Algorithm (PPA), which taps
into decades of career psychometrics and psychological analysis, to help people identify their professional style for a better fit with current and
potential employers and teams.
Percentages as shown summarize statistical comparisons of averages scores between groups, including interactions (such as between work
sector and gender). While differences based on raw values may sometimes be small, all presented comparisons are statistically significant with
less than 5% margin of error. Further information on the methodology is available on request.
2

KEY FINDINGS
‣  Looking for a workplace that prioritizes a creative culture? Avoid Facebook. Though
managers at these five companies may share a motivational prowess, there is one
company that falls behind in other areas. When we compared the character traits of
managers at IBM, Facebook, Apple, Google, and Microsoft, we discovered that
Facebook’s culture is demonstrably lacking when it comes to hiring for aspects of
‘openness to experience’, such as intellectual curiosity and adventurousness – two
traits vital for fostering a culture of creativity.
‣  Think Microsoft is less innovative than Apple? Hiring practices beg to differ. Despite
being considered the more conservative company of the two, Microsoft proved to put
a focus on hiring adventurous candidates. The creators of MS Office had an almost
identical score to Apple in regards to employee adventurousness, and some even
suggest that Microsoft’s ‘cool factor’ is on the up. However, Apple employees seem to
surpass Microsoft on a number of traits vital for success, such as intellect and
attention to detail.
3
3

‣  Is employee perception reflective of company culture? Twitter and Apple
employees would say yes. Employees at Apple and Twitter perceive their company
as it’s actually managed. Employees at both organizations report seeing the structure
and dynamics that are promoted externally. That sort of insight is indicative of a good
company culture.
‣  Want to get into tech? Be sure you’re easily inspired and fully committed. When we
compared the character traits of managers at IBM, Facebook, Apple, Google, and
Microsoft, we found that managers scored on average five percent higher than other
tech employees when it came to the ability to inspire and commit. In other industries,
we saw different patterns, for example in finance companies (Ernst Young, Bank of
America, American Express, Accenture and Deloitte) managers, though more inspiring,
were as committed as ‘other’ employees.
KEY FINDINGS
4

REPORT CONTENTS
‣  Facebook’s Innovation Problem
‣  Microsoft’s Changing Culture Towards Innovation
‣  Apple & Twitter: Company Culture Reﬂected in Employee
Perception
‣  Working in Tech? It Takes a Certain Type
5

Last year, Facebook closed the doors on its Creative Labs application-incubator division. The
move, which came after high proﬁle failures such as Facebook Home and Rooms, rocked the
social media giant.
Industry observers viewed the closing of Creative Labs as a sign that the company would be
more risk averse moving into the next stage of its development.
The tech industry talks a BIG talk. They’re disruptors and renegades that glorify breaking the
rules.
But our data suggests that Facebook’s culture was never quite as focused on innovation as was
originally thought and perceived - towing the line and staying “in the box” might be the key to
success after all.
FACEBOOK'S INNOVATION
PROBLEM NEEDS A 'DISLIKE' BUTTON
6

When compared to other tech giants like Google,
Apple, IBM, and Microsoft, Facebook lags in
attributes commonly connected to innovation –
curiosity and adventurousness.
Facebook ranks last in both
categories, yet our analyses suggest
that the results were signiﬁcantly
different only in respect to Apple and
Microsoft employees.
COMPARISON BETWEEN TECH
COMPANIES ON CURIOSITY AND
ADVENTUROUSNESS
7

Apple, Google, IBM, and Microsoft employees significantly outpaced Facebook in intellectual curiosity and adventurousness.
Even internally, Facebook hiring practices seem to reflect a push to promote individuals who are more risk-averse and closed
off to experiencing new things.

Ø  Apple employees scored around 10%
higher on intellectual curiosity and a
whopping 18% higher on
adventurousness compared to
Facebook employees.
Ø Managers at Facebook seemed to
reflect this issue scoring a staggering
30% lower than the rest of the firm’s
employees in regard to
adventurousness.
Ø Interestingly, the same trend was
observed between Google
managers and other Google
employees.
ADVENTUROUSNESS
8

Even internally, Facebook hiring practices seem to reﬂect a push to promote
individuals who are more risk averse and closed oﬀ to experiencing new things,
especially when considering male vs. female managers.
Ø  Overall, female managers at Facebook
are 40% less adventurous than male
managers; 59% less adventurous than
other female employees.
Ø  Overall, Facebook’s male managers are
17.7% less adventurous than other male
employees.
9
ADVENTUROUSNESS IN FEMALE AND
MALE FACEBOOK EMPLOYEES
61.76
25.33
51.34
42.23

Perhaps, those who become managers in innovative and fast evolving
companies, such as Facebook and Google, are more conservative (with
a small c). To keep a wild engine running, leaders in these companies act
as a solid steering wheel.
10

MICROSOFT’S CHANGING
CULTURE TOWARDS INNOVATION
Despite being commonly considered the more conservative company of the two, Microsoft
proved to put a greater focus than Apple on hiring adventurous candidates.
The creators of MS Oﬃce had an almost identical score to Apple in regards to employee
adventurousness, and some even suggest that Microsoft’s ‘cool factor’ is on the up.
Microsoft began changing course in 2014, when Satya Nadella became the company’s third CEO.
Nadella immediately implemented and fostered a more collaborative and innovative culture. The
manifestation of those traits is made clear in our data...
11

When we looked at the personality data of
Microsoft employees compared to all other tech
companies’ employees, we found that people
working for Microsoft are as adventurous as Apple
employees.
Those employed by Facebook,
Google, and IBM scored markedly
lower on this trait – they are, on
average, likely to be less open to
new experiences.
ADVENTUROUSNESS
12
Ø Facebook employees were on
average 17% and 18% less
adventurous than Microsoft and
Apple employees respectively.

