Describing Culture: 20 Examples of Company Culture Statements
A clear and engaging company culture statement is an often understated element of the company mission statement, but it can help boost employee experience, attract top talent, and foster growth. A well-crafted culture statement outlines your company's values and behaviors and brings employees together around a shared vision, fostering a cohesive and motivated team.
This is particularly crucial for organizations adopting hybrid and remote work models. As teams become more dispersed, clearly defining a strong company culture helps maintain sustainability and alignment, ensuring that employees feel part of a unified and engaging work environment, whether employees are in the office or working from home.
In this article, we will examine 20 excellent examples of company culture statements and demonstrate how businesses of all sizes can effectively convey their values—whether they operate in a physical, hybrid, or remote setting.
What is a company culture statement and why it matters
When defining your company’s culture, it is essential to move past assumptions and clearly express what sets your workplace apart. A well-crafted company culture statement is beneficial not only for internal cohesion but also for motivating employees. It also acts as a magnet for attracting talent and enhancing engagement, particularly in flexible work settings.
Company culture statement definition and purpose
A company culture statement is a formal document that outlines the company values, behaviors, and beliefs influencing how employees engage and collaborate within the organization. It is a blueprint of the company's identity, helping employees and outsiders understand what it represents and how it works daily.
A mission statement describes a company's goals and purpose, or core values, which detail the beliefs that guide decisions. A workplace culture statement, on the other hand, captures the unique internal dynamics of a company. The mission statement and core values provide strategic direction. The culture statement shows how the core values manifest in the workplace, shaping employee experiences and interactions.
How a company culture statement impacts employee experience
A well-crafted corporate culture statement significantly influences various aspects of employee experience, such as engagement, well-being, and retention.
Here are the main ways a clear culture statement benefits both employees and the organization:
1. Boosts employee engagement
When your company resonates with employees, they develop a deeper sense of belonging and purpose. This connection not only enhances their outlook on work but also boosts productivity. Organizations with robust work cultures experience a 72% rise in employee engagement, directly affecting performance and job satisfaction.
2. Improves employee retention and reduces turnover
A well-defined workplace culture statement makes employees feel appreciated, boosting their job satisfaction and loyalty. Organizations with highly engaged workplaces experience up to 67% lower turnover rates than those with disengaged employees. This helps lower recruitment costs and maintain valuable knowledge.
3. Enhances well-being and work-life balance
A culture that emphasizes well-being fosters a supportive atmosphere where employees feel at ease to show up as their authentic selves. Employees who feel supported in their roles tend to enjoy improved mental health, a healthier work-life balance, and greater job satisfaction. This leads to a reduction in burnout cases and enhances long-term performance.
4. Attracts and retains top talent
Culture fit is crucial for attracting and retaining new employees. Job seekers consider a company's culture a top factor in employment decisions. Organizations that communicate a positive culture in their messaging tend to stand out.
Furthermore, demonstrating the culture you’re renowned for is a major advantage for new hires, as 20% of employees quit within the first 45 days of employment! Showcasing your culture and fostering belonging during onboarding can make or break your efforts to attract and retain top talent.
5. Fosters creativity and collaboration
Employees in a high-performance culture are more comfortable sharing their ideas and working together. By fostering an environment where everyone feels appreciated, the company reaps the rewards of enhanced creativity, effective problem-solving, and innovation. When teams engage in open collaboration, they can achieve improved business results and sustain a competitive advantage.
How to write a compelling company culture statement
Creating a company culture statement involves more than simply listing values; it’s about integrating them into everyday actions and ensuring employees at all levels can identify with that culture.
Here are some practical steps to develop a culture statement that is genuine, inclusive, and flexible for today’s work environment.
Key steps in writing a culture statement
- Assessing your existing culture: Begin by assessing your organization’s culture. This means grasping the core values, beliefs, and behaviors that are currently evident in your workplace. You might consider conducting surveys or interviews with employees to collect their perspectives on the company culture. What do they see as strengths? What areas might need improvement? These insights will be the basis for a genuine and impactful culture statement.
