Meet The Woman Behind LinkedIn’s Thriving Company Culture

Culture is the defining characteristic in any company, good or bad. As companies grow and get further away from their beginning, an inevitable shift occurs. What made the company great at the start doesn’t always scale as the company grows.

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, understands the value in a healthy culture, and they focus on creating a great one. When they first started in 2003, familiar networks like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram had not yet launched. Since then,  the site now has over 467 million registered users in over 200 countries.

Young millennials are the fastest growing demographic to join the network, and roughly two-thirds of their workforce comes from this generation.

Millennials place a high value on workplace culture, and they stay longer as a result. The 2016 Deloitte Millennials Survey said those staying in their organizations for at least five years are more likely to report a positive culture than others.

So what does LinkedIn do in order to maintain and develop its culture? The woman currently tasked with answering that question is Nina McQueen, VP of Global Benefits, Mobility, and Employee Experience.

McQueen is one of the best people in Silicon Valley to discuss actively managing culture. Her background includes companies like Yahoo, Facebook, and Gap, Inc. At LinkedIn, she leads the Benefits & Employee Experience teams, which focuses on sustaining a strong culture in the company.

Culture comes from the top

People replicate what leaders demonstrate. “Our CEO puts focus and culture and values,” notes McQueen. “He talks about it all the time.” McQueen is referring to Jeff Weiner, the CEO since 2009.

Culture is one of the top priorities for Weiner in his role at LinkedIn. He published a few thoughts on company culture earlier this year after Microsoft announced its purchase of LinkedIn:

“Ten years ago, had you asked me about culture and values I would have rolled my eyes and recited a line from Dilbert. But when I started as CEO I began to appreciate just how important they were. Culture and values provide the foundation upon which everything else is built. They are arguably our most important competitive advantage, and something that has grown to define us.”

Filed under: Headlines by daniel federowicz
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