What Makes a Good Company a Great One?

You are the reflection of all that you do and support. Do the right things, support the right people and ideas, and you’ll see that you are well on your way to building a great, solid business. But it’s not that simple, is it?

At LOAD, we know there’s plenty of room to grow. Fortunately for us, we now know the things we need to focus on to successfully achieve our goals.
Most of these things take time and sometimes even years to learn, implement and see results.
Once you have a business, standing out from the competition becomes one of your top priorities. Overall, the market is oversaturated with pretty much everything, and it’s getting harder by the day to be original and remarkable.

In a world full of outstanding ideas and great professionals, being good is no longer enough. There is an urgent need to be better.

Great companies have great people.

Do you see that we’re not talking about a “great leader” here? The leader is the engine, but if the other parts don’t do their job, the engine fails. One person alone doesn’t make the company, but sets an example. Do what you want others to do. Boss or not.

Hiring the right people with the right skills, personality, lifestyle and values is one of the most important elements for stable growth. A resume is only a small part of what really makes that person. Ultimately, we don’t hire the CV, we hire the person who best fits our values. At LOAD, people are our most valuable asset.

That brings us to our next point:

Bring your people together.

At LOAD, for example, we all work together in an open space, without exception. Our designers, programmers, marketing and administrative departments are all in a single room. Just as there are no walls between our desks, there are no walls between our communications. It’s a great working concept that allows people to share thoughts, ask questions and get to know each other.

We spend most of our time at work, not only do we want our employees to feel comfortable, but we also want them to be involved in the affairs of the company. That’s why our management team talks openly with every employee about the state of the company, plans for the future, and ordinary everyday situations.

Due to COVID, it is of course not possible to keep all employees together as we used to, as half of the team works remotely and the other half is in the office. We have several meeting rooms and other spaces to allow for social distance and privacy when needed.

Great companies put the customer first.

A proactive attitude makes a big difference between a good company and a truly great one. Staying in constant contact with your customers and knowing their concerns, needs and feedback can help you grow. Respect and trust are not easily won. In most cases, it takes months to build them, and a few more months to really solidify them. Honestly, sometimes even years.
At the end of the day, in any business, you should take care of your customers’ needs. For example, by offering them workshops so they can get a better picture of the challenges they face; by finding solutions they did not know they needed; or by simply calling regularly to check in on how things are going. All of these small gestures of attention and interest will be greatly appreciated by those who truly believed in you, gave you a chance, and supported your business from the beginning.

At LOAD, we find it very important to grow with the feedback given to us. The ability to listen (customers or not) is an important trait that every company should have and constantly improve. Feedback comes from all directions. Listen carefully. You will be surprised how much valuable information you will find where you do not expect it.

Every single person should know their purpose inside the company.

It is critical for people to know their purpose in life and at work. In truly great companies, employees know exactly what they are there for. They understand their role, their tasks and their influence, which leads to higher motivation and better results.

As a company, you have an obligation to your employees to help them explore their own capabilities and push their limits. By taking them out of their comfort zone and giving them room to learn, make mistakes, and be creative, you increase your employees’ chances of finding their true purpose. Sometimes that means you have to let them go. Other times, it means they’ll stay for a long time. Realizing that you, as a company, have such a huge impact on people’s lives is rewarding.
Help them grow, and they will take you places you never imagined.

What do we do at LOAD to make it even better?

Our hierarchy is flat.

No one is better or more important than anyone else on the team. At LOAD, we all know our purpose and work toward the same goal. At the end of the day, we just want to do our best and be proud of ourselves, our colleagues and our work.
Here, titles and status are the least important attribute a person can focus on. Overall, a flat hierarchy improves the quality of our work environment: knowledge flows more easily, there is room for creativity and the exchange of ideas.

Honesty.

It may sound too cocky, but the truth is: to build a trusting relationship, you need to know how to say the things you need to say, at the right time, to the right person, and in the right way. It’s important to convey an opinion or feedback without being disrespectful or rude. Ultimately, being upfront that something is wrong or should be improved has a huge impact on the quality of the product/service delivered. Is that a challenge? Yes, of course it is. Do we make mistakes? Sure, we are only human. Do we try to learn and improve? Always.

No space for groups.

We have zero tolerance for groups within the company.
Over time, we have been able to create an environment where there is no need or room for division within the team, and this helps us maintain a healthy relationship based on solid communication. Of course, this is a constant learning process where mistakes happen, but that’s how we learn.

Finding time to be together.

Everyone has different time constraints and responsibilities, but finding time to laugh, share experiences and just be together is also one of our priorities as team players. It takes time to build trust, and not everyone finds it easy to connect with others (and that’s okay). That said, we want everyone to feel valued. That’s why we organize internal events like tech beers, team picnics, family days, and others. Currently, it might be a bit more difficult, but we are trying hard to adapt.

We learn & teach each other.

That’s right. As we would say in Portuguese “parar é morrer” – to stop is to die. At LOAD, we motivate our employees to learn and give them the freedom to continue their education and become better professionals. An important part of learning is sharing your knowledge with others. For this reason, we regularly organize internal workshops.

Our true motto has been the same for years, “If you work hard and stay humble, amazing things will happen.” In difficult situations, it helped us move forward as a team, and it still does today. We are very grateful to be able to share our project and values with people who believe in us and give us so much of their talent, time, commitment and appreciation.

That is exactly what makes a great company.