- Identify critical cultural elements: After collecting feedback, identify the essential aspects you wish to convey, such as a positive company culture, customer-focused teams, or an emphasis on diversity. Consider teamwork, communication styles, leadership methods, and work-life balance. Ensure these cultural elements accurately represent the internal dynamics and the external image you aim to present.
- Be specific and accountable: To make your culture statement more relatable, incorporate specific examples or create do-and-don’t lists highlighting your values. For instance, if "collaboration" is a core value, describe how it is practiced in daily operations, such as through regular brainstorming sessions that involve multiple departments. This level of detail helps employees and potential hires grasp how the culture will be reflected in their work environment.
- Gather and implement feedback: Share your drafted culture statement with employees to collect their feedback. Employees are more inclined to support a cultural statement aligning with their experiences and values. Take their input into account—if the culture outlined doesn’t connect with the team, revisit it to refine and ensure it has a positive impact.
- Reflect, revise, and evolve: As your company changes, your culture statement should evolve. Review it regularly to ensure it accurately represents the company's current values and objectives. This practice will help keep the statement relevant and in sync with your organization's direction.
We made a list of the essential company culture statistics that showcase how employees feel about the culture and its importance. See the statistics >>>
How to integrate hybrid and remote work into your company culture statement
As more teams embrace hybrid or fully remote work models, your culture statement must capture this change. A strong company culture should promote flexibility, support work-life balance, and encourage collaboration among distributed teams.
Emphasize flexibility
In your culture statement, clearly state whether your organization endorses flexible work hours or remote work policies. Emphasize how this flexibility enables employees to attain a healthier work-life balance while being productive.
Promote inclusivity across locations
Your culture must promote inclusivity even when teams are spread out across different locations. In your culture statement, highlight practices such as open communication, frequent virtual team meetings, and chances for cross-functional collaboration. Mention tools like Slack, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams as vital resources that help maintain a cohesive culture despite physical distances.
Ensure work-life balance
Remote work carries a heightened risk of burnout, as employees often find distinguishing between their work and personal lives challenging. Your culture statement should demonstrate your dedication to employee well-being by encouraging healthy work-life balance practices, including flexible hours, mental health resources, and designated downtime.
Foster engagement and connection
One of the main challenges in remote and hybrid work environments is ensuring that employees feel a sense of belonging. Your culture statement should outline how you promote employee engagement and connection through virtual team-building activities, mentorship programs, and social platforms that allow employees to connect on a personal level beyond their work responsibilities.
Demonstrate adaptability and trust
Recognize that remote work demands flexibility. Ensure your culture statement reflects confidence in employees' capacity to handle their responsibilities autonomously while providing the necessary support for their success. Illustrate how flexibility and trust are fundamental principles of your company culture, essential for thriving in a constantly evolving work environment.
20 examples of great company culture statements
We curated a list of 20 examples of company culture statements from companies that do a great job describing and illustrating how their culture works and impacts day-to-day work. These examples provide valuable insight into how you relate and communicate culture and create or improve your culture statement.
Netflix
How Netflix describes its culture:
“At Netflix, we aspire to entertain the world, thrilling audiences everywhere. To do that, we’ve developed an unusual company culture focused on excellence and creating an environment where talented people can thrive — lifting ourselves, each other, and our audiences higher and higher.”
CultureAmp
How CultureAmp describes its culture:
“We believe that nothing is impossible when a group of talented, caring humans work to build something together. That belief, among other things, means living our values every day, striving to be inclusive, and building a worldwide community that believes culture comes first.”
Twilio
How Twilio describes its culture:
“We build for better, together. Twilio culture runs on creativity, diversity, and positivity. That’s because our mission is to unlock the imagination of builders, including our own. We cultivate an inclusive space where all feel welcome, celebrated, and contribute meaningfully as we build great things together.”
