What is the secret to building high-performing teams? It’s a question that has stumped many companies for quite some time. Is it office nap pods? State-of-the-art break rooms? Or maybe unlimited vacation time?

In my experience, perks such as these, although nice to have, aren’t the key to building teams that excel. Happy people are. Happy, balanced, and thriving people are the essence of healthy teams, and strong, healthy teams are the foundation of great companies.

Since happiness connotes cooperation, happy teams are more likely to show up with energy, integrity, and passion. As a result, happy teams tend to enjoy greater harmony and resilience in the face of challenges. From a business standpoint, happy people create powerful teams that drive real business results.

happy people ➡ high-performance ➡ business success

In fact, studies show that companies with greater levels of employee satisfaction achieve better returns on assets and greater productivity. Not only is it ‘good for business,’ but prioritizing the happiness and fulfillment of your people creates a much larger ripple effect.

“Make sure everybody in the company has great opportunities, has a meaningful impact and is contributing to the good of society.” – Larry Page, CEO, Google

When people thrive at work, everyone wins. Individuals realize their potential, teams achieve goals, families benefit, and communities are strengthened. At Redbrick, I’m proud to say that our unique lens on people has resulted in some truly spectacular results in both our business and our community.

It starts with the right people

When I joined Redbrick, you could count our numbers on one hand. Today, we’re a team of over one hundred strong, spanning cities, countries, and continents. Over the past nine years, we’ve built companies from the ground up, acquired new ones, and bolted others onto existing ones.

Through it all, our approach to people has remained the same. We hire kind, smart, glass-half-full people and match them with positions that complement their strengths and align with their passions. We give them a long runway for growth and the freedom to pursue it on their own terms while providing support and feedback along the way. And, we celebrate wins, often.

However, matching the right people with the right position is only one—albeit very important—piece of the puzzle. What comes next is even more complex: How do you create the right conditions for people to thrive?

The right conditions

Happy people have a few things in common: meaningful relationships, passion in their personal and professional lives, and time to spend as they choose.

Take a magnifying glass to Redbrick, and you’ll find that almost everything—from our company values to our policies and the design of our office—are created with these in mind.

We’re flexible

Happy people are free people. So, ours come and go as they please. When it comes to schedules, we believe that there’s no ‘one size fits all.’ We recognize that everyone has different commitments that require their attention; some of us have kids or a new puppy that needs to be let out more frequently.

So, we take an individualized approach and empower our team to choose the schedule that best suits them. In return, we expect them to act with care and consideration. Show up on-time to meetings, do good work, and be a team player.

Trust is key

Any good relationship is built on trust. Our individual approach is the foundation on which we build trust. We work very hard to establish trust with every person on our team. One of the ways we do so is by being transparent.

Everyone on our team is aware of our company goals, priorities, and challenges. Sometimes this means having hard conversations with appropriate feedback, which often strengthens the relationship of trust.

We grow together

We have a culture of continuous growth. What does that look like? Apart from warm and fuzzy perks like professional development allowances, it looks like investing in the development of our people as human beings.

We care about what is important to them and do our best to support their growth journey. Many members of our team have transitioned roles or companies within Redbrick to pursue their interests. Others have side hustles and hobbies that take up their time outside of work.

As an example, in addition to being a very talented graphic artist, Amee Longpré, our Senior Web Designer, is also a skilled photographer.

We like to have fun

We know the value of hard work. But, we also know the importance of good old fashioned fun. From organized team field trips to impromptu doughnut runs and pranks around the office, we’re a fun-loving bunch.

One look at our company Slack channels and you’ll find dedicated groups for yoga, rock-climbing, adventuring, positivity, and so much more. It’s really something special to see our team develop close, lasting friendships that exist outside of work. After all, having a tight-knit bunch of people you genuinely enjoy being around makes all the difference in the end. It makes the hard times easier, and the victories even sweeter.

At the end of the day

It starts and ends with people. Happy, thriving, fulfilled people are the foundation of powerful teams and powerful teams are the heart of great companies. Our approach to team-building and cultivating the potential of each person on our team not only gives us a strong competitive edge, it also strengthens the community around us. 

If Redbrick is the backbone of great companies, then our people are the heart and soul of Redbrick. If you invest in each person on your team and genuinely care for your people, there’s no limit to what you can achieve, together.