Space to Speak Honestly Gives Us Power

Andy Yen: Founder/CEO @ProtonMail & @ProtonVPN.

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How can we create workplaces where every voice matters, everyone thrives and finds meaning, and change and innovation happen naturally?

Andy Yen: Inside our company, one thing that’s helped us a lot is having a rather flat hierarchy. Everybody can contribute ideas no matter what their level is in the organization.

The open sharing of knowledge and ideas helps us be more innovative and allows us to change and adapt more quickly.

We have a culture where anybody who wants to talk to the upper management can. This allows everyone to have a sense that their voice matters. It also allows ideas to come from any corner of the organization. Even ideas for one department can come from a different department. This open sharing of knowledge and ideas helps us be more innovative and allows us to change and adapt more quickly.

What does it take to get an employee’s full attention and best performance?

Andy: You need to have an efficient workforce to be competitive. For getting the best performance and full attention, it’s getting the right fit for people.

Getting the best performance and full attention means getting the right fit for people.

There’s always a job description, but it’s very rare when someone is 100% a perfect fit down to the last detail. Everybody has their individual quirks, habits, strengths, and weaknesses. It’s important to tailor people’s duties to leverage their strengths and weaknesses. This requires management to be more flexible and tentative at the beginning. When you get people into a role where they fit, you see that the results become dramatically better.

Note: This is a preview of the full interview. The complete interview was selected by Apress for publication and continues in The Future of the Workplace.