HR Chief Magazine June 2026 | Page 75

We believe that our culture is key to our success, so we want to ensure that anyone applying for a job here knows what motivates Netflix

Sergio Ezama Chief Human Resources Officer Netflix
Building this high-performance culture is similar to managing a sports team, according to Netflix. In its culture memo, the company says it has decided to:“ Focus on performance and picking the right person for every position, even when that means swapping out someone they love for a better player.” This act of swapping and tweaking refers to Netflix’ s‘ Keeper Test’, developed by Reed. The test is used to assess employees, with managers encouraged to ask themselves:“ If X wanted to leave, would I fight to keep them?” or“ knowing everything I know today, would I hire X again?”
If managers do not fight to retain an employee, Netflix suggests that“ it’ s fairer to everyone to part ways quickly.”“ We believe that our culture is key to our success,” says Sergio Ezama, Chief Human Resources Officer at Netflix.“ So we want to ensure that anyone applying for a job here knows what motivates Netflix – and all employees are working from a shared understanding of what we value most.”
Opening doors for employees Investing in a company’ s workforce is essential for fostering these highperformance cultures, which, distinct from‘ family style’ models, thrive on granting employees greater autonomy and trust to maintain motivation and engagement. Spotify, for instance, is dedicated to ensuring its bandmates remain at the top of their game through an‘ always-on’ approach to learning, which encourages social knowledge sharing and offers frequent opportunities to learn.
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