Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER August 7, 2017 NEWS 3 Training up leaders the Facebook way How the social media giant ensures leadership readiness among employees BY MARCEL VANDER WIER WITH a broad mandate intent on bringing the world closer to- gether, Facebook's success still begins at home, according to Keami Lewis, head of manager effectiveness. And at the company's corporate headquarters in Menlo Park, Ca- lif., business success is dependent upon ensuring leadership readi- ness amongst employees, said Lewis, speaking at the Canadian Talent Management Summit in Toronto in July. Focus on transparency, authenticity With Facebook's workforce clos- ing in on 19,000, the company prides itself on a flat organization driven by an open and transpar- ent culture that caters to workers' individual strengths — traits they are both skilled in and passionate about, she said. "Leader and employee devel- opment is not a nice-to-have at Facebook," said Lewis. "It is a must-have." e Mark Zuckerberg-led com- pany focuses on having a culture where people are ready to lead. In a nutshell, the culture looks a lot like a Facebook page that neatly conjoins life and work, said Lewis. "A lot of times when you join companies, in your mind, you keep work life and personal life separate, to a degree," she said. "At Facebook, we use our real pictures, our real posts. ere's a level of transparency and authen- ticity at Facebook that's just a part of the culture. It's how we do busi- ness; it's how we speak; it's how we develop people." With a Facebook profile and page at the centre of the business landscape, being a leader includes taking subtle actions such as "lik- ing" posts by all types of team members, not just specific indi- viduals, said Lewis. "is is the first reality check as to how authentic and real the culture is." e social media giant's family of apps also includes Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, and the push is on to add virtual real- ity and augmented reality to the offerings going forward. "is is where a lot of growth is coming, and where a lot of the manager and leader capability is needed," said Lewis. Developing leaders e company's rapid growth is due in part to the open and trans- parent culture, she said. Managers can quickly go from guiding many direct reports to just a few, then back again, while employees can choose which team they want to work for. Getting a feel for a variety of roles is important to organiza- tional success — something that can also be achieved through events known as "hackathons." "Our organization is very flat and what we like to do is see people move around, across, up, down, all over the place," said Lewis. "Career development is like a jungle gym." "We are OK with movement," she said, noting that moving into a management role does not equate to a promotion at Facebook. In- stead, it is viewed as connecting workers with their strengths. Eventually, when a worker has picked up enough new skills in her compensation level, she can move into a more senior position, said Lewis. Manager expectations and job experiences are laid out at every level, while training or conversa- tion is offered through a very open Facebook group process. "Our feeling is 'I can learn from everyone around me,'" she said. "ere's a lot of learning that happens through connections, posts." "We have a couple of things we don't bend on: crucial conversa- tions, situational leadership, and strengths — that's it," said Lewis. "e reality is everyone is ex- pected to be a leader, to be able to lead within your space. Becoming a manager at Facebook is not a promotion. It's a choice." It's a company of builders, she said. "When you become a leader or manager at Facebook, you don't stop building, you don't stop do- ing work. You're actually doing real work and you're managing in addition to that." Corporate culture is focused on preparing workers to be ready to lead, and identifying those in which leadership is a strength. Hiring managers who naturally jive with Facebook culture can prove challenging, she said. About 25 per cent of managers are hired into the company. FOCUS > pg. 9 Employees can choose which team they want to work for.

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