Interestingly, we also found that, coupled with
layoﬀs performed by Microsoft in 2015, these
numbers point to a culture being built that is
more open and willing to take risks.
In many respects our data suggests that
Microsoft employees are very similar to other
techies. On average they are as industrious,
energetic, and adaptable as IBM, Apple,
Google and Facebook employees.
Yet, some marked differences were also
shown especially between Microsoft and
its long-standing competitor Apple.
13
73.13
67.92
54.27
47.15
66.19
57.74
42.08
45.90

Ø  When compared to Microsoft,
Apple employees were on
average 7% more intellectually
curious, 13 % more competitive,
13% more methodical.
Ø  Apple employees were on
average 8% less prone to
mood changes (or less
volatile) than Microsoft
employees.
14
Think Microsoft is less innovative than Apple? Hiring practices beg to diﬀer.
Focusing in on our key trait of curiosity, and taking into account what we learned previously about the diﬀerences between
managers and non-managers, we found some striking interactions between men and women.
Ø  Female managers at Microsoft
are 2.2% more curious than
female managers at Apple.
Ø Male Microsoft employees
are 11 percent less curiosity
than those at Apple.
CURIOSITY IN WOMEN AT
APPLE AND MICROSOFT
CURIOSITY IN MEN AT
APPLE AND MICROSOFT
65.47
66.93
69.28
68.08
67.375
67.505
75.23
65.64
75.5
70.76
75.365
68.2

This data demonstrates the importance of taking
individual diﬀerences into account when making large-
scale assessments of patterns in industry. And as more
women continue to enter the tech industry, the picture is
likely to change further in Microsoft's favor.
15

APPLE & TWITTER: COMPANY CULTURE
REFLECTED IN EMPLOYEE PERCEPTION
The hiring practices of managers are a clear reflection of the overall corporate culture cultivated
within the companies.
Digging deeper into the differences between Apple and Twitter, we discovered differing
viewpoints from all employees.
Looking into our app users’ perceptions of the two companies provided us with further insights
into potential differences between them…
16

APPLE & TWITTER: COMPANY CULTURE
REFLECTED IN EMPLOYEE PERCEPTION
APPLE & TWITTER
COMPANY PERCEPTION
17
Ø  Apple’s fixed policies and firmly hierarchical structure set
it apart from Twitter’s meritocracy-based culture and
fluid chain of command.
Ø  Employee perception of Apple goes in line with their
spoke-and-wheel hierarchy. In this model, tasks are
delegated outward from a central decision-making hub.
Ø  While employees have been given more autonomy under
Tim Cook, the basic hierarchy built under Steve Jobs has
remained similar.
Ø  Whereas Twitter is considered more autonomous. The
social media giant’s culture lends itself to a less
structured environment where more employees are able
to voice their concerns freely.
50
20
45
15
50
75
67.5
85

WORKING IN TECH?
IT TAKES A CERTAIN TYPE
When comparing the character traits of managers at IBM, Facebook, Apple, Google, and
Microsoft, we found that managers scored on average five percent higher than other tech
employees when it came to the ability to inspire others and in commitment to seeing projects
through to the end.
In other industries, we saw different patterns. For example in finance companies (Ernst Young,
Bank of America, American Express, Accenture and Deloitte), managers, though more inspiring,
were no more committed than general employees.
The commitment of tech managers may be a double edged sword, though, as they also showed
less willingness to delegate compared to, for example, managers in the retail sector, and
reduced intellectual curiosity compared to non-management employees in the tech industry.
18

Ø  This suggests that both traits have a
role to play in people’s ability to
inspire and be committed to the job.
Both traits can also been seen as ones
that are likely predisposed in
employees who eventually become
managers.
One might expect persistence to be a trait more commonly found in successful
managers than other employees, regardless of industry.
However, when comparing levels of social boldness in tech employees versus their managers, significant discrepancies arise – and understandably
so. In an industry with so many introverts (programmers in particular), socially bold managers are a necessity for any successful company.
WORKING IN TECH?
19
Ø  Managers in the tech industry scored 5% higher
on social boldness compared to other tech
employees.
Ø Managers in tech show the highest
levels of determination, on average
scoring over 6% higher in
persistence than managers in
finance, and other employees in
both finance and tech.
PERSISTENCESOCIAL BOLDNESS

Based on these factors, we can extrapolate that social boldness and
persistence are prized attributes for those hoping to become
successful managers in general, and in the tech industry speciﬁcally.
Looking at the data, one can also assume that employees lacking
these distinct qualities might struggle to advance in the tech ﬁeld.
WORKING IN TECH?
20

Our data suggests that a helpful trait for moving up in the tech industry is reduced curiosity.
Through this data we can infer that those wishing to take on management positions in tech may need to curb their curiosity
and think a little more inside the box, if they want to get ahead.
Ø  Managers in tech were scored
on average 2.2% lower on
intellectual curiosity compared
to other tech employees.
Ø  And managers in tech were no
more curious than managers in
non-tech industries, such as
retail, ﬁnance, and hospitality
industries.
Ø  General employees in the tech industry,
on the other hand, were signiﬁcantly
more curious than their peers in other
industries, scoring on average 2.8%
higher on intellectual curiosity.
WORKING IN TECH?
CURIOSITY
21
68.49
70.06
68.36
67.26

QUESTIONS?
Dr. Kerry Schoﬁeld
kerry@good.co
Dr. Roni Mermelshtine
roni@good.co
22
Note: The contents of this report are under strict
embargo until Wednesday, August 10 at 8:00 a.m. ET

Quantified Culture & Workplace Happiness Report

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