Twilio’s Sr. Manager of Global Real Estate and Workplace Operations was featured on Gabel’s webinar on How Workplace Leaders Iterate. Find out why >>>
Hubspot
How Hubspot describes its culture:
Hubspot’s Culture Code Tenets:
- We solve for the customer.
- We work to be remarkably transparent.
- We favor autonomy & accountability.
- We believe our best perk is amazing peers.
- We lean towards long-term impact.
Hubspot’s Culture Cheerleader speaks on hybrid culture and how Gable is helping them easily book coworking spaces. Watch to see the magic >>>
Lattice
How Lattice describes its culture:
“At Lattice, we strive to constantly build an inclusive culture. We challenge ourselves with a daily commitment to seek diversity and foster inclusion and track our results to make sure that we’re staying true to our promises.”
Gable
How we describe our culture at Gable:
“We value diversity, curiosity, and caring — for customers, teammates, and your work. We’re mission-driven, customer-obsessed, and agile, but we also work hard to be diverse, inclusive, and empowering for our team members.”
At Gable, we help remote and distributed companies strengthen their culture, foster connections, and engage employees. See how we do it >>>
Ironclad
How Ironclad describes its culture:
“At Ironclad we believe in the power of teams. We inspire each other to bring our best selves to work, and we live our core values: intent, empathy, drive, and integrity. These values inform our work, our decisions, our behavior, and our community.
AirBnb
How Airbnb describes its culture:
“Airbnb is built around the idea that everyone should be able to take the perfect trip, including where they stay, what they do, and who they meet. To that end, we empower millions of people around the world to use their spaces, passions, and talents to become entrepreneurs. A world where anyone can belong anywhere starts with a workplace where you feel welcome and can contribute your best work.”
Doist
How Doist describes its culture:
- Thinking in decades, not in quarters. We opt for solutions that will get us where we want to be in the long term. We’re running a marathon, not a sprint.
- Balancing ambition and wellbeing. Ambition without rest isn't sustainable. And working without ambition breeds complacency. Our team is proof you can have both.
- Working without borders. From Jamaica to Poland, Taiwan to Australia, diversity is in Doist’s DNA. We believe the future of work transcends all kinds of borders.
- Supporting our users’ goals. As Doist builds the future of work, many more people across the globe will thrive, both professionally and personally.
Doist’s Head of Remote, Chase Warrington, shared proven tips for building, scaling, and connecting distributed teams. Read his tips here >>>
Future
How Future describes its culture:
“We believe that partnership is the key to progress. We aim to provide the perfect environment for leadership and impact. We want to push the boundaries and motivate both customers and employees.”
Future states they love giving their employees as much independence as possible. Find out how they do it >>>
Docker
How Docker describes its culture:
- Autonomy, Freedom, and Flexibility We trust you to get your work done however it fits into your lifestyle. Our flexible schedule lets you set priorities and maximize productivity.
- Work / Life Balance We want you to maintain balance to thrive, reduce stress, and prevent burnout.
- Transparency We believe that companies should be transparent. We’re open and honest with our employees.
- Collaboration We work together as a team in all departments and levels. We openly share ideas.
- Appreciation We know the employees are the heart and soul of Docker. We let them know how important they are every chance we get.
- Respect We treat you how we want to be treated. We listen to what you have to say. We value your time. We’re courteous and polite to all.
Read more about how Docker empowers employees to connect with Gable. Read Docker’s story >>>
Okta
How Okta describes its culture:
“Our cultural pillars show up in how we work, how we treat each other, what we focus on, and how we live our collective values. As a culture-adding organization, we know that each new employee adds to our evolving culture. As you add to Okta culture to make our vision a reality, we want to create a work environment that empowers you, values your ideas, and recognizes your contributions.
We are people connecting people, and we’re glad you’re here.”
Zapier
How Zapier describes its culture:
“We set ambitious goals at Zapier. We want our customers, people, and company to grow. Achieving these goals requires us to regularly learn and improve. Thankfully, our success has more to do with how quickly we learn than how "perfect" we are at a given moment.
