In the inaugural episode of the Tech Culture Club podcast sponsored by Vaco, host Melissa Phillippi—the CEO of performance management software startup WorkDove—welcomes Hilary Lerner, the Senior VP of People and Culture at Durham-based Teamworks.
Tech Culture Club is GrepBeat’s newest podcast series; new episodes will premiere weekly on Tuesdays. The series spotlights discussions with local HR leaders in the tech industry, driving at the key big-picture question of how companies can maintain a high-performing work culture.
In this episode, Phillippi chatted with Lerner on the importance of being authentic about your company’s culture during the hiring process, the antiquated yearly performance review and much more.
Teamworks is a software company that powers more than 5,000 elite sports teams worldwide. The company was founded in 2006 by Duke football player Zach Maurides to solve the problems he faced as a student-athlete.
Now the software solution serves hundreds of colleges as well as pro teams in the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA, just to name a few. The startup’s product offerings include streamlined scheduling, academic success, nutrition and brand-building management platforms.
Here are some highlights from the episode:
- Teamworks, like many other companies, had to grapple with the impacts of a new hybrid workforce. Before the pandemic, most of its staff worked in person, but now the team is around 50 percent remote. Phillippi and Lerner discuss how to keep remote employees feeling connected even while they are not in the office. The secret might very well lie in the people you’ve hired. (20:10)
- Beyond the difficulties of fostering a positive culture with remote employees, there’s also the issue of bringing on employees from an acquired company. Teamworks acquired two businesses recently: social media content management platform INFLCR and athlete nutrition app Notemeal. There can be an implicit insider-and-outsider dynamic at play here, but Lerner said you have to remember you acquired the company and its people for a reason. (22:30)
- Phillippi and Lerner discuss the merits of predictive employee indexes in solving communication and personality clashes within an organization. Lerner said they have been a great tool for Teamworks in fostering self-awareness. (28:02)
Listen to the full episode below, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the second episode next week. Thanks again to our sponsor, Vaco!
