Limeade (don’t you love the name?) is a brilliant employee engagement platform that inspires people and companies to improve their health, well-being, and performance. It’s a great mission, but really, it’s a great company too. Why? Because Limeade connects engagement and health. Their fresh approach is Bringing Work to Life for their customers and also for their employees – and their point of view is both inspiring and instructive.
Here are some of the lessons from Limeade for creating a culture of abundance and fulfillment
Defining Work-Life
Limeade trusts employees to do the right thing. They believe that when people love what they do, they will have an emotional connection to their work and they won’t spend their days just counting hours. Limeade wants employees to feel a connection with their work. Rather than a point of view where work and life are separate – or stitched together – Limeade sees life and work coming together. Work is life and life is work. For Limeade, a holistic view of work and life suggests that work is a place where our life is welcome and vice versa. When we find our purpose through work, it makes our life better. When we talk to our kids about our work, it gives them a chance to see through our lens and learn about how to excel in a career. Likewise, when we feel free to talk about our families or interests with our co-workers, we build stronger, long-term relationships. People want to build a life with meaning. This is what it means to bring work and life together.
Policies and Practices
Limeade employees don’t just service and sell their product, they work and live in it. The set personal goals, complete a well-being assessment and health screening to foster awareness, participate in personal and work-related challenges, and track results. Employees foster their own engagement and well-being every day. Limeade also intentionally sustains their culture. They call it ‘Drinking the Limeade’ and it makes values and the associated behaviors clear to everyone, including specific expectations for the unique role of leaders. Limeade infuses every aspect of their process with these values – screening, hiring, training, compensation, and more. For example, one value is ‘Anything is Possible’. Another is ‘Be It,’ meaning that while no one is perfect, everyone is expected to grow, improve, and learn.
Flexibility
Limeade allows plenty of choice and flexibility. Employees can take time to walk or go to the gym or run errands. Of course all of this flexibility is predicated on performance and the culture emphasizes results and accountability. In one example of flexible working, the Marketing department decided they would work at home on the same day every week. They wanted a day with uninterrupted work flow and reduced meetings. The VP of marketing simply shared the news with Limeade’s founder and CEO, Henry Albrecht, who fully supported the approach. “We have a culture of improvement and experimentation,” he says, “We embrace the opportunity to test hypotheses and think broadly.”
It’s Really Real
At many companies, there are generous policies for flexible working, but employees don’t feel free to take advantage of the policies – often out of a perception of negative stigma or fear of negative career ramifications. The opposite is true at Limeade. “Here, it’s real,” says Laura Hamill, Chief People Officer for Limeade. Laura has initiated a Guiding Principles Team that is mapping each policy with an eye toward its implications and ensures that each is considered for the ways that it affects work-life. As an example, Limeade just updated their vacation policy. In the new policy, each employee receives four weeks (up from three weeks) and can only accrue up to three weeks. The reason? Limeade wants to send a clear message that employees should take vacation. They know that when people have time off, their quality of life is better and their work is also more optimal. Hence, the vacation policy is designed to motivate employees to plan a vacation before they lose their vacation days.
But there are Pitfalls
Limeade is a passionate group. But if there’s any downside to passion, it’s over-commitment. When we love what we do, it’s easy to overdo, but employees need to have a life and Limeade wants to ensure that they do. Sometimes people join Limeade with past experiences from less flexible or enlivening jobs. It takes time to shift a past mindset, but it’s important to the culture and to the collective success of the organization.
It’s Not Just Easy
Expectations at Limeade are high: The company is high-growth and high-performing. But all the flexibility and people-focus doesn’t mean standards are lower – just the opposite. It’s hard work, but it’s exciting when there’s a purpose that motivates employees and the organization as a whole. This gives Limeade an advantage in attracting and retaining the best. They’ve learned over time that hiring based on capability, drive for excellence, and culture fit is essential for the company and the employees they’re hiring. Both Henry and Laura are committed to ensuring they attract people who are a ‘best fit’ and can grow with the company – over the long term. “We’re looking for marathoners, not sprinters,” says Henry. “We want people who are able to sustain and scale their momentum in their growth and careers.”
What’s the Future?
So what does the future hold for work-life? According to Laura, engagement is the key. The companies that engage people most effectively will be those that consider the holistic aspects of work and life, connecting policies, practices, and culture. Culture is Limeade’s sustainable competitive advantage and something competitors simply cannot copy.
Limeade is unique, but they are also authentic. While they are creating success for their customers, they are also creating engagement, well-being, and productivity for their employees. Their enthusiasm is contagious. They’ve drunk the limeade. I have too.
Would you like to tell your story? If so, let me know by emailing me at tbrower108@gmail.com. Why? One of the foundations of Bringing Work to Life is abundance: the idea that it is possible to find fulfillment, have it all, and avoid the trade-offs between work and life. After all, work and life aren’t separate things to be placed in containers, but part of an integrated whole of a satisfying life. Another foundation of Bringing Work to Life is the idea of multiple right answers. As we’re all seeking ways to bring work to life – and bring life to work – we can learn from each other’s unique solutions and stories. I’d love to learn about your story!
Tracy Brower is the author of Bring Work to Life by Bringing Life to Work: A Guide for Leaders and Organizations.