Whether it's about how we work or the work itself, feedback enables growth. As such, feedback is one of Zapier's most essential practices. Even so, feedback can be hard to give and hard to receive. We make a point to become good at it anyway—it's just that important.”
Dropbox
How Dropbox describes its culture:
“Dropbox has always striven to have an organizational culture that’s inspiring, diverse, informed, and joyful. That starts with letting team members take part in defining culture. We also unite ourselves by celebrating diversity. This highlights our different backgrounds and perspectives, which makes us stronger as a company. We recognize that simple acts of kindness are essential to building strong connections.”
Wheel
How Wheel describes its culture:
“We nurture a collaborative and inclusive environment where people have the freedom and autonomy to do their best work. We know we will go further together by celebrating diversity — and that starts by honoring each of our unique lived experiences.
We practice problem-solving with the other in mind — from clinicians to clients to colleagues. We ask thoughtful questions. We make time to talk. We truly listen to one another. That’s the Wheel way.”
Wheel uses Gable to scale and connect their remote-first teams. Read a story from Gabby Lorestani, their Head of People >>>
Airtable
How Airtable describes its culture:
“At Airtable, we don’t just identify problems; we find and build solutions. Rather than blindly following precedent, we value thinking from first principles, carefully considering the underlying reasons why things are the way that they are.
Our mission to democratize software creation translates into a culture that prioritizes transparency and respects everyone’s contributions to making the team work—from engineers and salespeople to recruiters and operations staff. Most of all, we’re excited to work at a company with a mission and a product we can truly believe in.”
Doordash
How Doordash describes its culture:
“At DoorDash, our mission is to empower and grow local economies by opening the doorways that connect us to each other. When consumers get their goods, local merchants get business, and Dashers get paid.”
Figma
How Figma describes its culture:
“We’re a team of makers who celebrate our differences and share a passion for our community. We build for builders and try to make complex things feel simple. We ask why until we get to the core and continually focus on solving the right problem, not just shipping work. Everyone’s a work in progress, and we’re here to help each other grow. With humility and curiosity, we give and get the ❤️ and 💯, and the direct feedback we all need to become great.”
SentinelOne
How SentinelOne describes its culture:
“Our team is doing what no other company has done before in record time. We’re on a mission to defeat every cyberattack with autonomous technology. We're changing cybersecurity to give enterprises an advantage over tomorrow. We foster a winning culture that’s rewarding and values-driven. Work where your voice is heard, and your work is recognized. Thrive. Learn. Grow.”
LiveRamp
How LiveRamp describes its culture:
“We believe in our own exceptionalism. We don’t aspire to be good or even great–we hustle to be the absolute best in all we do. We hire exceptional people, challenge them to accomplish exceptional things, and win exceptional results for our customers. We do this through six guiding principles: empowering people, saying what we mean, doing what is right, loving our customers, getting stuff done, and respecting people.”
10 companies with culture statements mentioning hybrid and remote work
If that wasn’t inspiring enough, we’ve collected 10 examples of company culture statements that show the inclusivity they provide with hybrid and remote work. These examples provide depth into how your company can describe the way hybrid work can support company culture.
GitLab
How GitLab describes its culture:
“Since the beginning, we've been firm believers in remote work, open source, DevSecOps, and iteration. We get up and log on in the morning (or whenever we choose to start our days) to work alongside the GitLab community to deliver new innovations every month that help teams focus on shipping great code faster, not their toolchain.”
Chime
How Chime describes its culture:
“Since Chime was founded, we’ve gone from being in-office to fully remote, and today we embrace a hybrid work policy with three primary offices and workspaces in cities where we have a high concentration of Chimers and remote Chimers.”
Lob
How Lob describes its culture:
“We are committed to building a culture where personal growth is just as important as professional growth. Here’s what that means to us:
- Fully remote, distributed workplace
- Flexible time off plus paid volunteer time
- Comprehensive health plans
- Fertility, Menopause, Low T, and Family Planning Support
- Health and Wellness Stipend
- Competitive Equity Program”
Honeybook
How Honeybook describes its culture:
“We give anyone with a skill, and the passion to pursue it, what they need to succeed. We stand behind them every step of the way, boldly championing their success….
