Mercer's Weekly Reads

Culture is the first thing that can be lost or shifted when your company grows. While things changing is a good sign, it's still important to understand why and how that's occurring, as well as how those changes may impact your employees. In this post from Wistia, Chris Savage talks about how company culture is a constant work in progress and how, like a garden, it needs to be tended with care.

The dilemma of unlimited vacation days is something that I have lots of thoughts about. That being said, I also understand that it's something that different companies all will have to handle differently. We are all so lucky that we live in a world where we can benefit and learn from others' openness. This blog outlines what Buffer's take is on unlimited vacation policies, and what they are doing to try to rectify it.

Feedback! Being able to give and take it (whether constructive or positive) is the most important thing one can do. Both professionally and personally, being able to express your own feelings eloquently as well as hear and consider others' will make you a better human. I love Mackenzie Fogelson (of Mack Web)'s transparency in these lessons she learned shifting her team from performance reviews to a peer feedback system.

Almost every company that I have spoken with recently is dipping their toe into and subsequently diving into the deep end of customer success. The thing is: it's such a new frontier that there is tons to learn. This guide does a great job at providing a basic blueprint of where to start and where to go with your customer success strategy.

I love the idea of creating a personal touch in a world that is increasingly moving towards automation. While I don't think it's necessary in all aspects of the business, when you've released a new feature that they requested is a delightful time to give customers that personal correspondence.

I dislike the combatitive metaphors and similes we use in customer facing roles: "battle cards" for sales and "fighting back" against negative customer ratings seem weird juxtaposed against the services and support we are meant to provide. That being said, negative reviews do happen and from a business perspective it's important to address them. This article has some great suggestions on where to get started.

Every few months I quit Facebook out of the blue just to give myself a bit of free tether from the world. It's the same reason why I leave my iPhone home when I go out to brunch on the weekends: it's scary to be away from that safety net. Even if you don't consider it that, this post provides a great explanation of why it's so important to give yourself a bit of freedom away from the social networks in your life.

"I’m listening to a man tell a story. A woman he knows was in a devastating car accident; her life shattered in an instant. She now lives in a state of near-permanent pain; a paraplegic; many of her hopes stolen." Does everything happen for a reason? Tim Lawrence would submit that it does not, and then goes on to eloquently explain why that is.

Proper goal-setting is one of the best ways to ensure that you actually get to where you want to go. It's all well and good to say "I want to be an astronaut!" But how are you going to get there? Here's a guide on how to healthily aspire to bigger and better things without cutting out your legs from beneath you.