This article was originally published on The Wall Street Journal.
By Zoe Peterson-Ward, Chief Customer Officer, Workhuman
Akamai TechnologiesOpens in a new tab helps leading companies worldwide build, deliver and secure their digital experiences. The excellence of its services is powered by more than just technical acumen. Ask employees what makes the organization unique, and they will tell you that everyone really lives the organization’s values every day. To manage its inspiring culture, Akamai uses Workhuman’s social recognitionOpens in a new tab program, which the company colloquially calls Akalades.Akamai’s purpose is to “make life better for billions of people, billions of times a day” by building, delivering and securing digital experiences for leading companies with the world’s most distributed computing platforms—from cloud to edge. Akamai makes it easy for customers to develop and run applications, while keeping experiences closer to users and threats farther away.Aligning a diverse workforce of 9,200 employees around specific values requires grassroots engagement. Akamai’s “One Akamai” philosophy emphasizes urgency and persistence, integrity and trust, inclusivity, customer focus and giving back to local communities.
“Our values come from who we are; they aren’t external,” says Khalil Smith, vice president of diversity, inclusion and engagement. “If you believe in our customer-first mentality and act urgently and persistently to make our customers successful, you can succeed in any part of the organization. If you don’t deeply believe in lifting people up like that, you just won’t be happy here.”Are your employees living your organization’s values like this? How do you know? Rather than pointing to a poster of company values and hoping for the best, leaders should treat values like any business goal—something to be taught, encouraged, measured and monitored day in, day out.Akamai’s highest form of recognition is the Danny Lewin AwardOpens in a new tab, named for the Akamai founder whose cultural influence is still profound two decades after he died in the 9/11 attacks. It is given to employees whose behavior embodies company values, like a customer-first approach, urgency, persistence, integrity and trust. And it can be awarded to people in any role, not just those working in technology.In addition to the award, Akamai has built a culture of values-based recognition for every employee. With the Workhuman social recognition platform, everyone can recognize behaviors that exemplify the “One Akamai” culture and other specific values.For example, Simone Stewart, vice president of sales and channel programs enablement, is known for much more than just her sales excellence. She’s also regularly recognized by colleagues for her fearless advocacy of inclusion, including sponsoring a resource group for Black and Hispanic employees.
Leaders should treat values like any business goal—something to be taught, encouraged, measured and monitored day in, day out.
The Workhuman system captures her urgency and persistence in the same data-rich way that other enterprise systems analyze sales or network performance data. It then analyzes stories and awards to show the cadence of values-based actions on the job. For example, employees’ recognition of Stewart’s inclusion advocacy combines with hundreds or thousands of other recognition moments logged in the system. Then data can be aggregated and analyzed to produce a fact-based review of how the Akamai team is leaning into its values.
Akamai’s ability to tell a data-rich story of how its culture operates makes it more attractive to potential employees who share those values. It’s more likely to retain its best employees, who embrace Akamai values. A recent Gallup study shows that when recognition is part of the regular cadence of work, employees are 56% less likely to be looking for other job opportunities and five timesOpens in a new tab as likely to feel connected to their culture.During Akamai’s three years on the Workhuman platform, nearly half of its workforce has received an award. Those numbers are growing as employees continue to weave values-based recognition into their daily routines.Ken Wechsler, who heads up Akamai’s Total Rewards program, notes another cultural cue to Akamai’s inclusiveness: “It’s the first company I’ve seen where everybody leaves their titles off their internal emails. People respect each other’s time. We work very hard, but don’t bombard each other with emails on the weekend. Being inclusive means remembering people are also parents, friends and community members—and we respect that.”“That’s how you get a cultural flywheel effect,” Smith says. “Everyone going in the same direction, lots of new leaders embracing our culture as we grow. It’s simple and seamless in the flow of work.”“One Akamai” happens because it’s a company of true believers in the values its founders promoted years ago. The Workhuman recognition platform helps employees create a growing narrative of how those values are demonstrated in the world of daily work. With every recognition moment, employees strengthen their common understanding of an uncommon culture.Visit Workhuman.comOpens in a new tab to learn more about Workhuman’s award-winning Social RecognitionOpens in a new tab platform and other employee engagement solutions.
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