- Hybrid workspaces - Balance in-office collaboration with getting stuff done from your remote space.”
Adswerve
How Adswerve describes its culture:
“We’re a virtual-first workplace with team members who live—and work from—all over the US, Canada, South Africa and Europe. Most importantly, our growing team includes members in 26 states and 6 countries with offices in Denver and Seattle.”
Pie Insurance
How Pie Insurance describes its culture:
“As a remote-first company, Pie supports our Pie-oneers in working in a U.S. location that’s best for them. Our Denver, CO office is available for larger team events and is open for local employees to use whenever they want.”
dscout
How dscout describes its culture:
“dscout’s goal is to provide team members with the flexibility to decide their best way of working, meaning we operate as a remote-first company!”
Agile Six
How Agile Six describes its culture:
“Agile Six offers strong support for the people that work here, and part of that includes a great list of benefits.
- Fully Remote = Work-life balance + flexibility”
Veritone
How Veritone describes its culture:
“We're Remote First. We have offices & shared spaces across the world that encourage hotel seating & in-person meetings.”
Thumbtack
How Thumbtack describes its culture:
“Do your best work — wherever works for you. Work with brilliant teammates in a virtual-first, not virtual-only, environment. We celebrate who you are and nurture your personal and professional growth so that you can do the best work of your career.”
FAQ: Company culture
What is company culture and why is it important?
Company culture encompasses the shared values, beliefs, and behaviors that create the atmosphere within an organization. It influences how employees communicate with each other, their work approach, and the company's overall business practices. Key aspects of culture include communication styles, teamwork, leadership methods, and the organization’s fundamental values.
A robust company culture offers several significant advantages:
- Enhances employee satisfaction: When employees resonate with the company’s culture, they tend to be more satisfied and motivated in their positions.
- Improves retention: A positive culture results in lower turnover rates, as employees are more inclined to remain with a company that shares their values.
- Fosters engagement: Employees who feel connected to the culture are likelier to be engaged, contributing to improved bottom line. Conversely, a weak or negative company culture can result in high turnover, low morale, and unfavorable business results.
What are a company’s core values?
A company’s core values serve as its guiding principles, embodying the beliefs that shape its daily operations and decision-making processes. These values are often integrated into the company’s mission, leadership expectations, and employee behavior, providing a framework for how employees should conduct themselves within and in their interactions with customers and partners.
Examples of core values include:
- Integrity: Acting with honesty and strong moral principles.
- Excellence: Striving for the highest quality in every task.
- Innovation: Embracing creativity and forward-thinking.
- Diversity: Valuing diverse perspectives and fostering inclusion. Respect: Treating everyone with dignity and consideration.
What is a company mission statement?
A mission statement articulates an organization's purpose, detailing its goals and objectives. It acts as a guiding principle for decision-making within the organization and for communicating with the outside world. Generally, a mission statement clarifies what the company does, who its audience is, and what it aims to accomplish.
An effective mission statement is concise and inspiring, providing employees and stakeholders with a clear understanding of the organization’s aims. For example, a mission statement may highlight social responsibility, customer satisfaction, or innovation commitments.
By ensuring that the company's mission aligns with its culture and values, organizations can foster a cohesive sense of direction that inspires employees and attracts customers who resonate with those beliefs.
Build a culture of connection and collaboration with Gable
Creating a culture that balances flexibility with meaningful in-person connections is more important than ever. A well-defined company culture fosters engagement, improves retention, and boosts productivity. Whether your teams are remote, hybrid, or office-based, ensuring everyone feels connected and aligned with your values is key to long-term success.
Create a culture that prioritizes flexibility but doesn’t compromise in-person experiences and connections. Book a demo today to see how we can help you transform your culture.