Many companies believe that “culture” is something written down into a document; and once it’s there, in black and white, it’s done. However, if the company and its employees don’t walk the walk and live their culture daily, it’s a useless piece of paper.

People also have a tendency to get nostalgic and think that as a company morphs from a start-up into a corporate behemoth, they can retain the exact same culture. That’s not possible; a company’s culture must change as the company grows, according to Patty McCord (pictured, right), workplace innovator, culture and leadership consultant, and former chief talent officer at Netflix Inc.

“The future of work is right now; we just don’t operate that way,” McCord said.

McCord spoke with Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick, pictured, left), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference in San Francisco. They discussed some of the lies that companies continue to tell employees, as well as why having a mission is important to workers. (* Disclosure below.)

Lies company tell

As a speaker at the Catalyst conference and author of the book “Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility,” McCord developed fresh, new ideas working at Netflix about how to hire, retain and motivate employees.

“When I was at Netflix, if we could invent a new way of consuming entertainment, then why couldn’t I invent a new way of working?” McCord asked.

She said that there are big lies companies tell their employees that aren’t helpful to the culture. Big lie number one is when a company says to a prospective employee, ‘We’re going to hire you, and you’ll have a career for the rest of your life.’ That’s not true, and hasn’t been for many years, McCord explained. Big lie number two is when a company says to its employees, ‘We’re all one big happy family.’ That’s not true, either; work is where you get paid to do a job. It has nothing to do with family, she added.

Something that many prospective employees are seeking out today, especially younger people, is mission-driven companies. Many of them have watched their parents toil in the workplace for decades, coming home burnt-out, upset and empty after careers in companies that didn’t give their employees what they promised. These prospective employees want to work at a company that they can be proud of and that respects them.

“I don’t think that by ‘mission’ they’re talking about world peace. … They just want to know, how do I matter?” McCord concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference. Neither Girls in Tech, the event sponsor, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE